Marked for Yevhen Opanasenko
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad18 Jan 2027
The knee: Ivan Pitsan out for 82 days
82 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Prykarpattia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
Ivan Pitsan: 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.” Prykarpattia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Illia Ukhan 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.
Match16 Jan 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kamil Jakóbczyk was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout18 Jan 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 0‑1 Vladyslav Mudryk left the room before anybody could ask which.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
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 Kamil Jakóbczyk is on it.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
“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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match14 Nov 2026
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Vasyl Frantsuz 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 dugout16 Nov 2026
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 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Vladyslav Mudryk to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
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 Vasyl Frantsuz is on it.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“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 dugout16 Nov 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kamil Jakóbczyk trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market16 Nov 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Rostyslav Taranukha signs something — a contract at Prykarpattia or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Match16 Nov 2026
Prykarpattia have something to play for
Position 6 on 28 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 8. 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad19 Oct 2026
There were 9 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Illia Ukhan 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 terraces19 Oct 2026
At 23 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.
Match17 Oct 2026
After 4 games, Prykarpattia finally taste it again
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 Chornomorets; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Looking ahead19 Oct 2026
A test against the best for Prykarpattia
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Bukovyna.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ivan Pitsan, and the manager let it.
Match17 Oct 2026
Point won or two lost for Prykarpattia?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Chornomorets? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.