Marked for Viktor Mudryk
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match25 Aug 2032
Rukh bow out of the cup
Obolon go through and Rukh 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.
Match28 Aug 2032
Rukh taken apart
0‑3 to Shakhtar, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Market30 Aug 2032
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Rukh have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Squad30 Aug 2032
7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
The dugout30 Aug 2032
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Rukh may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad30 Aug 2032
Luke O'Nien 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 Rukh this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Aug 2032
Words at Rukh training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vlad Răileanu 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.
Match28 Aug 2032
The goals have deserted Rukh
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Rukh can tell you which week it ends in.
Transfer targets30 Aug 2032
Rukh 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom26 Apr 2032
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Rukh
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market26 Apr 2032
“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.
Squad26 Apr 2032
A falling-out at Rukh
Artem Kozak and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Apr 2032
Words at Rukh training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vlad Răileanu 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.
Squad26 Apr 2032
“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 Rukh know it.
The dugout26 Apr 2032
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets8 Sep 2031
The clubs have shaken hands with Veres; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Squad8 Sep 2031
191 appearances across 10 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
Boardroom8 Sep 2031
Deadline passes with 15 signed and 7 gone
That is the business done at Rukh 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 dugout8 Sep 2031
Viktor Mudryk: 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.” Rukh have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad8 Sep 2031
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Oleksandr Nazarenko commits to Rukh for another 3 years.
Squad8 Sep 2031
A falling-out at Rukh
Artem Kozak and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets8 Sep 2031
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Zorya have kept their man, and Rukh go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Transfer targets8 Sep 2031
Rukh ran out of time with Karpaty. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Squad8 Sep 2031
Nazariy Rusyn 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market18 Aug 2031
“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.
Squad18 Aug 2031
A falling-out at Rukh
Luke O'Nien and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets18 Aug 2031
Rukh 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.
Match16 Aug 2031
Zorya made Rukh work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad18 Aug 2031
Nazariy Rusyn 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.
Player ratings18 Aug 2031
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.16, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The dugout18 Aug 2031
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Interim Coach could afford to be generous.
The dugout18 Aug 2031
The manager makes an example of Mykola Kyrychok
“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.
Squad18 Aug 2031
A Rukh teenager takes the young player award
Viktor Mudryk is 19, and for one weekend he was the best of everybody his age in the division. Nobody should build a career on it and everybody quietly does.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad11 Aug 2031
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.
Match9 Aug 2031
4 matches without a win for Rukh
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Rukh are no longer polite ones.
Squad11 Aug 2031
Words exchanged at Rukh
Luke O'Nien 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.
Match9 Aug 2031
Viktor Mudryk scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to Vorskla, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Transfer targets11 Aug 2031
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Match9 Aug 2031
Rukh are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Player ratings11 Aug 2031
Both jobs done by Artem Kozak — 7.39
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 11 actions, 7.39, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Squad11 Aug 2031
A row about effort at Rukh
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nazariy Rusyn was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout11 Aug 2031
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market21 Jul 2031
“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 Rukh, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets21 Jul 2031
The offer went to LNZ this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Squad21 Jul 2031
Words exchanged at Rukh
Artem Kozak 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.
Transfer targets21 Jul 2031
Rukh 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.
Squad21 Jul 2031
Nazariy Rusyn 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.
Transfer targets21 Jul 2031
Zorya 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.
Transfer targets21 Jul 2031
Rukh have made the call to Shakhtar. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout21 Jul 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Orest Lepskyi, and the manager let it.
Market21 Jul 2031
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Rukh know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom14 Jul 2031
The scrutiny sharpens at Rukh
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Rukh is running low.
Squad14 Jul 2031
Words exchanged at Rukh
Luke O'Nien 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.
Transfer targets14 Jul 2031
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Chornomorets have kept their man, and Rukh go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad14 Jul 2031
A row about effort at Rukh
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nazariy Rusyn was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market14 Jul 2031
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Rukh, another week without a signature from Nazariy Rusyn.
Market14 Jul 2031
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Mykola Kyrychok has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Rukh.
The dugout14 Jul 2031
The manager makes an example of Viktor Mudryk
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout14 Jul 2031
Nazariy Rusyn 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 Nazariy Rusyn trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout14 Jul 2031
Viktor Mudryk is still paying for one afternoon at Rukh
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market30 Jun 2031
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Viktor Bliznichenko will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Rukh the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets30 Jun 2031
The clubs have shaken hands with Veres; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Squad30 Jun 2031
A falling-out at Rukh
Luke O'Nien and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets30 Jun 2031
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Oleksandriya have kept their man, and Rukh go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad30 Jun 2031
Words at Rukh training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nazariy Rusyn 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.
Squad30 Jun 2031
“The easiest signature of my career.” Viktor Mudryk and Rukh agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market30 Jun 2031
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Artem Kozak’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market30 Jun 2031
Rukh and Oleh Kleutin are talking past each other
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Market30 Jun 2031
Rukh have made Rune Van Den Bergh available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad9 Jun 2031
Words exchanged at Rukh
Luke O'Nien 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.
