From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad23 Aug 2027
20 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Chernihiv lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 31. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Market23 Aug 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Match21 Aug 2027
No end in sight to Chernihiv's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Chernihiv has to find a result from somewhere.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
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Transfer targets23 Aug 2027
The deal with Dynamo Kyiv is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Boardroom23 Aug 2027
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Liam Hall has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Match21 Aug 2027
No clean sheets in sight for Chernihiv
5 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at Chernihiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikita Tepliakov 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Aug 2027
Dmytro Fatieiev damages knee ligaments — 27 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 27 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.
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.86, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market16 Aug 2027
Artur Bybik hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chernihiv can pretend not to have heard.
Market16 Aug 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Chernihiv is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match14 Aug 2027
The wait goes on for Chernihiv
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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Chernihiv
Maksym Tatarenko and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Chernihiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yehor Shalfieiev 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.
Match14 Aug 2027
Chernihiv leaking at the back
4 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Shakhtar is saying, and nobody at Chernihiv is enjoying the guessing.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Maksym Tatarenko 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.
Match7 Aug 2027
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
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Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
Door shut on Kawê
Chernihiv asked and Dynamo Kyiv said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad9 Aug 2027
A row about effort at Chernihiv
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yehor Shalfieiev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Vyacheslav Koidan and Chernihiv agree another 2 years.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Chernihiv are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad2 Aug 2027
179 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.
Boardroom2 Aug 2027
The instruction came from the boardroom and the dugout did not agree with it. Somebody will go, the fee will be called good business, and the manager will spend the season rebuilding around the space.
Squad2 Aug 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chernihiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom2 Aug 2027
3 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Squad2 Aug 2027
A row about effort at Chernihiv
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yehor Shalfieiev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match31 Jul 2027
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Market2 Aug 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Yaroslav Kryvtsov 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.
Market2 Aug 2027
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Ruslan Kravets is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market2 Aug 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Kyrylo Sobol 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market26 Jul 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Chernihiv, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
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Squad26 Jul 2027
Serhii Miakushko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Yehor Shalfieiev 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 dugout26 Jul 2027
Nikita Tepliakov asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dmytro Myronenko, and the manager let it.
Market26 Jul 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Chernihiv know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Pavlo Shushko is not doing himself any favours
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
Looking ahead26 Jul 2027
Home comforts ahead for Chernihiv
Nyva, position 11, come to town on Saturday. Nobody will call it a big game and nobody at the club will be treating it as anything else.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Jul 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
Dmytro Myronenko: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Chernihiv have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Shakhtar is saying, and nobody at Chernihiv is enjoying the guessing.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words exchanged at Chernihiv
Serhii Miakushko and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad19 Jul 2027
At 26 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at Chernihiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Anatolii Romanchenko 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
15 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Boardroom19 Jul 2027
The numbers do not look good at Chernihiv
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Jul 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
No thanks: Ivan Petriak rejects the move
Chernihiv had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Shakhtar, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Maksym Tatarenko was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words at Chernihiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikita Tepliakov 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.
Boardroom12 Jul 2027
Wages eat 111% of everything Chernihiv earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
Dmytro Myronenko asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market12 Jul 2027
The clock does Liam Hall’s negotiating for him
4 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Chernihiv could ask drops and the wages Liam Hall can ask rise.
Market12 Jul 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Vyacheslav Koidan’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match5 Jul 2027
Chernihiv are in real trouble now
Position 16, 19 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market5 Jul 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Chernihiv, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad5 Jul 2027
A row about effort at Chernihiv
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikita Tepliakov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad5 Jul 2027
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 15 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
Intake day at the Chernihiv academy
4 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
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.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Vyacheslav Koidan trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market5 Jul 2027
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Mykyta Velihorskyi leaves Chernihiv the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom28 Jun 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Chernihiv
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Chernihiv is running low.
