Vyacheslav Fridman: "I am grateful to Maksimov for not bargaining, but saying 'Yes' right away"

Vyacheslav Fridman, Commercial Director of Dnipro-1, spoke in detail about the chronology of the appointment of Yuriy Maksymov as the team's head coach.

- The first thing we did was to call Dmytro Mykhailenko, who played and then coached Dnipro-1 for many years before Jovicevic. He already had some work in Cyprus, so he took some time to think about it. He has a family - two little girls who are used to it and go to school there. Mykhailenko wanted to coach Dnipro-1, but he doubted that he would leave his family in Cyprus, come here and find it different. We talked to him every day.

But at the same time, Andriy Rusol (executive director of Dnipro-1 - ed.) was negotiating with two Spanish specialists, everyone knows their names, this information was on the Internet. However, just as the negotiations were going on, there was an explosion in the city centre - a Russian missile arrived. The Spaniard immediately sent Rusol a photo of his children, a boy aged 7 and a girl aged 5. He said, "How can I come to you when my family is worried and afraid? Although he said he wanted to work in Ukraine, that there were prospects for him here. But he has a family that comes first.

There was a break in the championship, from 4 to 18 September, for the national team games. During this time, we had to do something. One day, Rusol and I sat down and started talking, and then Yuriy Maksymov's name came up.

- Had you met Maksymov before?

- We crossed paths with him somewhere in football - we ran together. He's a well-respected person. And the guys I know spoke favourably of him. They said that there is a good specialist, Maksymov, who is currently working at Zvyagel, but it's not his level. They said that he could use his authority to unite the team, give them confidence, and quickly bring them up to his level. We contacted him, and I thank Gennadiy Butkevych for letting him go. I am grateful to Maksymov for not bargaining and for saying yes in our first phone conversation.

- Zvyagel, with whom Yurii Maksymov worked, is said to be the second team of Dnipro native and Polissia president Gennadiy Butkevych. You said he let him go straight away.

- I called Butkevych and he told me the following: "Maksymov is a quality coach, so he shouldn't be sitting here in the Second League, it's not his level."

- So, Butkevych just let him go, and Dnipro-1 didn't pay any compensation for Maksymov?

- Butkevych and I didn't even discuss this. We didn't pay anything.

- Is it true that there was a time when you wanted to appoint Oleksandr Hrytsai as head coach of Dnipro-1?

- Oleksandr Hrytsai worked in the previous coaching staff and left together with Kucher. We once played football here in Dnipro, it was around 10 September, before I spoke to Maksymov. And I said to Hrytsai: "Look, Sasha, if we don't find anyone now, we'll have to temporarily appoint you as the manager until the winter." (Smiles)

In general, our situation was bad. There was simply no one to appoint. Everything was clear with Mykhailenko by 10 September, which was a conditional date. He openly told us: "I'm sorry, I can't do it". The Spaniards also refused.

- There were rumours that Skrypnyk or Rotan, people who are not strangers to Dnipro, could become the coach of Dnipro-1. Have you been in contact with them?

- At that time, they were at the clubs. We can't just take these people and lure them away. But we knew through our acquaintances, such as Andrii Polunin, who once played with Skrypnyk, that he wanted to coach Dnipro-1. We had a little contact with him by phone, but then the candidacy of the free Maximov surfaced, and everything worked out immediately.

- Didn't you talk to Rotan?

- As I understand it, Oleksandriya has its own programme and coaching staff. They play some kind of Rotan Style(an aggressive team that plays as the first team - ed. note). How do you call him? He has a valid contract. Ruslan Petrovich and I are on very good, friendly terms. I believe that such issues cannot be resolved in this way.

Oleksandr Petrov