Squad9 Jun 2031
Nazariy Rusyn 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.
Squad9 Jun 2031
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Alex Moore commits to Rukh for another 3 years.
Market9 Jun 2031
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Squad9 Jun 2031
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
The dugout9 Jun 2031
Viktor Mudryk is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The dugout9 Jun 2031
“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.
Market9 Jun 2031
The name of Yurii-Volodymyr Hereta keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Rukh say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout9 Jun 2031
Yurii Kihnitskyi has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Rukh 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom19 May 2031
Pressure builds in the Rukh boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad19 May 2031
Tempers go at Rukh
Luke O'Nien 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.
Squad19 May 2031
Vykintas Sernas 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 dugout19 May 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Orest Lepskyi, and the manager let it.
Market19 May 2031
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Bohdan Kyrykovych signs something — a contract at Rukh or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout19 May 2031
Nobody at Rukh 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 May 2031
Denys Pidhurskyi damages knee ligaments — 18 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 18 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.
Squad12 May 2031
Words exchanged at Rukh
Luke O'Nien 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.
Squad12 May 2031
Viktor Bliznichenko 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 dugout12 May 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Viktor Mudryk, and the manager let it.
The dugout12 May 2031
Viktor Mudryk is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Market12 May 2031
The name of Yurii-Volodymyr Hereta keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Rukh say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout12 May 2031
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.
Squad12 May 2031
A wage question at Rukh
Bohdan Kyrykovych has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
Market12 May 2031
1 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Rukh money.
In brief
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The dugout
Kyrylo Rybak has been promised minutes
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Boardroom
The Rukh production line keeps running
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Apr 2031
A falling-out at Rukh
Artem Kozak and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Apr 2031
Words at Rukh training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Viktor Bliznichenko is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad14 Apr 2031
“The easiest signature of my career.” Kyrylo Rybak and Rukh agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad14 Apr 2031
5 new faces, and Rukh 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.
The dugout14 Apr 2031
The manager makes an example of Kiril Denysov
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout14 Apr 2031
Viktor Mudryk is still paying for one afternoon at Rukh
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Market14 Apr 2031
The name of Yurii-Volodymyr Hereta keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Rukh say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout14 Apr 2031
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 dugout14 Apr 2031
Orest Lepskyi knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Rukh, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 Mar 2031
Words exchanged at Rukh
Luke O'Nien 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.
Squad17 Mar 2031
Vykintas Sernas 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.
Market17 Mar 2031
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Rune Van Den Bergh has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Rukh.
Squad17 Mar 2031
Too much change too quickly at Rukh
5 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout17 Mar 2031
The manager makes an example of Orest Lepskyi
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout17 Mar 2031
Viktor Mudryk is still paying for one afternoon at Rukh
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Market17 Mar 2031
The name of Yurii-Volodymyr Hereta keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Rukh say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout17 Mar 2031
Yurii Kihnitskyi has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Rukh 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 dugout17 Mar 2031
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Makar Rybalchenko trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
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Squad
Nazariy Rusyn has seen what the next man earns
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Market
Still no signature from Ivan Denysov
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Boardroom
The Rukh production line keeps running
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match15 Feb 2031
Rukh taken apart
0‑3 to Dynamo Kyiv, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Transfer targets17 Feb 2031
The deal with Veres 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.
Squad17 Feb 2031
Words exchanged at Rukh
Luke O'Nien 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.
Transfer targets17 Feb 2031
Rukh asked and PAOK 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 dugout17 Feb 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to David Stockbrink, and the manager let it.
Boardroom17 Feb 2031
Inquest at Rukh
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout17 Feb 2031
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 0‑3 Mykhailo Burda left the room before anybody could ask which.
Player ratings17 Feb 2031
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad17 Feb 2031
No place for Nazariy Rusyn in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Rukh are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match18 Jan 2031
Rukh end the wait against Obolon
It had gone 8 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.
Market20 Jan 2031
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Rukh is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad20 Jan 2031
A falling-out at Rukh
Artem Kozak and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad20 Jan 2031
Words at Rukh training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luke O'Nien 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.
Match18 Jan 2031
It finished 1‑0, and it was Tymur Korablin’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Rukh.
Squad20 Jan 2031
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Player ratings20 Jan 2031
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings20 Jan 2031
Marked 7.91. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout20 Jan 2031
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Mykhailo Burda on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad23 Dec 2030
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 15 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match21 Dec 2030
Nowhere to hide for Rukh
0‑3 against Shakhtar, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Match21 Dec 2030
No end in sight to Rukh's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Rukh has to find a result from somewhere.
Market23 Dec 2030
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Omelian Wiliam Chubak will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Rukh the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad23 Dec 2030
A falling-out at Rukh
Artem Kozak and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad23 Dec 2030
Words at Rukh training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luke O'Nien 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 dugout23 Dec 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bohdan Kyrykovych, and the manager let it.
Boardroom23 Dec 2030
Inquest at Rukh
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout23 Dec 2030
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Mykhailo Burda to a room that had heard them before.