At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.36 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dynamo Kyiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ivan Tymoschuk will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dynamo Kyiv the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad13 Sep 2038
Kelvin Yeboah 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 deal that would have taken Dmytro Pozhar to LNZ has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Dynamo Kyiv with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Two goals and a mark of 9.11 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.92 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Nazar Voloshyn 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Dynamo Kyiv they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad6 Sep 2038
Words at Dynamo Kyiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kelvin Yeboah 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 phone has started ringing about Anton Tsarenko again, and this time the name on the line is Obolon. Dynamo Kyiv are listening politely and promising nothing.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Dynamo Kyiv scored in the 95th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
At 38 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.42 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Dynamo Kyiv have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Dynamo Kyiv is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.90 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“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 Dynamo Kyiv, and it is not being withdrawn.
Nazar Voloshyn 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 offer from Metalist for Bohdan Bezus 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vladyslav Chudasa will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dynamo Kyiv the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad23 Aug 2038
Words at Dynamo Kyiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kelvin Yeboah 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Dynamo Kyiv and Rukh, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
The phone has started ringing about Kyrylo Osypenko again, and this time the name on the line is Obolon. Dynamo Kyiv are listening politely and promising nothing.
Two goals and a mark of 9.02 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.84 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dynamo Kyiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Marius Adamonis will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dynamo Kyiv the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Lionel Dahlkvist and Dynamo Kyiv agree another 3 years.
Squad16 Aug 2038
Kelvin Yeboah 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.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Lionel Dahlkvist at his very best
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Kyrylo Osypenko at his very best
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.22 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dynamo Kyiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Volodymyr Harmash will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dynamo Kyiv the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad9 Aug 2038
Words at Dynamo Kyiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nazar Voloshyn 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 phone has started ringing about Ivan Tymoschuk again, and this time the name on the line is Kryvbas. Dynamo Kyiv are listening politely and promising nothing.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 10.00 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
96 appearances across 14 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Dynamo Kyiv they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dynamo Kyiv can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dynamo Kyiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Dynamo Kyiv moved before anybody else could: a new deal for Taras Mudryk, agreed quietly and announced loudly. Boards extend managers for many reasons; the good one is the one this looks like.
“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 Dynamo Kyiv, and it is not being withdrawn.
Nazar Voloshyn 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Dynamo Kyiv is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad26 Jul 2038
Words at Dynamo Kyiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kelvin Yeboah 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.
Valentyn Rubchynskyi 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Dynamo Kyiv they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Dynamo Kyiv hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Nazar Voloshyn 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dynamo Kyiv can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from UCSA for Pavlo Liusin 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Dynamo Kyiv they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
In brief
SquadWords at Dynamo Kyiv training over how hard people work
The offer from Kolos for Maksym Diachuk 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.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Maksym Haiduchok will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dynamo Kyiv the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Nazar Voloshyn 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dynamo Kyiv can pretend not to have heard.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Stilyan Chochev is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Dynamo Kyiv have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Add another name to the list: Kolos have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Maksym Diachuk. The answer from Dynamo Kyiv has not changed — yet.
Valentyn Rubchynskyi 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 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 words a physio says slowly. 16 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dynamo Kyiv can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from Polissia for Maksym Haiduchok 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.
Nazar Voloshyn 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 rules permit it and it stings anyway. Marius Adamonis has agreed terms with Kolos for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Marius Adamonis will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dynamo Kyiv the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad21 Jun 2038
Words at Dynamo Kyiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kelvin Yeboah 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 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.
In brief
BoardroomThe Dynamo Kyiv production line keeps running
The words a physio says slowly. 23 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dynamo Kyiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Volodymyr Harmash will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dynamo Kyiv the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad14 Jun 2038
Kelvin Yeboah 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Dynamo Kyiv know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The words a physio says slowly. 30 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dynamo Kyiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Dynamo Kyiv will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dynamo Kyiv can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Dynamo Kyiv they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Dynamo Kyiv will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Nazar Voloshyn 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Dynamo Kyiv they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad24 May 2038
Words at Dynamo Kyiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kelvin Yeboah 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 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Dynamo Kyiv have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Valentyn Rubchynskyi 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.
