Marked for Ezequiel Viola
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market1 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 The request is on a desk at Vorskla, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Ezequiel Viola 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.
Match30 Jan 2027
A 1‑0 win over Probiy, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Nobody could get near Bahia
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 17 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” João Trevisol and Vorskla agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
A mark of 7.85, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Squad1 Feb 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Nika Gagnidze 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 Vorskla, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match23 Jan 2027
Nowhere to hide for Vorskla
0‑3 against Chernihiv, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market25 Jan 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 Vorskla can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Remember the name: Bahia
He is 20, he is averaging 7.08, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Squad25 Jan 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 Vorskla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom25 Jan 2027
Wages eat 156% of everything Vorskla 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Jan 2027
Ezequiel Viola 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 ratings18 Jan 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.14, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match16 Jan 2027
Three points for Vorskla, 2‑1 the final word against Victoriia Sumy in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
A masterclass from Bahia
Marked 8.42 — 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Anton Baidal 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match9 Jan 2027
9 matches without a win for Vorskla
The run now stands at 9, and the questions being asked around Vorskla are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Defensive actions: 23, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad11 Jan 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 Vorskla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Ezequiel Viola
“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.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Defensive actions: 17. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Marked 7.66 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Vorskla had the best player on the pitch.
Match9 Jan 2027
Point won or two lost for Vorskla?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Nyva? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Market11 Jan 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match2 Jan 2027
The wait goes on for Vorskla
8 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Maksym Andrushchenko 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.
Match2 Jan 2027
Livyi Bereh left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.43, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mathias Rosenørn, and the manager let it.
Squad4 Jan 2027
The team sheet said everything about Ezequiel Viola
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Ezequiel Viola.
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
Nobody left the Vorskla dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“I will know when it is time. I am not there yet.” Ezequiel Viola is 40, with 17 appearances behind him, and Vorskla will have to plan for whichever answer comes.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market28 Dec 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 Vorskla, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match26 Dec 2026
7 matches without a win for Vorskla
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Vorskla are no longer polite ones.
Squad28 Dec 2026
At 20, Bahia is already the best thing here
An average of 7.05 in a first team he is several years too young for. Vorskla have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Squad28 Dec 2026
“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 Vorskla know it.
Squad28 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Vorskla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
245% of the income goes out in wages at Vorskla
Every club in football 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 somebody has tried it.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 20 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad28 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matvii Burenko, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Defensive actions: 29, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Match19 Dec 2026
6 matches without a win for Vorskla
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Vorskla are no longer polite ones.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Valentyn Tkach: 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.” Vorskla have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad21 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Vorskla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Nika Gagnidze
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match12 Dec 2026
The wait goes on for Vorskla
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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Vorskla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Defensive actions: 21, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 20 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Vorskla are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Vorskla may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match5 Dec 2026
4 matches without a win for Vorskla
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Vorskla are no longer polite ones.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Matvii Burenko and Vorskla agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Ezequiel Viola 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Ezequiel Viola
“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.
Match5 Dec 2026
0‑1 to Podillia, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Boardroom7 Dec 2026
Nobody left the Vorskla dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Shots: 9. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 29. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Bahia is the real thing at 20
A season average of 7.03 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Vorskla know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Squad30 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Vorskla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
294% of the income goes out in wages at Vorskla
Every club in football 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 somebody has tried it.
Squad30 Nov 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.
Match28 Nov 2026
0‑1 to Inhulets, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 30. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Vorskla may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Ezequiel Viola 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.
Match21 Nov 2026
1‑2 to Ahrobiznes, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.38, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad23 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad26 Oct 2026
“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.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Ezequiel Viola 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Vorskla may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad19 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Vorskla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match17 Oct 2026
A 1‑0 win over Probiy, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 17 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
A mark of 7.84, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Defensive actions: 15. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad19 Oct 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.
Market19 Oct 2026
At 34, he has seen every situation this season can produce, twice. The legs will be managed; the head is the purchase.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match10 Oct 2026
4 matches without a win for Vorskla
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Vorskla are no longer polite ones.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“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 Vorskla know it.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Ezequiel Viola 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 ratings12 Oct 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 17 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Bahia takes the honours
Marked 7.73 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Vorskla had the best player on the pitch.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 30. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Bahia is the real thing at 20
A season average of 7.00 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Vorskla know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Squad5 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Vorskla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages eat 459% of everything Vorskla 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.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
A performance of 8.30 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad5 Oct 2026
The month belongs to Bahia
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Vorskla have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The terraces28 Sep 2026
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 5 of the 25 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Squad28 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Vorskla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad28 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Ezequiel Viola
“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.
Match26 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Boardroom28 Sep 2026
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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
15 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Shots: 8, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Marked 5.60, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Defensive actions: 27, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Market7 Sep 2026
The fee is $780.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Kolos drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Vorskla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Bahia in the eights
A performance of 9.19 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
464% of the income goes out in wages at Vorskla
Every club in football 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 somebody has tried it.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Defensive actions: 20. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Match5 Sep 2026
A 1‑0 win over Bukovyna, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Matvii Burenko
“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.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 Aug 2026
2 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
Match29 Aug 2026
Vorskla through in the cup
A 3‑1 win over Prykarpattia, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Match26 Aug 2026
Vorskla through in the cup
A 0‑0 win over Prykarpattia, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Defensive actions: 24. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Ezequiel Viola 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 ratings31 Aug 2026
Marked 8.61 — 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.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
A performance of 8.53 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Anton Baidal, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 23 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad24 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Vorskla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match22 Aug 2026
A 1‑0 win over Podillia, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 19 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Marked 8.27 — 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.
Squad24 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
This league is too small for Ezequiel Viola
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. Vorskla will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Defensive actions: 17. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Kyrylo Lavuta 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 Kyrylo Lavuta trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 Aug 2026
Ezequiel Viola 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 ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad17 Aug 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
Inhulets left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad17 Aug 2026
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. Vorskla will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Market17 Aug 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Vorskla, another week without a signature from Carl Gustafsson.