Market28 Jun 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Chernihiv, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
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Boardroom28 Jun 2027
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Mykyta Velihorskyi has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Liam Hall is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Maksym Tatarenko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Jun 2027
At 26 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
Chernihiv asked and Kryvbas said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad28 Jun 2027
A row about effort at Chernihiv
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yehor Shalfieiev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market21 Jun 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Chernihiv, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Nikita Dorosh is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words exchanged at Chernihiv
Maksym Tatarenko and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dynamo Kyiv have kept their man, and Chernihiv go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad21 Jun 2027
A row about effort at Chernihiv
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikita Tepliakov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom21 Jun 2027
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
Yehor Shalfieiev asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Market21 Jun 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Denys Bezborodko signs something — a contract at Chernihiv or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Jun 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chernihiv can pretend not to have heard.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Serhii Miakushko 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Chernihiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikita Tepliakov 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.
Boardroom14 Jun 2027
Wages swallow 112% of the Chernihiv income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Chernihiv, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market14 Jun 2027
Chernihiv have made Andrii Porokhnia available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match7 Jun 2027
Chernihiv are in real trouble now
Position 16, 19 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market7 Jun 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Chernihiv, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Denys Herasymenko is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad7 Jun 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chernihiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at Chernihiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yehor Shalfieiev 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.
Market7 Jun 2027
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Yaroslav Harmash is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market7 Jun 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Dmytro Shaparenko 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.
Market7 Jun 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Pavlo Haiduchok 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 dugout7 Jun 2027
Kyrylo Khovaiko is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom31 May 2027
Pressure builds in the Chernihiv boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad31 May 2027
A fracture rules Dmytro Myronenko out for 21 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Chernihiv will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market31 May 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chernihiv can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout31 May 2027
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Squad31 May 2027
Serhii Miakushko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad31 May 2027
A move Mattia La Penna would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Mattia La Penna is living that version at Chernihiv, and it tends to show in the first month.
Boardroom31 May 2027
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Ivaylo Dinev has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Chernihiv have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Chernihiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikita Tepliakov 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.
Market31 May 2027
Signings arrive with a picture of the club in their head, and this one’s picture was bigger than the building. He will play well and he will be gone, in that order, and everybody knows it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 May 2027
A fracture rules Dmytro Myronenko out for 28 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Chernihiv will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The dugout24 May 2027
“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.
Squad24 May 2027
Words exchanged at Chernihiv
Maksym Tatarenko and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Chernihiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikita Tepliakov 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.
Boardroom24 May 2027
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Chernihiv now.
The dugout24 May 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Yehor Kartushov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 May 2027
A fracture rules Dmytro Myronenko out for 35 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Chernihiv will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market17 May 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The dugout17 May 2027
“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.
Squad17 May 2027
Words exchanged at Chernihiv
Nikita Tepliakov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad17 May 2027
A row about effort at Chernihiv
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yehor Shalfieiev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad17 May 2027
34 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Boardroom17 May 2027
116% of the income goes out in wages at Chernihiv
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.
Market17 May 2027
Chernihiv have made Nikita Tepliakov available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
The dugout17 May 2027
Artur Bybik asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match10 May 2027
Every point is an argument now for Chernihiv
Position 16 and 19 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Squad10 May 2027
44 days out for Dmytro Myronenko after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Chernihiv will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market10 May 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chernihiv can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout10 May 2027
“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.
Squad10 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chernihiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 May 2027
Nikita Tepliakov 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 dugout10 May 2027
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.
The dugout10 May 2027
Artur Bybik knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Artur Bybik trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market10 May 2027
Still no signature from Liam Hall
6 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Chernihiv could get for him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom3 May 2027
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Boardroom3 May 2027
Pressure builds in the Chernihiv boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad3 May 2027
51 days out for Dmytro Myronenko after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Chernihiv will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market3 May 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chernihiv can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout3 May 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
The dugout3 May 2027
“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.
Squad3 May 2027
Maksym Tatarenko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 May 2027
Nikita Tepliakov 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 dugout3 May 2027
Yehor Kartushov without the man who signed him
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Yehor Kartushov was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Apr 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 58 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words exchanged at Chernihiv
Serhii Miakushko and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad26 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Chernihiv
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yehor Shalfieiev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kyrylo Khovaiko, and the manager let it.
Boardroom26 Apr 2027
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nikita Tepliakov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout19 Apr 2027
“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.