Nazar Voloshyn 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Dynamo Kyiv they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad10 May 2038
Words at Dynamo Kyiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kelvin Yeboah 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dynamo Kyiv can pretend not to have heard.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nazar Voloshyn and Dynamo Kyiv agree another 2 years.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Dynamo Kyiv they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dynamo Kyiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Apr 2038
Words at Dynamo Kyiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nazar Voloshyn 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Dmytro Pozhar will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dynamo Kyiv the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dynamo Kyiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Nazar Voloshyn 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Dynamo Kyiv is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad12 Apr 2038
Words at Dynamo Kyiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kelvin Yeboah 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Anton Tsarenko and Dynamo Kyiv agree another 3 years.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dynamo Kyiv can pretend not to have heard.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Dynamo Kyiv hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Dynamo Kyiv they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Valentyn Rubchynskyi 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dynamo Kyiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Mar 2038
Words at Dynamo Kyiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nazar Voloshyn 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Dynamo Kyiv they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.13 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Dynamo Kyiv have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dynamo Kyiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Volodymyr Harmash will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dynamo Kyiv the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad22 Mar 2038
Kelvin Yeboah 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.
Shots: 12. 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dynamo Kyiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Mar 2038
Words at Dynamo Kyiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nazar Voloshyn 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Dynamo Kyiv they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Dejan Aćimović has just signed for Dynamo Kyiv, and for once the answer mattered.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Dynamo Kyiv is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Valentyn Rubchynskyi 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 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.
In brief
MarketBohdan Bezus returns from a loan that gave him nothing
425 appearances across 15 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Oleksiy Mudryk has just signed for Dynamo Kyiv, and for once the answer mattered.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Nazar Voloshyn 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Dynamo Kyiv is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The shirt still fits. Oleksiy Mudryk is back at Dynamo Kyiv, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
In brief
SquadWords at Dynamo Kyiv training over how hard people work
The offer from LA Galaxy for Cemran Dansin 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.99 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dynamo Kyiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Volodymyr Harmash will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dynamo Kyiv the goodbyes have quietly begun.
There were 7 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.
Player ratings15 Feb 2038
Heorhiy Kravets, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 8.35
A mark of 8.35 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
28 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dynamo Kyiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Dynamo Kyiv is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 24 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad15 Feb 2038
Words at Dynamo Kyiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nazar Voloshyn 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.
10 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.85 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
432 appearances across 15 seasons in these colours. Careers like that are not built any more, and Dynamo Kyiv know what they have.
Player ratings8 Feb 2038
Heorhiy Kravets, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 8.26
A mark of 8.26 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Dynamo Kyiv have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dynamo Kyiv can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from Metalist for Kyrylo Osypenko 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Dynamo Kyiv they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dynamo Kyiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Bohdan Redushko provided it, and the 8.95 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 9 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
432 appearances across 15 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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.22 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Dynamo Kyiv and LNZ in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
17 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Dynamo Kyiv lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Maksym Diachuk had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Kolos were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 8 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Dynamo Kyiv have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.37 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“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 Dynamo Kyiv, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Dynamo Kyiv is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
24 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Dynamo Kyiv lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Dynamo Kyiv will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.58 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 7 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Dynamo Kyiv they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
6 goals in one match, Lionel Dahlkvist on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Dynamo Kyiv and Metalist.
31 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Dynamo Kyiv lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Dynamo Kyiv will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.82 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Dynamo Kyiv is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Dynamo Kyiv have had the benefit of it.
359 appearances across 13 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.08 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
“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 Dynamo Kyiv, and it is not being withdrawn.
4 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.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.22 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Valentyn Rubchynskyi 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 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Dynamo Kyiv is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Shots: 8. 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.
Nazar Voloshyn 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Dynamo Kyiv they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Cemran Dansin scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to Metalist, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad21 Dec 2037
Cemran Dansin 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Lionel Dahlkvist provided it, and the 8.46 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dynamo Kyiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Maksym Haiduchok will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dynamo Kyiv the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad14 Dec 2037
Kelvin Yeboah 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Denys Ihnatenko and Dynamo Kyiv agree another 1 years.
Two goals and a mark of 10.00 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Maksym Diachuk provided it, and the 9.04 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.25 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Dynamo Kyiv have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“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 Dynamo Kyiv, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dynamo Kyiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Dynamo Kyiv have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Valentyn Rubchynskyi 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Dynamo Kyiv they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
10 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.
