A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Kryvbas will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Kryvbas people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kryvbas can pretend not to have heard.
Kryvbas and Kolos have settled on $190.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
The deal with Vorskla 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 Kryvbas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Aug 2036
Words at Kryvbas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mykola Oharkov 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kryvbas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Kryvbas people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The clubs have shaken hands with Poltava; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
“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 The request is on a desk at Kryvbas, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Kryvbas is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dynamo Kyiv have kept their man, and Kryvbas go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giovany Herbert was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kryvbas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Kryvbas have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Inhulets waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Kryvbas is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Polissia have accepted the money. What Kryvbas do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Jhoel Maya 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.
Boardroom28 Jul 2036
8 academy players handed senior numbers at Kryvbas
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Polissia have kept their man, and Kryvbas go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Kryvbas have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Andrii Balyk will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kryvbas the goodbyes have quietly begun.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Kryvbas have done the hard part with Oleksandriya, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Yevhenii Pastukh 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.
Kryvbas have gone to Obolon with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Squad30 Jun 2036
Words at Kryvbas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artem Smolyakov 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.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Polissia have kept their man, and Kryvbas go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Kryvbas have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Kolos have accepted the money. What Kryvbas do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Kryvbas is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kryvbas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Kryvbas asked and Obolon said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kryvbas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Galin Yankov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kryvbas the goodbyes have quietly begun.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Galin Yankov has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Kryvbas asked and Dynamo Kyiv said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The name of Wessel van Eck has come up in conversations Kryvbas were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giovany Herbert was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Kryvbas has been clear about where Jakob Larsen stands, which is more than many ever get.
The words a physio says slowly. 34 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kryvbas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kryvbas can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Andrii Balyk will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kryvbas the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Yevhenii Pastukh 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giovany Herbert was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Kryvbas, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 37 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vitaliy Tymchyk will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kryvbas the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kryvbas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
24 appearances away from home and 13 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
Squad5 May 2036
Words at Kryvbas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giovany Herbert 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.
Nobody at Kryvbas will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Kryvbas is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Yevhenii Pastukh 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.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Kryvbas will quote 15 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Nobody at Kryvbas will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Kryvbas know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Kryvbas will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Wessel van Eck will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kryvbas the goodbyes have quietly begun.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Jhoel Maya 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 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.
“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.
Squad21 Apr 2036
6 new faces, and Kryvbas 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.
Nobody at Kryvbas will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Giovany Herbert trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Kryvbas know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“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 Kryvbas, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Kryvbas they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Yevhenii Pastukh and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Apr 2036
Words at Kryvbas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giovany Herbert 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.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 17 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Yevhenii Pastukh 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.
Squad24 Mar 2036
Words at Kryvbas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giovany Herbert 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.
6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jakob Larsen trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 45 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 31 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kryvbas can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vitaliy Tymchyk will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kryvbas the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kryvbas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Kryvbas asked and Shakhtar said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
13 goals in 24 games at Poltava — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Kryvbas updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Kryvbas will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Kryvbas have lost him in all but the paperwork.
7.93, 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Andrii Balyk will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kryvbas the goodbyes have quietly begun.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Jhoel Maya 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 paperwork is done long before the player is. Liam Vos has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Kryvbas have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Kryvbas asked and Oleksandriya said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 52 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Kryvbas and Dynamo Kyiv have settled on $560.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
“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 Kryvbas, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Kryvbas is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Kryvbas offered $94.0K; Dynamo Kyiv said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Artem Smolyakov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Groningen have kept their man, and Kryvbas go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kryvbas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Kryvbas is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mykola Oharkov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Kryvbas can tell you which week it ends in.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 94 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Kryvbas they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Jhoel Maya 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Artem Smolyakov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kryvbas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Makar Tverdokhlib provided it, and the 9.40 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Kryvbas is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Jhoel Maya 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 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Makar Tverdokhlib in the middle of it, and Rukh unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
In brief
SquadGiovany Herbert falls out with a teammate over standards
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Kryvbas will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kryvbas can pretend not to have heard.
Jhoel Maya 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giovany Herbert was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Kryvbas they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Kryvbas are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giovany Herbert was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Half the programme played, position 6, 25 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
Successful dribbles: 13. 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kryvbas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Jhoel Maya is on it.
Zorya next, and one man in the Kryvbas dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Makar Tverdokhlib signs something — a contract at Kryvbas or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“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 Kryvbas, and it is not being withdrawn.
Jhoel Maya 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giovany Herbert was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The first defeat in 4 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Vorskla; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Kryvbas can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Yurii Muzhylovskyi obliged against Obolon. 2‑1 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Kryvbas.
Two goals and a mark of 8.37 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
1 for Yurii Muzhylovskyi, marked 7.79, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Artem Popov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kryvbas the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Jhoel Maya 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Galin Yankov 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Makar Tverdokhlib provided it, and the 8.86 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
14 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Kryvbas they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Jhoel Maya and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 Oct 2035
Words at Kryvbas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giovany Herbert 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.
Player ratings29 Oct 2035
Jhoel Maya was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.13. 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.
“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.
The dugout29 Oct 2035
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.” Interim Coach kept it short after the 3‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Artem Shakhov, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.81
A mark of 7.81 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.
Successful dribbles: 25. 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kryvbas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Artem Shakhov 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 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.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Jhoel Maya is on it.
Jhoel Maya 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giovany Herbert was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Kryvbas know it.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Kryvbas would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Obolon next, and one man in the Kryvbas dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
13 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Kryvbas is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Jhoel Maya 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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Kryvbas can tell you which week it ends in.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giovany Herbert was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Kryvbas will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
12 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Kryvbas is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giovany Herbert was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
The dugout1 Oct 2035
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Interim Coach was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Kryvbas dressing room was either.