Market19 Apr 2027
Artur Bybik hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chernihiv can pretend not to have heard.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words exchanged at Chernihiv
Serhii Miakushko and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Chernihiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikita Tepliakov 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 dugout19 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Anatolii Romanchenko, and the manager let it.
Boardroom19 Apr 2027
98% of the income goes out in wages at Chernihiv
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.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Chernihiv, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market19 Apr 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Nikita Tepliakov may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Dmytro Myronenko has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match12 Apr 2027
Chernihiv are in real trouble now
Position 16, 19 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
“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 Apr 2027
Serhii Miakushko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Chernihiv
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikita Tepliakov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
Kyrylo Khovaiko is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Chernihiv, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Chernihiv. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Squad12 Apr 2027
The training reports on Nikita Tepliakov are not good
A bad Saturday is forgiven; a bad Tuesday is chosen. Standards have slipped and in a building where everybody watches everybody, it has been noticed.
Market12 Apr 2027
The name of Vyacheslav Koidan keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Chernihiv say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market5 Apr 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad5 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chernihiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Apr 2027
The medical room confirms 23 days on the sidelines for Oleksandr Roshchynskyi, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Chernihiv will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Chernihiv, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market5 Apr 2027
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Chernihiv has been clear about where Oleksandr Roshchynskyi stands, which is more than many ever get.
Market5 Apr 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Andrii Novikov’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad5 Apr 2027
It is a strip of cloth and it decides nothing on a Saturday. It still tells the dressing room exactly whose opinion the manager values, which is the whole point of it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Mar 2027
Denys Herasymenko is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Nikita Tepliakov 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.
Boardroom29 Mar 2027
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Oleksandr Roshchynskyi, and the manager let it.
Market29 Mar 2027
The name of Denys Bezborodko keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Chernihiv say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Artur Bybik knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Artur Bybik trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market22 Mar 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Chernihiv, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Chernihiv have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Chernihiv
Maksym Tatarenko and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Yehor Shalfieiev 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.
Boardroom22 Mar 2027
Wages swallow 107% of the Chernihiv income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Market22 Mar 2027
Chernihiv have let the market know Nikita Tepliakov can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
Artur Bybik knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Artur Bybik trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Chernihiv. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match15 Mar 2027
Chernihiv sink to position 16
19 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market15 Mar 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Maksym Tatarenko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Chernihiv
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yehor Shalfieiev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad15 Mar 2027
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Chernihiv know it.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Kyrylo Khovaiko's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market8 Mar 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chernihiv can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad8 Mar 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Yehor Kartushov and Chernihiv agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Mar 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chernihiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Chernihiv
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pavlo Shushko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad8 Mar 2027
The medical room confirms 52 days on the sidelines for Oleksandr Roshchynskyi, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Chernihiv, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market8 Mar 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Andrii Novikov’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
Window shuts: 2 in, 0 out at Chernihiv
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 2 arrived, 0 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Serhii Miakushko 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Chernihiv
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yehor Shalfieiev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Chernihiv now.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
Nikita Tepliakov asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Market1 Mar 2027
The name of Denys Bezborodko keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Chernihiv say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad1 Mar 2027
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Chernihiv has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Dmytro Myronenko has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match22 Feb 2027
The season ends: position 16 for Chernihiv
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 19 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Market22 Feb 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Chernihiv, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Chernihiv
Serhii Miakushko and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Transfer targets22 Feb 2027
Chernihiv asked and Shakhtar said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Chernihiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yehor Shalfieiev 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.
Match20 Feb 2027
Ahrobiznes left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Boardroom22 Feb 2027
Wages eat 112% of everything Chernihiv earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Kostiantyn Haiduchok left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match15 Feb 2027
Every point is an argument now for Chernihiv
Position 15 and 19 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market15 Feb 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Chernihiv, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad15 Feb 2027
8 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Maksym Tatarenko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Denys Bezborodko was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.27. 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Chernihiv
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pavlo Shushko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad15 Feb 2027
100 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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The dugout
Kyrylo Khovaiko is still being punished for one mistake
-
Player ratings
Nobody could get near Maksym Serdiuk
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad8 Feb 2027
There were 11 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.