In brief
The terracesThe press cannot get enough of Artem Somka
20 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Dynamo Kyiv lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 10.00 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Nazar Voloshyn 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Dynamo Kyiv they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
8 goals and a season average of 7.63. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad23 Nov 2037
Words at Dynamo Kyiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kelvin Yeboah 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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 21 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 21 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 12 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
27 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Dynamo Kyiv lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
At 39 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.14 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Valentyn Rubchynskyi 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Dynamo Kyiv they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Boardroom16 Nov 2037
91% of the income goes out in wages at Dynamo Kyiv
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.
34 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Dynamo Kyiv lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Anton Tsarenko obliged against Podillia. 3‑2 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Dynamo Kyiv.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Anton Tsarenko provided it, and the 8.92 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
There were 88 minutes on the clock and Podillia had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Dynamo Kyiv did not stop to explain themselves.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.26 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 7 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Nazar Voloshyn 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 easiest signature of my career.” Kostiantyn Vivcharenko and Dynamo Kyiv agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
41 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Dynamo Kyiv lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.91 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Dynamo Kyiv hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dynamo Kyiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Dynamo Kyiv is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad2 Nov 2037
Kelvin Yeboah 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 words a physio says slowly. 48 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Nazar Voloshyn provided it, and the 10.00 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Nazar Voloshyn had done his part in building a 4-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Oleksandriya were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.97 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Valentyn Rubchynskyi 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Dynamo Kyiv is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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 words a physio says slowly. 15 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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.26 at 39, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Nazar Voloshyn 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Maksym Haiduchok will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dynamo Kyiv the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad19 Oct 2037
Cemran Dansin 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.
LNZ left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings19 Oct 2037
Bohdan Redushko was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.18. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The words a physio says slowly. 22 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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.20 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dynamo Kyiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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.
Squad12 Oct 2037
Kelvin Yeboah 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 words a physio says slowly. 29 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.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Dynamo Kyiv heard it as anything else.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.92 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dynamo Kyiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Dynamo Kyiv they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The words a physio says slowly. 76 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.40 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Dynamo Kyiv have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Volodymyr Harmash will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dynamo Kyiv the goodbyes have quietly begun.
24 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 39 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
The words a physio says slowly. 83 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.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.85 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Nazar Voloshyn 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Maksym Haiduchok will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dynamo Kyiv the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad21 Sep 2037
Words at Dynamo Kyiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kelvin Yeboah 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.
8.57. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The words a physio says slowly. 90 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.
Valentyn Rubchynskyi 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 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.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Andrii Matkevych reports back to Dynamo Kyiv with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Nobody at Dynamo Kyiv 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.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Feniks will make the call about Ivan Malynovskyi this week. Dynamo Kyiv have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
The words a physio says slowly. 97 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.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Dynamo Kyiv scored in the 91th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
405 appearances across 15 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.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.39 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Nazar Voloshyn 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mykola Mykhailenko and Dynamo Kyiv agree another 2 years.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Lionel Dahlkvist. 3‑2 against Metalist, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“I watch every Dynamo Kyiv game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Karpaty runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The words a physio says slowly. 104 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.87 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dynamo Kyiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Dynamo Kyiv they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad31 Aug 2037
Kelvin Yeboah 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 words a physio says slowly. 111 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.
Two goals and a mark of 10.00 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Rukh kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Dynamo Kyiv will be asked about the last half hour all week.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.04 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Dynamo Kyiv they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dynamo Kyiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The offer from Zorya for Heorhiy Kravets 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.
Squad24 Aug 2037
Words at Dynamo Kyiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nazar Voloshyn 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 words a physio says slowly. 118 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.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 86th, and Obolon spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dynamo Kyiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Dynamo Kyiv have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad17 Aug 2037
Words at Dynamo Kyiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mykola Shaparenko 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 name of Kyrylo Osypenko has come up in conversations Dynamo Kyiv were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
The words a physio says slowly. 125 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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.23 at 38, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 27 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Nazar Voloshyn 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.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Dynamo Kyiv will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 25 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad10 Aug 2037
Words at Dynamo Kyiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kelvin Yeboah 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 words a physio says slowly. 132 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.88 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
At 37 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.87 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Dynamo Kyiv is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Nazar Voloshyn 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 offer from Kryvbas for Mykhailo Kravets 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Dynamo Kyiv is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
A new deal for the man in the dugout, and the clearest thing a board can say without calling a press conference about it. Stability is cheap to promise and expensive to deliver.