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Boardroom10 Sep 2035
Kryvbas close the window on a squad of their own making
19 in and 30 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Kryvbas they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Jhoel Maya 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.
Kryvbas asked and Polissia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad10 Sep 2035
Words at Kryvbas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giovany Herbert 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Poltava waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Kryvbas is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“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 Kryvbas, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Kryvbas have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Jhoel Maya 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.
Add another name to the list: Victoriia Sumy have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Vitaliy Tymchyk. The answer from Kryvbas has not changed — yet.
Squad13 Aug 2035
Words at Kryvbas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giovany Herbert 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 clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Kryvbas people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“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.
Player ratings6 Aug 2035
Artem Shakhov, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.60
A mark of 7.60 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.
10 seasons and 338 appearances, all of them here. Careers like this are not designed; they happen to a certain kind of man at a certain kind of club, and this town has one.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Kryvbas is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kryvbas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Kryvbas asked and Metalist said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad6 Aug 2035
Words at Kryvbas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Makar Tverdokhlib 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 clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Kryvbas people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The offer from Vorskla for Volodymyr Sharun 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.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $450.0K — a club that wants Yevhen Usenko enough to be asked twice.
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.
“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.
Squad23 Jul 2035
A muscle injury sidelines Oleh Sudakov for 15 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Kryvbas will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Kryvbas have made the call to Vitoria Guimaraes. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Metalurh Zaporizhzhia waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Kryvbas is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kryvbas can pretend not to have heard.
Kryvbas have gone to Metalist with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Jhoel Maya 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.
Kryvbas asked and Oleksandriya said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad16 Jul 2035
Words at Kryvbas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Makar Tverdokhlib 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.
Oleksandriya have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kryvbas can pretend not to have heard.
Jhoel Maya 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.
A loan enquiry to Vitoria Guimaraes: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Kryvbas has been clear about where Volodymyr Sharun stands, which is more than many ever get.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Tymofii Kicha will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kryvbas the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kryvbas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Jhoel Maya is on it.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Kryvbas, another week without a signature from Maksym Bahachanskyi.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Makar Tverdokhlib signs something — a contract at Kryvbas or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Position 4, 61 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
Qualification is done, and next season the floodlights come on for something bigger. A stage for the players, oxygen for the accounts and a passport for everybody else.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Kryvbas they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Jhoel Maya 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giovany Herbert was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Kryvbas know it.
It is sentimental, it is completely genuine, and it is the beginning of a departure nobody has announced. The club can be gracious about it or it can pretend not to have heard.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Bar Lin is on it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Kryvbas is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Jhoel Maya 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giovany Herbert was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Kryvbas, another week without a signature from Marian Bats.
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Kryvbas could ask drops and the wages Anton Salabai can ask rise.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Kryvbas know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
The dugoutLionel Kodane knocks on the manager’s door
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Artem Shakhov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kryvbas the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
Nobody at Kryvbas will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Giovany Herbert has written the date down.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Kryvbas they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Jhoel Maya 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 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.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Artem Shakhov has his answer from Kryvbas; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Artem Shakhov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Kryvbas. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
In brief
MarketThe clock does Marian Bats’s negotiating for him
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Kryvbas they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Jhoel Maya 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mykola Oharkov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Kryvbas could ask drops and the wages Anton Salabai can ask rise.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Kryvbas know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Artem Shakhov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kryvbas the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giovany Herbert was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad9 Apr 2035
5 new faces, and Kryvbas 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.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Antonín Růsek is on it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kryvbas can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Kryvbas they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kryvbas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Nobody at Kryvbas will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
24 appearances at Victoriia Sumy and the goals have stopped going in. Kryvbas lent out a goalkeeper and are watching somebody else’s season get better every week.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Volodymyr Kvikvinia has his answer from Kryvbas; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Position 4, 61 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
Position 4 on 61 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
The 87th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Denys Striuk decided nobody was going anywhere. Zorya had no time left to answer.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Kryvbas they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Kryvbas asked and Oleksandriya said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Makar Tverdokhlib was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Denys Striuk. 1‑0 against Zorya, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kryvbas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Teplice waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Kryvbas is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Everything agreed with Dynamo Kyiv, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Jhoel Maya 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.
In brief
Player ratingsAnton Salabai scored one and made one — 7.86
Metalist go through and Kryvbas go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Kryvbas will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
7.58, 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.
Artem Smolyakov 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giovany Herbert was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
1 for Artem Smolyakov, marked 7.37, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Kryvbas they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Jhoel Maya 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giovany Herbert was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.27. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Kryvbas.
The dugout25 Dec 2034
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.” Interim Coach, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Up for the corner, and Hlib Savchuk delivers — 7.78
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Hlib Savchuk scored, was marked 7.78, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Jhoel Maya 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.
Polissia made Kryvbas work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad18 Dec 2034
Words at Kryvbas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yukhym Konoplia 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.” Interim Coach on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kryvbas can pretend not to have heard.
Jhoel Maya and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Dec 2034
Words at Kryvbas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yukhym Konoplia 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.
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Giovany Herbert had Kryvbas level again within 4 minutes, and Chornomorets never got to play with a lead at all.
Nobody at Kryvbas will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
It needed Giovany Herbert to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Chornomorets, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Kryvbas is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kryvbas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Dynamo Kyiv left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad4 Dec 2034
Words at Kryvbas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giovany Herbert 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 keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Kryvbas, another week without a signature from Anton Salabai.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Kryvbas they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kryvbas 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 Yukhym Konoplia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
18 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kryvbas can pretend not to have heard.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Denys Striuk has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giovany Herbert was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Kryvbas will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Jhoel Maya 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 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Kudrivka in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Artem Smolyakov 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yukhym Konoplia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
8.01. 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.