Market8 Feb 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Chernihiv, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Chernihiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikita Tepliakov 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.
Match6 Feb 2027
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad8 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chernihiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market8 Feb 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Ivan Boyko 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.
Market8 Feb 2027
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Ruslan Kulach is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Looking ahead8 Feb 2027
Metalurh Zaporizhzhia next, and both sides can do the sum. Win and the table looks different; lose and it looks the way everybody has been fearing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad1 Feb 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 12 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market1 Feb 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Chernihiv, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
No thanks: Ivan Petriak rejects the move
Chernihiv had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Shakhtar, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad1 Feb 2027
The medical room confirms 31 days on the sidelines for Yehor Kartushov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Maksym Tatarenko 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Chernihiv
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikita Tepliakov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match30 Jan 2027
1‑2 to Metalist, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Chernihiv now.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market25 Jan 2027
Liam Hall puts it in writing
“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 Chernihiv, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Chernihiv
Maksym Tatarenko and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Pavlo Shushko 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.
Boardroom25 Jan 2027
Wages eat 115% of everything Chernihiv earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.26 on the card, and the Chernihiv support went home talking about one name.
Market25 Jan 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Maksym Shumylo has his answer from Chernihiv; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Kostiantyn Haiduchok was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Chernihiv dressing room was either.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 12. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match18 Jan 2027
Chernihiv sink to position 15
15 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market18 Jan 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chernihiv can pretend not to have heard.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Serhii Miakushko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Chernihiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yehor Shalfieiev 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.
Match16 Jan 2027
Three points for Chernihiv, 2‑0 the final word against Probiy in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.10, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Kyrylo Khovaiko
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Kostiantyn Haiduchok on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match9 Jan 2027
Beaten 0‑5 by Chornomorets, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Squad11 Jan 2027
There were 8 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.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Chernihiv have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match9 Jan 2027
No end in sight to Chernihiv's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Chernihiv has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad11 Jan 2027
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad11 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chernihiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Chernihiv
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yehor Shalfieiev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market11 Jan 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Kostiantyn Babenko 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.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market4 Jan 2027
Artur Bybik hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chernihiv can pretend not to have heard.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Serhii Miakushko 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at Chernihiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikita Tepliakov 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Chernihiv are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Chernihiv pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Kostiantyn Haiduchok chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dzhilindo Bezhubchenko, and the manager let it.
Match2 Jan 2027
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Victoriia Sumy defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad28 Dec 2026
10 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Up for the corner, and Vyacheslav Koidan delivers — 7.15
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Vyacheslav Koidan scored, was marked 7.15, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Chernihiv
Maksym Tatarenko and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Chernihiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yehor Shalfieiev 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.
Match26 Dec 2026
A bad afternoon for Chernihiv against Nyva
1‑2 to Nyva, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Wages eat 198% of everything Chernihiv earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Looking ahead28 Dec 2026
Both clubs in the mire, one fixture between them, and a ground that will be louder and more frightened than at any point in the season. Chernihiv know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Kostiantyn Haiduchok to a room that had heard them before.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Dec 2026
Chastening afternoon for Chernihiv
A 1‑5 beating by Livyi Bereh was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Match21 Dec 2026
Every point is an argument now for Chernihiv
Position 15 and 11 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Squad21 Dec 2026
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.
Match19 Dec 2026
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Chernihiv and Livyi Bereh in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Chernihiv
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yehor Shalfieiev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Pavlo Shushko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Pavlo Shushko
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Boardroom21 Dec 2026
Nobody left the Chernihiv dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑5, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match12 Dec 2026
18 matches without a win, and then this, against Feniks. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
At 35 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.99, and nobody on the pitch better.
Squad14 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chernihiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Chernihiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikita Tepliakov 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.
Match12 Dec 2026
A 1‑0 win over Feniks, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Kostiantyn Haiduchok kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Liam Hall
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Vyacheslav Koidan
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 12. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match5 Dec 2026
18 matches without a win for Chernihiv
The run now stands at 18, and the questions being asked around Chernihiv are no longer polite ones.
