From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Marian Mysyk beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 25. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
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 Nyva this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Nyva training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vasyl Burtnyk 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 dugout11 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.” Stanislav Pikhalyonok chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Match9 Jan 2027
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Vorskla will be the happier side with the point.
Looking ahead11 Jan 2027
Metalist next, and one man in the Nyva dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Market11 Jan 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Marian Mysyk’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
Anton Sydorchuk has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Nyva will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Jan 2027
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Nyva had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Nyva
Andrii Boriachuk 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 ratings4 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Market4 Jan 2027
Valentyn Napuda comes back from a loan that worked
22 appearances and 8 goals away from here, and a player the manager did not have in August. Loans are sent out hoping for exactly this and most of them do not deliver it.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Valentyn Napuda is the month’s best young player
At 21 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Nyva will try not to make too much of it.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Kostiantyn Kvas and Nyva agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
7.26, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Nyva had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
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.” Stanislav Pikhalyonok chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
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
Upbeat
Squad28 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Nyva
Artem Habelok 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Nyva training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrii Boriachuk 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
Three points for Nyva, 2‑1 the final word against Chernihiv in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
164% of the income goes out in wages at Nyva
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Ninety minutes of Denys Rezepov at his very best
Marked 8.10. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Nyva.
Loan watch28 Dec 2026
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Nyva, and 5 appearances in 19 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Stanislav Pikhalyonok on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Loan watch28 Dec 2026
22 appearances away from home and 8 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
A defender's goal wins it for Nyva — 7.24
1 for Serhii Davydov, marked 7.24, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Marian Mysyk beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 24. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Nyva
Andrii Boriachuk and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Nyva
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vasyl Burtnyk was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match19 Dec 2026
Late, late show earns Nyva a point
Minute 89, against Victoriia Sumy, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
Match19 Dec 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 dugout21 Dec 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Stanislav Pikhalyonok after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Squad21 Dec 2026
One yellow too many, and a match watched from the stand. The most avoidable absence in football, and Nyva will feel it on Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Dec 2026
11 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 dugout14 Dec 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Nyva may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
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 Nyva this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match12 Dec 2026
Chornomorets left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Market14 Dec 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Oleh Nazarenko 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.
Market14 Dec 2026
One of our own: Danylo Burda joins the Nyva first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Danylo Burda is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout14 Dec 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 0‑2 Stanislav Pikhalyonok left the room before anybody could ask which.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
There was one mistake and it ended in the net. Defenders are judged on the worst thing they did rather than on the eighty-nine minutes either side of it, which is unfair and is also the job.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Nyva
Maksym Mekhaniv 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Nyva training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrii Boriachuk 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.
Match5 Dec 2026
A 1‑0 win over Livyi Bereh, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Andrii Boriachuk ran the middle of the pitch — 7.02
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 9 combined actions and a mark of 7.02, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Stanislav Pikhalyonok could afford to be generous.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Vasyl Burtnyk 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 Vasyl Burtnyk trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad7 Dec 2026
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Nyva
Andrii Boriachuk 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.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
169% of the income goes out in wages at Nyva
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.
Match28 Nov 2026
Three points for Nyva, 2‑0 the final word against Feniks in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Vasyl Burtnyk falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Marian Mysyk beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 17. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Marked 7.92. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Loan watch30 Nov 2026
“I did not go to UCSA to sit and watch. I want to come back to Nyva and fight for my place.” 5 appearances in 15 matches say the rest.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Stanislav Pikhalyonok, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Maksym Mekhaniv has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Nyva will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Nov 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 12 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.71, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad23 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Nyva
Andrii Boriachuk and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match21 Nov 2026
6 goals as Nyva and Bukovyna go for it
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Nyva and Bukovyna, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Match21 Nov 2026
Beaten 2‑4, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout23 Nov 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 2‑4 Stanislav Pikhalyonok left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Maksym Uhryniuk falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 12. 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
Upbeat
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Nyva
Artem Habelok and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Nyva
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andrii Boriachuk was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Marian Mysyk, and the manager let it.
Match14 Nov 2026
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Stanislav Pikhalyonok after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Looking ahead16 Nov 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Bukovyna in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A first team debut at 14 for Ivan Kocherhin
Off the academy pitches and into a senior shirt, at 14. The parents in the stand will keep the programme, and so will he.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad9 Nov 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match4 Nov 2026
Nyva bow out of the cup
Zorya go through and Nyva go home, 1‑4 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
The terraces9 Nov 2026
Nyva are taken apart by Zorya — and the town wants answers
It finished 1-4. 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.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Marked 7.83 at 15, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Nyva
Andrii Boriachuk 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
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Vitaliy Haiduchok 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.
Market9 Nov 2026
One of our own: Ruslan Shakhov joins the Nyva first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Ruslan Shakhov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Match7 Nov 2026
Three points for Nyva, 1‑0 the final word against Podillia in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
In brief
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Squad
A row about effort at Nyva
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Match
Nyva at the halfway mark
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Boardroom
Nobody left the Nyva dressing room in a hurry
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match31 Oct 2026
Nobody wants to play Nyva right now
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Nyva
Andrii Boriachuk 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 ratings2 Nov 2026
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.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
169% of the income goes out in wages at Nyva
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.
Match31 Oct 2026
Nyva get the job done against Inhulets
A 1‑0 win over Inhulets, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Marked 7.87. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Stanislav Pikhalyonok on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Maksym Mekhaniv has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Nyva will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Squad2 Nov 2026
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Nyva have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.76, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad26 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nyva this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Nyva
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andrii Boriachuk was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match24 Oct 2026
Three points for Nyva, 2‑1 the final word against Ahrobiznes in a contest settled by the finer margins.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑1, already talking about the next one.