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.
Boardroom27 Jul 2037
7 academy players handed senior numbers at Dynamo Kyiv
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Oleksiy Sirenko has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Yevhen Tymchyk has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
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 words a physio says slowly. 15 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.
The offer from Metalist for Kyrylo Osypenko 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Dynamo Kyiv they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dynamo Kyiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Jul 2037
Kelvin Yeboah 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 words a physio says slowly. 22 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.
Position 3, 60 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Dynamo Kyiv heard it as anything else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dynamo Kyiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Jul 2037
Words at Dynamo Kyiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nazar Voloshyn 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 offer from Kolos for Dmytro Pozhar 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 29 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.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dynamo Kyiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Jul 2037
Words at Dynamo Kyiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mykola Shaparenko 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.
Nazar Voloshyn 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.
Squad29 Jun 2037
Words at Dynamo Kyiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kelvin Yeboah 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.
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.
Valentyn Rubchynskyi 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 rules permit it and it stings anyway. Roman Salenko has agreed terms with Metalist for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Yusuf Abdulmumini is living that version at Dynamo Kyiv, and it tends to show in the first month.
The phone has started ringing about Maksym Diachuk again, and this time the name on the line is Prykarpattia. Dynamo Kyiv are listening politely and promising nothing.
Nazar Voloshyn 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 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.
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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Heorhiy Kravets and Dynamo Kyiv agree another 4 years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dynamo Kyiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Qualification is done, and next season the floodlights come on for something bigger. A stage for the players, oxygen for the accounts and a passport for everybody else.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Dynamo Kyiv will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
299 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dynamo Kyiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Dynamo Kyiv is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad1 Jun 2037
Words at Dynamo Kyiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kelvin Yeboah 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.
Qualification is secured, and next season the big floodlit nights are continental ones. For the players it is a stage; for the accounts it is a lifeline; for the supporters it is passports.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.95 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dynamo Kyiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Dynamo Kyiv they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad25 May 2037
Words at Dynamo Kyiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mykola Shaparenko 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.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
Marked 8.00 — 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.
In brief
BoardroomNobody left the Dynamo Kyiv dressing room in a hurry
Position 3, 60 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Nazar Voloshyn 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bohdan Bezus will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dynamo Kyiv the goodbyes have quietly begun.
In brief
SquadWords at Dynamo Kyiv training over how hard people work
Valentyn Rubchynskyi 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 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Dynamo Kyiv is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Nazar Voloshyn 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Dynamo Kyiv is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dynamo Kyiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Dynamo Kyiv is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad27 Apr 2037
Kelvin Yeboah 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mykola Shaparenko trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
Position 3, 60 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking 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 Dynamo Kyiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Apr 2037
Words at Dynamo Kyiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nazar Voloshyn 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dynamo Kyiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Dynamo Kyiv hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Dynamo Kyiv is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
In brief
SquadWords at Dynamo Kyiv training over how hard people work
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Nazar Voloshyn 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 easiest signature of my career.” Kostiantyn Vivcharenko and Dynamo Kyiv agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Dmytro Pozhar will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dynamo Kyiv the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad6 Apr 2037
Words at Dynamo Kyiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kelvin Yeboah 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 board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 19 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Valentyn Rubchynskyi 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 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Dynamo Kyiv they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Kyrylo Osypenko signs something — a contract at Dynamo Kyiv or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
BoardroomThe Dynamo Kyiv production line keeps running
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 26 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings23 Mar 2037
A brace, and Roman Salenko takes the afternoon — 8.66
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Roman Salenko provided it, and the 8.66 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.67 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Nazar Voloshyn 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 33 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dynamo Kyiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Heorhiy Kravets will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dynamo Kyiv the goodbyes have quietly begun.
In brief
SquadKelvin Yeboah falls out with a teammate over standards
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 40 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Volodymyr Brazhko and Dynamo Kyiv agree another 2 years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dynamo Kyiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The offer from Chornomorets for Heorhiy Kravets 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Dmytro Pozhar will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dynamo Kyiv the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The words a physio says slowly. 19 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 47 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dynamo Kyiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Viacheslav Surkis will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dynamo Kyiv the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The words a physio says slowly. 26 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.