Match5 Dec 2026
Beaten 0‑4 by Bukovyna, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad7 Dec 2026
25 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Match5 Dec 2026
4 matches without a goal for Chernihiv
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Maksym Tatarenko was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Chernihiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikita Tepliakov 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 dugout7 Dec 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Boardroom7 Dec 2026
Nobody left the Chernihiv dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match28 Nov 2026
17 matches without a win for Chernihiv
The run now stands at 17, and the questions being asked around Chernihiv are no longer polite ones.
Squad30 Nov 2026
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.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Chernihiv have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Chernihiv
Serhii Miakushko and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Match28 Nov 2026
Chernihiv cannot find the net
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Wages swallow 195% of the Chernihiv income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Chernihiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artur Bybik 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.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
A mark of 7.61, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match21 Nov 2026
No end in sight to Chernihiv's wait for a win
16 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Chernihiv has to find a result from somewhere.
Match23 Nov 2026
Every point is an argument now for Chernihiv
Position 16 and 7 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market23 Nov 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Serhii Miakushko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Nikita Tepliakov 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 dugout23 Nov 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Nikita Tepliakov asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 13. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match14 Nov 2026
The wait goes on for Chernihiv
15 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.
Transfer targets16 Nov 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad16 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chernihiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Nikita Tepliakov 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.
Match14 Nov 2026
0‑2 to Inhulets, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Artur Bybik gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market16 Nov 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Chernihiv know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 11. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match7 Nov 2026
No end in sight to Chernihiv's wait for a win
14 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Chernihiv has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 18 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
At 33 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.91, and nobody on the pitch better.
Squad9 Nov 2026
The medical room confirms 55 days on the sidelines for Serhii Miakushko, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A move Liam Hall would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Liam Hall is living that version at Chernihiv, and it tends to show in the first month.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Maksym Tatarenko 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.
Market9 Nov 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Mykhailo Matvienko 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.
Market9 Nov 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Serhiy Lunyov 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match31 Oct 2026
13 matches without a win for Chernihiv
The run now stands at 13, and the questions being asked around Chernihiv are no longer polite ones.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Yevhen Kovalenko out for 25 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Chernihiv will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match31 Oct 2026
9 matches without a goal for Chernihiv
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 9 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Market2 Nov 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chernihiv can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
The Chernihiv board want somebody sold
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Chernihiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikita Tepliakov 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.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Wages swallow 195% of the Chernihiv income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Chernihiv
Pavlo Shushko and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match24 Oct 2026
No end in sight to Chernihiv's wait for a win
12 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Chernihiv has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 32 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match26 Oct 2026
Chernihiv are in real trouble now
Position 15, 5 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Match24 Oct 2026
8 matches without a goal for Chernihiv
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 8 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Market26 Oct 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Maksym Tatarenko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Nikita Tepliakov 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.
Match24 Oct 2026
A bad afternoon for Chernihiv against UCSA
0‑1 to UCSA, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Kostiantyn Haiduchok after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match17 Oct 2026
11 matches without a win for Chernihiv
The run now stands at 11, and the questions being asked around Chernihiv are no longer polite ones.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 41 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match17 Oct 2026
0‑7 to Metalist, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Match17 Oct 2026
7 matches without a goal for Chernihiv
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 7 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad19 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chernihiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match17 Oct 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Chernihiv and Metalist, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Beaten 7 times, 5 saves, and an afternoon that will go on his record whether it was his fault or the defence’s. It is the quiet unfairness of the position.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Chernihiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yehor Shalfieiev 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.
Boardroom19 Oct 2026
Nobody left the Chernihiv dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 Oct 2026
48 days out for Yevhen Kovalenko after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Chernihiv will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match10 Oct 2026
10 matches without a win for Chernihiv
The run now stands at 10, and the questions being asked around Chernihiv are no longer polite ones.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match10 Oct 2026
Chernihiv cannot find the net
6 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Serhii Miakushko 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.
Market12 Oct 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Vladyslav Karavayev 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
A muscle injury and 15 days out for Vyacheslav Koidan
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Chernihiv will quote 15 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Match10 Oct 2026
0‑1 to Vorskla, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Kostiantyn Haiduchok to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match3 Oct 2026
9 matches without a win for Chernihiv
The run now stands at 9, and the questions being asked around Chernihiv are no longer polite ones.
