Oleksandr Shovkovskyi is better than Pushych - performance indicators of UPL coaches

The last round of the Ukrainian championship is left to be played. For 14 clubs, the football season will end on 25 May, with the 13th and 14th-placed teams having to play the transition matches. Four days after the end of the Premier League championship, we decided to analyse the performance of the head coaches of the elite division of Ukrainian football. It should be noted that only five coaches will finish the championship with the teams they started with.

Oleksandr Shovkovskyi. Photo: fcdynamo.com

Let's be clear, the ranking is rather conditional for several reasons. Firstly, by the coach's length of service: for example, Kolos head coach Oleksandr Pozdeyev hasn't been with the first team for a month, while Roman Hryhorchuk has been with Chornomorets for over two years. Secondly, the quality of the matches. Shakhtar's head coach Marino Pushic, who had a fantastic run with the Pitmen in domestic tournaments, lost in European competitions, as did Zorya's coach Yuriy Koval. Thirdly, of course, the figures do not take into account the personnel potential of the teams: it is easier to score points with Dynamo, for example, than, without offence or passion, with Veres or Minaj.

But we'd still like to point out a few telling moments. Of course, this is the work that Zeljko Lubenovic has done with Minaj. The Transcarpathian club has not yet escaped direct relegation, but it can do so in the last round, plus the 19 points earned by the team under the Serbian coach in 15 matches are impressive. Especially against the backdrop of the team's performance before Lubenovic's arrival.

Dnipro-1 coach Yuriy Maksymov, despite, to put it mildly, not the best second part of the season, is in the top 3 in terms of points scored on average per match. This is partly due to his time with the team (half as many matches as Yuriy Vernydub), and partly due to the bright autumn part of the championship.

Yuriy Vernydub, who led Kryvbas to the third bronze medal in the history of Kryvyi Rih football, has once again proved that he can build teams and deliver results over the distance. And working with Vitaliy Ponomarev's Rukh is the main discovery of this year's championship.

It is impossible not to note the excellent performance of Oleh Dulub in LNZ and the so far unsuccessful results of Viktor Skrypnyk in Metalist 1925. As well as Serhiy Dolgansky, who replaced him at Vorskla.

Only five coaches will finish the championship with the teams they started with - the aforementioned Vernydub and Ponomarev, as well as Roman Hryhorchuk with Chornomorets, Ruslan Rotan with Oleksandriya and Valerii Ivashchenko with Obolon. For the latter, this is his first season in the elite as a head coach, while Rotan has the worst performance of the other three.

Performance of UPL coaches

* Note: Obolon coach Valeriy Ivashchenko only took into account matches with the team in the 2023/2024 season, which the Brewers are playing in the elite.