Nazar Voloshyn 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 offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad23 Feb 2037
Words at Dynamo Kyiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kelvin Yeboah 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.
Add another name to the list: Veres have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Anton Tsarenko. The answer from Dynamo Kyiv has not changed — yet.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Volodymyr Harmash and Dynamo Kyiv agree another 3 years.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Dynamo Kyiv know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The words a physio says slowly. 33 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Dynamo Kyiv will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Two goals and a mark of 9.39 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.09 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
13 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
40 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Dynamo Kyiv lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 12 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 26 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.10 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
The deal that would have taken Matteo Cardinali to Kolos has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Dynamo Kyiv with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Dynamo Kyiv and Zorya in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
47 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Dynamo Kyiv lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 33 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Nazar Voloshyn provided it, and the 10.00 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
There were 87 minutes on the clock and Oleksandriya had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Dynamo Kyiv did not stop to explain themselves.
401 appearances across 14 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.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.85 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The offer from Veres for Anton Tsarenko 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.
54 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Dynamo Kyiv lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 40 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Valentyn Rubchynskyi 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.
61 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Dynamo Kyiv lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 47 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Two goals and a mark of 8.88 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.96 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Nazar Voloshyn 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.
11 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Maksym Haiduchok will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dynamo Kyiv the goodbyes have quietly begun.
68 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Dynamo Kyiv lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 54 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Roman Salenko will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Dynamo Kyiv escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 114th minute. Nyva will replay every second of the added time for a week.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.60 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dynamo Kyiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Stanislav Kryvtsov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dynamo Kyiv the goodbyes have quietly begun.
75 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Dynamo Kyiv lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 61 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Bohdan Redushko provided it, and the 8.88 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Dynamo Kyiv will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.17 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ivan Tymoschuk will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dynamo Kyiv the goodbyes have quietly begun.
9 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
In brief
Player ratingsRoman Salenko was on a different afternoon to everybody else
82 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Dynamo Kyiv lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 68 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Two goals and a mark of 10.00 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Position 3, 46 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
89 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Dynamo Kyiv lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 75 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Dynamo Kyiv they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.80, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Boardroom22 Dec 2036
88% of the income goes out in wages at Dynamo Kyiv
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Oleksandr Tymchyk signs something — a contract at Dynamo Kyiv or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
96 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Dynamo Kyiv lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 82 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
At 2 goals adrift this was a formality, and the formality lasted right up until it did not. Dynamo Kyiv found something the first half had given no notice of, and Metalist could not hold what they had.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 10.00 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Dynamo Kyiv heard it as anything else.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Dynamo Kyiv they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
103 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Dynamo Kyiv lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 89 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
438 appearances across 17 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.65 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.16 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ivan Tymoschuk will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dynamo Kyiv the goodbyes have quietly begun.
110 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Dynamo Kyiv lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 96 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Two goals and a mark of 8.98 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.47 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
117 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Dynamo Kyiv lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 103 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Two goals and a mark of 9.35 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.38 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Maksym Haiduchok will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dynamo Kyiv the goodbyes have quietly begun.
124 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Dynamo Kyiv lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 110 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.83 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dynamo Kyiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Stanislav Kryvtsov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dynamo Kyiv the goodbyes have quietly begun.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Dynamo Kyiv and Polissia, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
131 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Dynamo Kyiv lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 117 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The 2-goal deficit was real and so was the recovery. Nazar Voloshyn was at the centre of it, Kryvbas were at the end of it, and everybody who left early will hear about this one for years.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Nazar Voloshyn provided it, and the 10.00 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.97 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
138 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Dynamo Kyiv lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 124 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.54 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Dynamo Kyiv is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
In brief
Player ratingsBohdan Redushko was on a different afternoon to everybody else
BoardroomDynamo Kyiv release $5.0M for the manager
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 131 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Nazar Voloshyn provided it, and the 9.23 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.14 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Nazar Voloshyn 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Maksym Haiduchok will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dynamo Kyiv the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 138 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 12 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 10.00 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dynamo Kyiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Dynamo Kyiv they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad20 Oct 2036
Kelvin Yeboah 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.