Market5 Oct 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Match3 Oct 2026
5 matches without a goal for Chernihiv
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 5 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Denys Herasymenko is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Chernihiv
Serhii Miakushko and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Nikita Tepliakov 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.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
244% of the income goes out in wages at Chernihiv
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.
Match3 Oct 2026
Probiy left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Maksym Tatarenko, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑6 by Chornomorets, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match26 Sep 2026
8 matches without a win for Chernihiv
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Chernihiv are no longer polite ones.
Match28 Sep 2026
Every point is an argument now for Chernihiv
Position 15 and 5 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Squad28 Sep 2026
There were 8 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
Chernihiv cannot find the net
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Serhii Miakushko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match26 Sep 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Chernihiv and Chornomorets, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Chernihiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yehor Shalfieiev 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.
Boardroom28 Sep 2026
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Sep 2026
The wait goes on for Chernihiv
7 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chernihiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match19 Sep 2026
3 matches without a goal for Chernihiv
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Match19 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Anton Vydrych has had enough of the bench
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Chernihiv will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Looking ahead21 Sep 2026
The leaders are next for Chernihiv
Chornomorets top the table and they are coming into view. Nothing to lose, which is what every manager says before losing.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Oleksandr Roshchynskyi, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Sep 2026
The wait goes on for Chernihiv
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 20 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Chernihiv until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Market14 Sep 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Vladyslav Mykhailychenko is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market14 Sep 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Volodymyr Boyko is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Match12 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Yehor Shalfieiev 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 dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Kostiantyn Haiduchok left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Artur Bybik
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad7 Sep 2026
There were 11 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.
Match5 Sep 2026
Chastening afternoon for Chernihiv
A 0‑4 beating by Livyi Bereh was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Market7 Sep 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chernihiv can pretend not to have heard.
Match5 Sep 2026
5 matches without a win for Chernihiv
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Chernihiv are no longer polite ones.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Chernihiv
Maksym Tatarenko and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Match5 Sep 2026
Chernihiv are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Maksym Serdiuk, and the manager let it.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Aug 2026
The cup run ends for Chernihiv
0‑5 against Kolos, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Squad31 Aug 2026
8 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
The terraces31 Aug 2026
Chernihiv are taken apart by Kolos — and the town wants answers
It finished 0-5. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Chernihiv had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Mitre, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Match29 Aug 2026
4 matches without a win for Chernihiv
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Chernihiv are no longer polite ones.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Maksym Tatarenko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Chernihiv asked and Metalurh Zaporizhzhia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match29 Aug 2026
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad24 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 10 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match22 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑5 by Bukovyna, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Squad24 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chernihiv this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Obolon have kept their man, and Chernihiv go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Yehor Kartushov
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Chernihiv
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yehor Shalfieiev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom24 Aug 2026
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑5, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
A loan enquiry to Mitre: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Aug 2026
Serhii Miakushko was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Chernihiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kyrylo Khovaiko is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Andrii Porokhnia, and the manager let it.
Squad17 Aug 2026
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Squad17 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Roman Sherstyanykh commits to Chernihiv for another 3 years.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Match15 Aug 2026
Point won or two lost for Chernihiv?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Prykarpattia? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Looking ahead17 Aug 2026
Bukovyna next, and one man in the Chernihiv dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad10 Aug 2026
Serhii Miakushko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Andriy Kocherhin 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Volodymyr Stepanenko 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Yevhen Kovalenko 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Nazariy Babenko 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.
Match8 Aug 2026
A 1‑0 win over Podillia, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.89 on the card, and the Chernihiv support went home talking about one name.
Squad10 Aug 2026
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
A loan enquiry to Dynamo Kyiv: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Dmytro Fatieiev and Chernihiv agree another 2 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Chernihiv
Maksym Tatarenko and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Dealt with internally, which is the phrase a club uses when it would rather nobody asked twice. He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Chernihiv training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yehor Shalfieiev 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.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 9 actions, 6.83, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Market3 Aug 2026
Still no offer on the table, and Denys Bezborodko’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
Match1 Aug 2026
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Kostiantyn Haiduchok chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.