Mynai's media manager Myroslav Nebesnyk told us whether the team is afraid of the scandalous reputation of its newcomer Vladyslav Vakula.
- In one of his interviews, blogger Dmytro Povorozniuk said that he was sympathetic to the Minaj project until Artem Milevskyi appeared there. He said that the invitation of such a player killed the team's identity. But after Milevskyi, Minaj had Selezniov and now Vakula. Doesn't it bother you that the club is associated with a haven for players with a scandalous reputation?
- That's an interesting question. We are a young club, so not many players have played in our system. Let's focus on the number "200". That is, there have been 200 players in Minaj over the years. Three of them, as you say, have a scandalous reputation. This is 1.5 per cent of the total number of players. And, according to you, it is this small percentage that has created our reputation as a "haven for notorious footballers"? Although this is the first time we have heard of such an association. And why do you associate Milevskyi and Selezniov with negativity? Both are legendary Ukrainian footballers, national teams. For example, we associate Milevsky with a brilliant penalty in the match against Switzerland. And Selezniov is one of the best scorers in the history of the Ukrainian championships. The man who scored against Tottenham in Donetsk and helped them win the UEFA Cup.
The president of FC Minaj, Valeriy Peresolyak, spoke about Milevskyi and Selezniov in an interview with Veres president Ivan Nadein back in the summer. These were important transfers from an image and sporting point of view. As for Vladyslav Vakula, he is a player whom Zeljko Lubenovic wants to see in the team. Mr Zeljko is the head coach of Minaj. He makes the final decision on the squad and is responsible for the result. If he says that Vakula will help us, we trust him and take this step.
- One case may be an accident, two may be a coincidence, but three is already a trend... Milevskyi, Selezniov, and now Vakula. "Does Minaj deliberately invite players with big names to be popular in the media, or is it a purely sporting calculation?
- Popular? It's hard to say how much our Instagram following has increased since Vakula's signing. It's unlikely to be significant. Bloggers also didn't pay much attention to this transfer in their coverage. So either we miscalculated in gaining popularity, or it was not our goal. It's more likely the second option, isn't it?
Your second question is very similar to the first. So we can assume that we have already answered it. Vladislav is a player that Zeljko Lubenovic wants to have in his team. That's why we signed the contract. By the way, for one and a half seasons. So we have long-term plans for this player.
- Vakula was involved in a drunken car accident when he was on loan to Mariupol (he wrote about this loan on social media, and photos and videos of the accident are available online) . A report was drawn up against him in Zhytomyr for malicious disobedience to police officers - this was reported by journalist Volodymyr Zverov, after which Polissya cancelled his contract. He was expelled from Desna for unsportsmanlike behaviour, and he didn't fit in at Chornomorets either. Aren't you afraid that in Zakarpattia, where there is no curfew, Vakula might not adhere to the sports regime?
- We are not afraid. We know that Polissia and Vladyslav stopped working together by mutual agreement. It was not a unilateral termination. As for Chornomorets, Vakula did not suit Roman Hryhorchuk in terms of his game. So the parties parted ways while maintaining good relations.
- You have already mentioned the term of the contract signed with Vakula . Unlike Milevskyi and Selezniov, who were older players, Vladyslav is young. Is the club looking forward to a long-term cooperation with him?
- We are counting on long-term cooperation. He showed himself well in friendly matches, and we hope that his passion for the game will only increase in UPL matches. Vakula is currently third among the current Minaj players in terms of the number of matches played in the UPL. So we expect him to justify the trust we have placed in him.
Ihor Semion