Looking ahead26 Oct 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Marian Mysyk’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Nyva needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Squad26 Oct 2026
At 39 he has made the position his own, and the man he took it from has to find something to say about it. Nyva have a decision that made itself.
Market26 Oct 2026
The name of Denys Rezepov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Nyva say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match17 Oct 2026
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Metalurh Zaporizhzhia, and it could have been more.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Marian Mysyk goes up and wins it — 7.98
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.98 for the rest of it.
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 Nyva this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Laurie Shala 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.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Marked 8.16 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Nyva
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vasyl Burtnyk was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
A performance of 8.08 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Stanislav Pikhalyonok, on a 3‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. 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
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Nyva
Andrii Boriachuk 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.
Match10 Oct 2026
The goals have deserted Nyva
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Nyva can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad12 Oct 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.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout12 Oct 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.” Stanislav Pikhalyonok chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Match10 Oct 2026
No goals between Nyva and UCSA
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. UCSA will be the happier side with the point.
Market12 Oct 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Nyva know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Oct 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 11 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match3 Oct 2026
Nyva taken apart
0‑5 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Nyva
Artem Habelok 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Nyva
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andrii Boriachuk was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages swallow 211% of the Nyva 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 ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. 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 dugout5 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Vitalii Fedoriv
“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.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Nobody left the Nyva 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
10 new faces, and Nyva are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad28 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Nyva
Andrii Boriachuk and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match26 Sep 2026
Nyva come up short against Vorskla
Vorskla left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Marian Mysyk
“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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Vasyl Burtnyk 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 dugout28 Sep 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Stanislav Pikhalyonok after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
1 error, one goal, and a night in front of the same three seconds. He will see it tonight, tomorrow and probably in February, and everybody who has played knows exactly which frame he keeps stopping on.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
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 dugout28 Sep 2026
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match19 Sep 2026
Nyva make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Nyva have 3 straight wins of it.
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 Nyva this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces21 Sep 2026
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Match19 Sep 2026
Nyva get the job done against Probiy
A 1‑0 win over Probiy, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Marian Mysyk knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Nyva, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The plan did not have a place for Vitalii Fedoriv
Nobody at Nyva is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
Looking ahead21 Sep 2026
Vorskla next, and one man in the Nyva 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
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
Nyva close the window on a squad of their own making
19 in and 3 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Squad14 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Nyva
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andrii Boriachuk was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
Market14 Sep 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Dmytro Shaparenko 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. Vladyslav Tsygankov 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
It finished 1‑0, and it was Andrii Boriachuk’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Nyva.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
A performance of 8.03 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout14 Sep 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.” Stanislav Pikhalyonok kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Nyva
Laurie Shala was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Nyva
Andrii Boriachuk 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
$170.0K was the most the club would pay and Chornomorets were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Match5 Sep 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Denys Rezepov. 2‑0 against Victoriia Sumy, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.23, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Nyva training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vasyl Burtnyk 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 ratings7 Sep 2026
Ninety minutes of Denys Rezepov at his very best
Marked 8.02. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Nyva.
Squad7 Sep 2026
10 new faces, and Nyva are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Stanislav Pikhalyonok on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match26 Aug 2026
Cup progress for Nyva
A 2‑1 win over Rukh, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Match29 Aug 2026
A hiding for Nyva
Beaten 1‑4 by Chornomorets, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.99, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market31 Aug 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Nyva, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
The offer went to Chornomorets this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Squad31 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Nyva
Andrii Boriachuk 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
Nyva offered $120.0K; LNZ said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
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.
The terraces31 Aug 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Kostiantyn Kvas has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market24 Aug 2026
Marian Mysyk 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 Nyva can pretend not to have heard.
Match22 Aug 2026
No end in sight to Nyva's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Nyva has to find a result from somewhere.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
The offer went to LNZ this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Nyva
Artem Habelok and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market24 Aug 2026
Business is business: Maksym Mudryi goes
Kryvbas paid $57.0K and Nyva took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Andrii Boriachuk 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.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Chornomorets have kept their man, and Nyva go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match22 Aug 2026
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Maksym Mekhaniv
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 29. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Illia Ukhan gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Illia Ukhan has just signed for Nyva, and for once the answer mattered.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Metalist is saying, and nobody at Nyva is enjoying the guessing.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Nyva
Andrii Boriachuk 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 targets17 Aug 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.
Market17 Aug 2026
The name of Maksym Mudryi has come up in conversations Nyva were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Nyva
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vasyl Burtnyk was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Shakhtar have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market10 Aug 2026
Nyva say no — this time
The offer from Livyi Bereh for Marian Mysyk was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Squad10 Aug 2026
6 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Omelian Wiliam Chubak is living that version at Nyva, and it tends to show in the first month.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
$96.0K on the table at Ahrobiznes. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Market10 Aug 2026
The shirt still fits. Omelian Wiliam Chubak is back at Nyva, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Nyva
Andrii Boriachuk and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The offer went to Metalist this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ivan Palamarchuk and Nyva agree another 3 years.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Shakhtar have kept their man, and Nyva go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Andrii Boriachuk and Nyva agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Nyva
Artem Habelok 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Andrii Boriachuk 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 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Marian Mysyk, and the manager let it.
Match1 Aug 2026
Nyva caught on 90 minutes
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Prykarpattia scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Nyva, another week without a signature from Artem Habelok.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
7.89, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Nyva had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Nyva are still strangers to each other
6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Match1 Aug 2026
A 1‑1 draw with Prykarpattia leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.