President of Zhytomyr-based Polissya Gennadiy Butkevych spoke in detail about the reasons and circumstances of Yuriy Kalitvintsev's resignation.
Gennadiy Butkevych (photo: polissyafc.com)- Gennadiy Vladyslavovych, there are a lot of rumours around the club about the coaching change, how can you comment on this?
- Yuriy Kalitvintsev decided to resign on his own. It was an extremely difficult decision for him, and for me to agree with him. Yuriy Kalitvintsev is a man I have the utmost respect for. With each year of our cooperation, this respect has only grown stronger. We have developed a close and trusting relationship, which I value very much and will never forget what he has done for FC Polissya.
- How would you rate Yurii Mykolaiovych's tenure as head coach?
- Yurii Kalitvintsev is a man of an era in the history of Zhytomyr football. In the summer of 2021, when Yurii Mykolaiovych accepted my offer to lead the team, a new and most successful era in the history of FC Polissia began. We went through the beginning of a full-scale war together. I can say with certainty that at that moment it was Kalitvintsev who kept the team together. Despite the constant interest in our players at that time, no one left the club. Together with him, we passed a very big test. And with this squad of players, he won the First League and led the team to the Premier League. And we have to thank Yuriy Mykolayovych for this historic achievement.
He is an ambitious, experienced and strong-minded person. The coach who created the champion team. The coach who led Polissia to the semi-finals of the Ukrainian Cup for the first time. This is forever in the history of Zhytomyr football. How can you feel about such a coach? Only with great gratitude and respect.
- How did you personally take the coach's decision to resign?
- I confess - very hard. Since the early 80s, I have been managing people and have held various leadership positions in my life. I understand very well how difficult it is to find decent, honest and courageous people. The most difficult thing for me is to part with people. So this is a very difficult moment for me. Together with Yuriy Kalitvintsev, we have come a long and difficult way. He had an extraordinary burden on his shoulders. After joining the UPL, in addition to the training process, he had to deal with numerous names of newcomers, and he had to take full responsibility for everyone he evaluated and approved. This happened with everyone who came and everyone who left.
In general, throughout the entire period of our cooperation, he always found reasonable solutions and coped with all difficulties with dignity. But now, he said, he feels tired and cannot let the team down, so the decision to resign is one of the most difficult for both him and me.
But I want to assure all the fans that the club continues to develop dynamically. We are forming the structure of the sports department, which has recently been headed by sports director Volodymyr Teslya. We have also set up a scouting department headed by Anatoliy Volkov. During this time, Vadym Shabliy has provided great assistance to the club, for which I am very grateful to him and we will continue this cooperation. At the same time, we are also open to working with all agents and agencies.
- How will the club continue to function after your resignation?
- Yuriy Kalitvintsev had my full trust, so we did not prepare for a change of coach. Due to the rapid developments, we decided to appoint an acting head coach. He will be introduced to the team on Tuesday, 12 March.
- There are rumours that the team may be led by a foreign specialist?
- Serhiy Shyshchenko has been appointed as acting coach. With all due respect to foreign coaches, I believe that Polissya should be led by a Ukrainian specialist. We have a lot of talented professionals like Vernydub, Skrypnyk, Rotan, Rebrov, Hryhorchuk, and I would like Shyshchenko to join this team of specialists.
- Finally, what would you like to say to the fans of FC Polissia?
- First of all, I am grateful to every fan, to those who love and believe in the team. I really appreciate it. I feel that we owe the fans for the recent results and I promise that the club will make every effort to repay this debt to the fans.
