Marked for Eriki
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad6 Sep 2027
Serhiy Bolbat 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.
Market6 Sep 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Prykarpattia have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words at Prykarpattia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yuriy Kravchuk 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.
Transfer targets6 Sep 2027
Prykarpattia 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.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
Denys Ndukve beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout6 Sep 2027
The manager makes an example of Mykyta Dzen
“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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
This league is too small for Denys Ndukve
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Prykarpattia will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Squad6 Sep 2027
“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 Prykarpattia know it.
The dugout6 Sep 2027
Something was said to Eriki and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 Jul 2027
A fracture rules Stanislav Demkiv out for 40 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Prykarpattia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
No thanks: Juninho rejects the move
Prykarpattia had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Zorya, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Serhiy Bolbat 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.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Polissia have kept their man, and Prykarpattia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Maksym Protsiv 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.
Boardroom12 Jul 2027
Wages swallow 92% of the Prykarpattia income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
A loan enquiry to Karpaty: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
“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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Eriki needs a bigger stage
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Prykarpattia know which stage they are at.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The dugout21 Jun 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
The dugout21 Jun 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Serhiy Bolbat 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Matteo Fugaro is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
Prykarpattia 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at Prykarpattia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maksym Protsiv 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Dmytro Tytov has improved at 24, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
The manager makes an example of Mykyta Dzen
“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.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
A loan move for Eriki is in the works
Prykarpattia have made the call to Karpaty. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 May 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Karpaty is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market31 May 2027
“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 Karpaty, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad31 May 2027
Words exchanged at Karpaty
Xeber Alkain 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.
Market31 May 2027
21 games and 2 goals away from here, and a man the manager did not have last summer. The loan did what loans are supposed to do and almost never do.
The dugout31 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Joseph Séry, and the manager let it.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Karpaty training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmytro Shastal 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.
Squad31 May 2027
“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 Karpaty know it.
Market31 May 2027
The name of Tymur Stetskov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Karpaty say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout31 May 2027
The manager makes Eriki a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Karpaty. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout24 May 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Karpaty may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market24 May 2027
Only the photograph left for Eriki
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Eriki will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Karpaty the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad24 May 2027
A falling-out at Karpaty
Silas Huber and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 May 2027
Xeber Alkain 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.
Loan watch24 May 2027
Oleksandr Kemkin’s loan is measured in nothing happening
11 clean sheets from 30 appearances at Kryvbas. That is the whole of a goalkeeper’s job done properly, and it is being done a long way from the club that owns him.
Squad24 May 2027
Joseph Séry: “I am not a substitute”
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Karpaty will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Market24 May 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Karpaty know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout24 May 2027
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout24 May 2027
A door opens for Eriki
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Loan watch17 May 2027
The goals keep arriving from Illia Kvasnytsia’s exile
26 goals in 30 games at Livyi Bereh — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Karpaty updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Market17 May 2027
“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 Karpaty, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market17 May 2027
Only the photograph left for Marko Sapuha
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Marko Sapuha will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Karpaty the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad17 May 2027
Silas Huber in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Karpaty this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 May 2027
Xeber Alkain 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.
The dugout17 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Yan Kostenko, and the manager let it.
Market17 May 2027
The name of Xeber Alkain keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Karpaty say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout17 May 2027
Yaroslav Kysil 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 Yaroslav Kysil trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Loan watch17 May 2027
26 starts and a season average of 6.85. The loan is doing exactly what it was arranged to do.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market3 May 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Karpaty they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The dugout3 May 2027
Dmytro Forsiuk: 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.” Karpaty have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market3 May 2027
“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.
Squad3 May 2027
Words exchanged at Karpaty
Silas Huber 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.
Squad3 May 2027
A row about effort at Karpaty
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Xeber Alkain was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout3 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Joseph Séry
“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.
Loan watch3 May 2027
“I am playing every week here and I feel like a footballer again.” 27 appearances and 0 goals on loan, and a decision waiting in the summer.
Market3 May 2027
The name of Tymur Stetskov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Karpaty say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout3 May 2027
Matvii Kashuba 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 Matvii Kashuba trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Karpaty may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market26 Apr 2027
Only the photograph left for Eriki
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Eriki will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Karpaty the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad26 Apr 2027
A falling-out at Karpaty
Silas Huber and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Xeber Alkain 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.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“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.
Loan watch26 Apr 2027
30 appearances at Kryvbas and the goals have stopped going in. Karpaty lent out a goalkeeper and are watching somebody else’s season get better every week.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
Tymur Stetskov asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market26 Apr 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Karpaty know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
The manager makes Maksym Kulish a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Karpaty. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Mar 2027
34 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Karpaty lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad29 Mar 2027
The step up is real for Silas Huber
At 21 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.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Karpaty may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market29 Mar 2027
Eriki is on his way
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Karpaty is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Xeber Alkain in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Karpaty this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch29 Mar 2027
11 shut-outs in 30 games. A goalkeeper’s loan is judged on the afternoons when nothing happened at all, and Oleksandr Kemkin has been having a lot of them.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Dmytro Shastal 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.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Eriki gets it from the manager
“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.
Market29 Mar 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Denys Miroshnichenko’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Loan watch22 Mar 2027
30 appearances at Livyi Bereh and the goals keep coming. Karpaty are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Market22 Mar 2027
“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 Karpaty, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market22 Mar 2027
Marko Sapuha has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Karpaty they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad22 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Karpaty
Silas Huber and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Xeber Alkain 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.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Joseph Séry, and the manager let it.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Yan Kostenko: “I am not a substitute”
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Karpaty will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Market22 Mar 2027
The Xeber Alkain story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Xeber Alkain signs something — a contract at Karpaty or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
Eriki has been promised minutes
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 Eriki has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market15 Feb 2027
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Denys Miroshnichenko had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Market15 Feb 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Karpaty have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Loan watch15 Feb 2027
29 appearances at Livyi Bereh and the goals keep coming. Karpaty are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A one-man rearguard from Silas Huber
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Transfer targets15 Feb 2027
Everything agreed with Livyi Bereh, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Market15 Feb 2027
Karpaty say no — this time
The offer from Rukh for Nazariy Rusyn 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.
Market15 Feb 2027
“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.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Match13 Feb 2027
No end in sight to Karpaty's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Karpaty has to find a result from somewhere.