Marked for Arkhip Kuptsov
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market14 May 2029
Marquinhos hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Podillia can pretend not to have heard.
Market14 May 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Podillia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad14 May 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Podillia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 May 2029
Words at Podillia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Davronbek Azizov 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.
Squad14 May 2029
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Podillia know it.
The dugout14 May 2029
The manager has not finished forgetting Arkhip Kuptsov's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
The dugout14 May 2029
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market14 May 2029
1 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Podillia money.
Market14 May 2029
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match23 Apr 2029
Podillia are in real trouble now
Position 15, 24 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market23 Apr 2029
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Podillia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom23 Apr 2029
Belts tighten at Podillia
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Davronbek Azizov 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.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Words exchanged at Podillia
Arkhip Kuptsov 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.
The dugout23 Apr 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Artem Korobchenko, and the manager let it.
Market23 Apr 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Oleksandr Lomaha’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market23 Apr 2029
Podillia have made Nazar Kudelia available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Squad23 Apr 2029
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market16 Apr 2029
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Podillia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market16 Apr 2029
Yan Zheliba has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Podillia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad16 Apr 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Podillia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Apr 2029
A row about effort at Podillia
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivan Ponomarenko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad16 Apr 2029
No place for Cătălin Bălţat in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Podillia are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
The dugout16 Apr 2029
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout16 Apr 2029
A promise honoured at Podillia
Something was said to Danil Pekhnov and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout16 Apr 2029
The manager has not finished forgetting Arkhip Kuptsov's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
The dugout16 Apr 2029
Adelin Mircea knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Adelin Mircea trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market9 Apr 2029
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Podillia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad9 Apr 2029
Danylo Polonskyi 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.
Squad9 Apr 2029
Words at Podillia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivan Ponomarenko 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 dugout9 Apr 2029
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout9 Apr 2029
Adelin Mircea knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Adelin Mircea trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad9 Apr 2029
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Podillia will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Mar 2029
A fracture rules Tommaso Matella out for 15 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Podillia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market19 Mar 2029
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Podillia, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Podillia may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market19 Mar 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Podillia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Ivan Ponomarenko 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.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Words exchanged at Podillia
Yan Zheliba 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.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Artem Korobchenko, and the manager let it.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Market19 Mar 2029
2 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Podillia money.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces5 Mar 2029
Anger at Podillia spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Market5 Mar 2029
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Podillia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad5 Mar 2029
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 29 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match3 Mar 2029
The wait goes on for Podillia
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Boardroom5 Mar 2029
The scrutiny sharpens at Podillia
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Podillia is running low.
The dugout5 Mar 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Podillia may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
The dugout5 Mar 2029
This is not rotation. Adelin Mircea has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Podillia is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets5 Mar 2029
Podillia asked and Kryvbas said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad5 Mar 2029
A row about effort at Podillia
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivan Ponomarenko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match25 Nov 2028
The wait goes on for Podillia
12 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Match25 Nov 2028
1‑4 to Metalurh Zaporizhzhia, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Market27 Nov 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad27 Nov 2028
7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Davronbek Azizov 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.
Boardroom27 Nov 2028
Wages eat 145% of everything Podillia earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The dugout27 Nov 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Arkhip Kuptsov 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.
Match27 Nov 2028
The half-term report on Podillia
Position 12, 17 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad23 Oct 2028
Nazar Kudelia damages knee ligaments — 27 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 27 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Match21 Oct 2028
Nowhere to hide for Podillia
1‑4 against Chornomorets, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Match21 Oct 2028
The wait goes on for Podillia
8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Market23 Oct 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Ivan Ponomarenko 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.
Squad23 Oct 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Podillia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout23 Oct 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Boardroom23 Oct 2028
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout23 Oct 2028
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Denys Marlos after 1‑4, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
In brief
-
The dugout
The manager has not finished forgetting Danylo Udod's mistake
-
Squad
Podillia are still strangers to each other
-
Player ratings
Danylo Udod could not find anything
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces16 Oct 2028
The mood at Podillia has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Market16 Oct 2028
Danil Pekhnov hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Podillia can pretend not to have heard.
Squad16 Oct 2028
A row about effort at Podillia
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Davronbek Azizov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad16 Oct 2028
A falling-out at Podillia
Arkhip Kuptsov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad16 Oct 2028
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Podillia can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad16 Oct 2028
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Looking ahead16 Oct 2028
Chornomorets next, and one man in the Podillia dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Market16 Oct 2028
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings7 Aug 2028
Two goals and a mark of 8.72 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market7 Aug 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Podillia can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout7 Aug 2028
Lukas Tangedal: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Podillia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom7 Aug 2028
An order from above at Podillia: somebody has to go
Balance sheets do not care about form or about who the manager was planning to build around. The board have decided a sale is required, and the only question left is which name ends up carrying it.
Player ratings7 Aug 2028
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad7 Aug 2028
A falling-out at Podillia
Danylo Polonskyi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Arkhip Kuptsov gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Arkhip Kuptsov has just signed for Podillia, and for once the answer mattered.
Transfer targets7 Aug 2028
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Words at Podillia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivan Ponomarenko 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.