28 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Epicentr lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Epicentr can pretend not to have heard.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Taras Mykhailychenko chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Epicentr have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Kyrylo Kovalets and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
At 18 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jon Ceberio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Luka Radulović has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
The young player of the month award goes to a 21-year-old at Epicentr who has looked like the finished article for four weekends running. The next four are the ones that decide whether he is.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ihor Kyriukhantsev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Taras Mykhailychenko could afford to be generous.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Epicentr this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jon Ceberio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Taras Mykhailychenko after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Luka Radulović did not need any: 7.78, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Kyrylo Kovalets was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Epicentr training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jon Ceberio is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Taras Mykhailychenko could afford to be generous.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Epicentr know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
Player ratingsThe pass was always on for Carlos Rojas
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Luka Radulović did not need any: 7.95, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Kyrylo Kovalets and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Luka Radulović. 2‑1 against Kolos, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Successful dribbles: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Marked 8.16 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Epicentr training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ihor Kyriukhantsev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Taras Mykhailychenko on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Two goals and a mark of 8.56 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jon Ceberio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Epicentr this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Vladyslav Supriaha has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 2‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Luka Radulović has come out of that comparison in the side, and Epicentr have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Luka Radulović, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.73
A mark of 7.73 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Epicentr this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jon Ceberio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Half the programme played, position 12, 17 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
A 1‑1 draw with Veres leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Taras Mykhailychenko was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Epicentr dressing room was either.
Kyrylo Kovalets was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Epicentr training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jon Ceberio is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 15 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Kyrylo Kovalets and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Jon Ceberio falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Taras Mykhailychenko to a room that had heard them before.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
7.82, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
At 18 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
A 3‑1 win over Kudrivka, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Epicentr training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jon Ceberio is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Oleksandr Klymets was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Jon Ceberio was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.19. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Taras Mykhailychenko, on a 3‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Epicentr this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Epicentr training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jon Ceberio is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Carlos Rojas. 1‑0 against Obolon, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Epicentr will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Taras Mykhailychenko kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Epicentr than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
Oleh Bilyk was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Jon Ceberio falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Epicentr asked and Widzew Łódź said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
A point taken on 94 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
It needed Carlos Rojas to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Polissia, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Taras Mykhailychenko was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Epicentr dressing room was either.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Yevhen Zaporozhets’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Epicentr needing him to play as if none of it matters.
7 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Kryvbas were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Oleh Bilyk and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Nyíregyháza have kept their man, and Epicentr go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Carlos Rojas. 1‑0 against Kryvbas, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Epicentr are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Epicentr training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrii Lipovuz is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Taras Mykhailychenko kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 2 arrived, 1 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Jon Ceberio falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Epicentr asked and Karpaty said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 95. Karpaty had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Successful dribbles: 16. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad14 Sep 2026
8 new faces, and Epicentr are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Vasas can pretend not to have heard.
A mark of 7.85 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Anrie Chase was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Southampton have kept their man, and Vasas go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Something was said to András Radó and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
In brief
The dugoutThe view from the dugout
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Patrik Kovács
Out, 2‑3 to Szeged-Csanád GA, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
The offer from MFK Michalovce for Luka Radulović was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Vasas can pretend not to have heard.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Shaqueel van Persie did not need any: 7.77, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
The deal with Sabadell is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Vasas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The phone has started ringing about Botond Baráth again, and this time the name on the line is Ajka. Vasas are listening politely and promising nothing.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Vasas are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
49 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Andras Nikolic to a room that had heard them before.