Yuriy Vernidub, the head coach of Kryvyi Rih, while summing up the season in which his team finished in seventh place in the Ukrainian championship, admitted that at some point he seriously considered retiring.
- If you had been told before the start of the championship that Kryvbas would retain a chance of winning the European Cup title at the finish line, but ended up finishing in seventh place, how would you react?
- I would have said that we will fight in any case, just as I've been saying from the start. Although the history of our performance was difficult. But I am pleased that we fought until the last round for fifth place, which gave us the right to qualify for the Conference League. There was an intrigue - and the fact that Kryvbas secured it is very pleasing for me as a coach.
- During the first ten league games Kryvbas very rarely picked up points, sitting at the bottom of the table. What enabled the team to change the situation for the better and go into the winter break in the middle of the table?
- Last year we picked the players we expected. However, some of them did not prove to be the best, so there was no team as such. During the first ten rounds we were just building it. Through pain, through defeats. But despite this, we believed that everything will be fine, and I, along with the coaching staff, did not move away from my program and continued to work further. I have to thank the club president, who tolerated it all. It took some time for us to get out of the danger zone and into the middle of the table. Kryvbas never dropped below eighth place in the second round. That's my biggest comfort as a coach.
- Most of the first half of the first round was a real test for your strength and resilience. Thoughts of retirement did not cross your mind at that time?
- Yes, there were. I wanted to leave after the away match with Olexandriya (it was held on Matchday 8 of the UPL and ended in a 0:2 defeat for Kryvbas - editor's note). I saw that even though we work, nothing works. I just could not understand: why?
Thanks to the club management who supported me - we slowly got what we wanted. Whoever said anything, but "Kryvbas" never played on pushback, never played in positional defense. We have always tried to attack and score, and in this component a lot depends on the squad. I am pleased that the club trusted me and I have continued my work. In the last five rounds of the fall part of the season we managed to get 12 points and left the winter break on the eighth position.
- You have said about the support from the club president. Did you feel the support of the players?
- One hundred percent! They always said: "Yuriy Mykolayovych, don`t worry, we`ll find solutions". I understand them, too: they want to be as good as possible, but it`s not always like that. There were too many mistakes in the first round. But in the second round the team looked like the one I want to see as a coach. If we make it stronger this summer, we could really fight for a place in the top five.
I am very disappointed with the points we lost in the spring games in which we should not have done that. If we hadn't lost them, I am sure we could have taken the fifth spot.
- Which games are you referring to?
- The games with Lviv, in which we drew 2-2, the defeats to Minay and Chornomorets 0-1 and 2-3. We lost the third game at home completely off the mark. In the course of the meeting we were losing 0-1, then we were leading 2-1, but after that the boys couldn't hold on to the victory. But this is history...
- How many games in the championship were points lost due to poor quality or partiality of the referees - have you counted?
- I don`t even want to count! What referees sometimes did to us was unpleasant. I've even been twice sent off. But everything is on their conscience. I must admit that until recently I was hoping and dreaming that our refs have changed a bit and started treating their jobs professionally. However, what I saw left me rather disappointed. But in any case, Kryvbas managed to hold out. I want to express the hope that starting with the season 2023/24 the level of officiating in Ukraine will be much higher.
Vyacheslav Kulchytskyy