Marked for Maksym Kulish
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match17 May 2027
Every point is an argument now for Probiy
Position 16 and 20 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market17 May 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Probiy can pretend not to have heard.
Squad17 May 2027
Words exchanged at Probiy
Ihor Potimkov 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 May 2027
Words at Probiy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maksym Hirnyi 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 dugout17 May 2027
Ruben Tilburgs 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 Probiy, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market17 May 2027
The name of Bohdan Orynchak keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Probiy say nothing, which says plenty.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom3 May 2027
Oleh Lunyov has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Probiy can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
The terraces3 May 2027
Supporters organise against the Probiy board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Boardroom3 May 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Probiy
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market3 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 The request is on a desk at Probiy, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout3 May 2027
This is not rotation. Maksym Kulish has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Probiy is pretending otherwise.
Squad3 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Probiy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 May 2027
Maksym Hirnyi 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.
Boardroom3 May 2027
Probiy counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Probiy now.
The dugout3 May 2027
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Andrii Bliznichenko was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market29 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 Probiy, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Probiy
Ihor Potimkov 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 33 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Probiy is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Boardroom29 Mar 2027
Wages swallow 163% of the Probiy 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.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Maksym Kovalenko, and the manager let it.
Squad29 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Probiy
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Orest Lepskyi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Ruben Tilburgs 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 Ruben Tilburgs trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market29 Mar 2027
The name of Maksym Kovalenko keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Probiy say nothing, which says plenty.
Market29 Mar 2027
7 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Probiy money.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Mar 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market8 Mar 2027
Maksym Kulish hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Probiy can pretend not to have heard.
Match6 Mar 2027
The wait goes on for Probiy
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Andrii Bliznichenko commits to Probiy for another 2 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Probiy
Ihor Potimkov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces8 Mar 2027
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.
Looking ahead8 Mar 2027
Two sides from the bottom of the table, three points, and an afternoon that will be described afterwards as a relegation decider by whoever loses it.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Mykhaylo Kozhushko will call it something else in private.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
In brief
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Squad
7 new faces, and Probiy are still learning each other
-
Match
Probiy and UCSA take a point apiece
-
Boardroom
Belts tighten at Probiy
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market1 Mar 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 dugout1 Mar 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Probiy may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
Window shuts: 7 in, 7 out at Probiy
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 7 arrived, 7 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Match27 Feb 2027
No end in sight to Probiy's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Probiy has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Andrea Gemello arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Andrea Gemello has, at Probiy, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Probiy
Ihor Potimkov 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.
Match27 Feb 2027
A bad afternoon for Probiy against Metalist
1‑3 to Metalist, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
Wages eat 146% of everything Probiy earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Maksym Hirnyi 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
Crisis
Squad22 Feb 2027
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Probiy will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match22 Feb 2027
Probiy are in real trouble now
Position 15, 19 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market22 Feb 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 Probiy, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets22 Feb 2027
The paperwork begins on Kiril Popov
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Probiy have done the hard part with Chornomorets, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets22 Feb 2027
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at LNZ is saying, and nobody at Probiy is enjoying the guessing.
Match20 Feb 2027
3 matches without a goal for Probiy
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Transfer targets22 Feb 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kryvbas have kept their man, and Probiy go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Tempers go at Probiy
Andrii Fesenko 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.
Match20 Feb 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad15 Feb 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 87 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match13 Feb 2027
Nowhere to hide for Probiy
0‑3 against Chornomorets, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
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
Ruslan Kharuk: 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.” Probiy have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad15 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Probiy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dmytro Forsiuk, and the manager let it.
Squad15 Feb 2027
100 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.
Boardroom15 Feb 2027
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.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Feb 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Probiy will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 33. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market1 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 dugout1 Feb 2027
This is not rotation. Vladyslav Felipovych has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Probiy is pretending otherwise.
Squad1 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Probiy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
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.
Match30 Jan 2027
Victoriia Sumy made Probiy work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Ninety minutes of Bohdan Dryhan at his very best
Marked 8.08. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Probiy.
Squad1 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Probiy
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maksym Kulish was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Jan 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 123 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 33. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market11 Jan 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 Probiy, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match9 Jan 2027
The wait goes on for Probiy
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Probiy
Ihor Potimkov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 36 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Probiy is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Maksym Kulish 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 ratings11 Jan 2027
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.58 on the card, and the Probiy support went home talking about one name.
Match9 Jan 2027
It needed Bohdan Orynchak to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Feniks, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Dec 2026
“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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Probiy
Maksym Kovalenko 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.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Probiy
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maksym Kulish was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
The afternoon belonged to Vasyl Hakman
A mark of 7.41, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Maksym Kulish, and the manager let it.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Half-satisfied: Oleh Lunyov on the draw
“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.
Match12 Dec 2026
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Inhulets will be the happier side with the point.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Nobody at Probiy is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Oct 2026
“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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Probiy
Ihor Potimkov 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 Oct 2026
At 33, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
A promise honoured at Probiy
Something was said to Vasyl Hakman and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Maksym Kulish 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 Oct 2026
“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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
The formation has left Ruben Tilburgs behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Probiy will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Market12 Oct 2026
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Vladyslav Babanin has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Probiy.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Probiy. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market24 Aug 2026
“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 Probiy, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match22 Aug 2026
No end in sight to Probiy's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Probiy has to find a result from somewhere.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Obolon have kept their man, and Probiy go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match22 Aug 2026
3 matches without a goal for Probiy
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Match22 Aug 2026
Prykarpattia left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
“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 dugout24 Aug 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Probiy
Maksym Kulish 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 targets24 Aug 2026
Dynamo Kyiv 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.