From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match3 Oct 2026
11 matches without a win for Poltava
The run now stands at 11, and the questions being asked around Poltava are no longer polite ones.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Poltava will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market5 Oct 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 Poltava can pretend not to have heard.
Squad5 Oct 2026
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Player ratings5 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Poltava this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match3 Oct 2026
Poltava 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.
The dugout5 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 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Mykhailo Burda to a room that had heard them before.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Sep 2026
The wait goes on for Poltava
10 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
The goals have deserted Poltava
10 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Poltava can tell you which week it ends in.
Match28 Sep 2026
Poltava sink to position 16
0 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Match26 Sep 2026
0‑3 to Karpaty, 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Poltava will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Valerii Voskonyan 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 ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
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.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Poltava's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Poltava has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Poltava will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match19 Sep 2026
Poltava cannot find the net
9 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.
Market21 Sep 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 Poltava, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Poltava
Valerii Voskonyan 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Poltava
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dmytro Plakhtyr was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets21 Sep 2026
Poltava asked and Junior said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match19 Sep 2026
A bad afternoon for Poltava against Zorya
0‑2 to Zorya, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Valerii Voskonyan, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Sep 2026
Nowhere to hide for Poltava
0‑5 against LNZ, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Poltava will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match12 Sep 2026
8 matches without a win for Poltava
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Poltava are no longer polite ones.
Match12 Sep 2026
8 matches without a goal for Poltava
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.
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 11 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Poltava 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
24 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
The window shuts on the Vavá Guerreiro deal
Poltava ran out of time with UCSA. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
Poltava asked and UCSA said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad7 Sep 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 69 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad7 Sep 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.
Market7 Sep 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.
Match5 Sep 2026
7 matches without a win for Poltava
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Poltava are no longer polite ones.
Match5 Sep 2026
7 matches without a goal for Poltava
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.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Poltava have gone to UCSA with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Mykola Buzhyn 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 Sep 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Luca Maiorano and Poltava agree another 5 years.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Poltava asked and Podbeskidzie said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad31 Aug 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 76 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match26 Aug 2026
The cup run ends for Poltava
0‑1 against Obolon, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Match29 Aug 2026
The wait goes on for Poltava
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.
Match29 Aug 2026
The goals have deserted Poltava
6 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Poltava can tell you which week it ends in.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Flamengo keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Poltava asked and Veres said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Poltava training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmytro Plakhtyr 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Valerii Voskonyan 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
A bad afternoon for Poltava against Kolos
0‑1 to Kolos, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad24 Aug 2026
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Poltava will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Everything agreed with Flamengo, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Match22 Aug 2026
No end in sight to Poltava's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Poltava has to find a result from somewhere.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Poltava 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.
Match22 Aug 2026
Poltava 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Poltava training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmytro Plakhtyr 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Poltava
Valerii Voskonyan 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 ratings24 Aug 2026
Marked 6.34 on 12 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Match22 Aug 2026
Metalist left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 Aug 2026
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Poltava will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. LNZ have kept their man, and Poltava go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Racing keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Poltava
Mykola Buzhyn 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
Poltava 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Poltava training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yevhen Misiura 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
Veres left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout17 Aug 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 Mykhailo Burda left the room before anybody could ask which.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Poltava have made the call to Podbeskidzie. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad10 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Poltava will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match8 Aug 2026
0‑4 to Dynamo Kyiv, 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.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Poltava have gone to LNZ with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The paperwork begins on Iván Manzur
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Poltava have done the hard part with Racing, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad10 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 Poltava this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 Poltava, and it tends to show in the first month.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Valentyn Kocherhin 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
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Vasyl Tymchyk 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
Squad3 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 13 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match1 Aug 2026
Nowhere to hide for Poltava
0‑9 against Shakhtar, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
The terraces3 Aug 2026
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 5 of the 25 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Dmytro Plakhtyr commits to Poltava for another 3 years.
Match1 Aug 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 9 goals between Poltava and Shakhtar, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Poltava
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mykola Buzhyn was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Poltava asked and Volos NPS said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad3 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 Poltava this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout3 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.