The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Oleksandriya is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 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.
Kyrylo Dryshliuk 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.
Successful dribbles: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
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 dugout13 Dec 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Yevhen Zinchenko left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad13 Dec 2027
The division's best last weekend was a Oleksandriya man
It is a small honour and it is not nothing: somebody watched every match in the division and decided that Bryan Castillo was the best thing in any of them.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Danil Skorko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Yurii Kopyna 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Oleksandriya, another week without a signature from Vladyslav Kochergin.
This is not rotation. Daniil Vashchenko has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Oleksandriya is pretending otherwise.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Gerrit Gohlke 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 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.
“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 Oleksandriya, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Oleksandriya they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Oleksandriya can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words at Oleksandriya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Danil Skorko 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.
Kyrylo Dryshliuk 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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Karpaty in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
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 Oleksandriya would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
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 Roman Savchenko is on it.
Two goals and a mark of 8.60 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“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.
Boardroom13 Sep 2027
Oleksandriya close the window on a squad of their own making
12 in and 11 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.
“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 Oleksandriya know it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Danil Skorko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Yurii Kopyna 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 Taras Zaviyskyi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Yevhen Zinchenko after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
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.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Oleksandriya, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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 Rostyslav Taranukha has written the date down.
Words at Oleksandriya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Taras Zaviyskyi 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Oleksandriya, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Vladyslav Kochergin has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
Somebody to talk to at the next peg, a few words of the language, and a training ground that has stopped being a foreign country. It never appears in a scouting report and it decides most signings.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Achraf Boumenjal 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 Oleksandriya know it.
Wesley Pomba and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Oleksandriya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Denys Sliusar 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Oleksandriya, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Wesley Pomba signs something — a contract at Oleksandriya or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
Achraf Boumenjal 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.
“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 Oleksandriya know it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Papa Ndiaga Yade signs something — a contract at Oleksandriya or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Hussayn Touati trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Wesley Pomba signs something — a contract at Oleksandriya or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Oleksandriya would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
Deadline passes with 1 signed and 4 gone
That is the business done at Karpaty until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $100.1K — a club that wants Andrija Janjić enough to be asked twice.
Valentyn Rubchynskyi 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.
Karpaty have gone to Zorya 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.
Eriki has left for Oleksandriya in a $360.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad1 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.
Oleksandriya close the window on a squad of their own making
4 in and 2 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.
The offer from Chernihiv for Oleksandr Kozak 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.
Karpaty did not want to sell and the number is why they did. $360.0K for Eriki, and the expectation that arrives with him is the kind no amount of settling-in period softens.
“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 Oleksandriya know it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Oleksandriya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Oleksandriya ran out of time with Zorya. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Oleksandriya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Taras Zaviyskyi 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 Karpaty people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Kolos keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Valentyn Rubchynskyi 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 phone has started ringing about Joaquinete again, and this time the name on the line is Chernihiv. Karpaty are listening politely and promising nothing.
Marked 9.39. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Karpaty.
Squad1 Feb 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.
Karpaty asked and Nyva said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Marked 8.01 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Eriki 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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑1, Taras Boyko could afford to be generous.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vladyslav Babohlo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
In brief
The dugoutAnton Zhylkin asks for a word with the manager