The head coach of Minaj, Zeljko Lubenovic, commented on his resignation , which did not take place.
- Željko, why was your name mentioned for the second time this offseason in the context of your possible departure from Minaya?
- You know that relegation to the First League was the first blow for us. The second came when the Tournament of Four was invented. The third blow was the defeat by Left Bank (0:3). We can say that after that we fell into a psychological hole. The organization at the club left much to be desired, which prompted me to resign.
Before the game against Prykarpattia, I had a one-on-one meeting with the club president. Then - with other club executives. We sat down to analyze the situation. We realized all the mistakes of the last two months. We started to correct them, and the results are showing. Everyone at the club wants Minaj to return to the elite division.
- Where were the mistakes made?
- "Minaj suffered a lot because of the ping-pong between the UPL and UAF. There were no problems between me and the club. From the first day at Minaj, I said that the organization at the club should be at a high level if we want to achieve results. So I decided to resign because I didn't want to lower the bar set during my 9 months in the team.
After the meeting, we are working together with the president and the club's executives to remedy the situation.
- How did the president of Minaj, Valeriy Peresolyak, react to your decision?
- Valeriy Ivanovych has always fought for this team. We quickly understood each other. We are interested in seeing Minaj develop. If the team were to stand still, it would no longer exist. I asked that the work we started at the training camp be continued.
Now the team has become even younger. We hope that in 6-12 months the players will make progress and benefit Minaj. The last six months have shown that the club's vector is bearing fruit.
- Did you have any complaints about Minaj's management?
- No complaints at all. We discussed the organization - everything related to the team and its surroundings. There were no quarrels or conflicts. Without a good organization at the club, you can't achieve anything. This is what I learned at Zorya, playing for them and working at the club after my career.
- You brought me to the topic of Zorya. To what extent is the information about your former team's interest true?
- It's not true at all. Even if they had approached me, I would have refused. My good friends work with the team. I have great respect for Koval and Bartulovich, with whom we are in touch every other day. As long as Zorya has a coach, I will not conduct any negotiations.
"Zorya will always be in my heart. If they are left without a coach, I am ready to return. Bartulovich called me the other day and asked me about it. I showed him the message that I hadn't talked to anyone. They can work in peace.
- Has Zorya's owner Yevhen Heller not contacted you?
- I had no contact with Yevhen Borysovych. What's the point of contacting me when Zorya has three wins in four matches of the new season?
- Talking to you, I can tell that you are not comfortable with these gossips.
- Yes, you are right. I am only interested in my work and achievements in my work. I don't like these stories about me. Today's journalists have started to work more with a bias towards "yellowing" than talking about football. We didn't want my resignation to be published in the press, so we decided everything between us.
- Judging by the two wins at the start, Minaj is coping well with the situation the team found itself in this summer.
- I am satisfied with the team's readiness. It's a sin to complain, because the team is being recruited on the fly. We are moving forward and in the right direction.
- Can the newly revamped Minaj make it to the championship group?
- As I said, the team has become younger. There is a lot of work ahead to accomplish this task.
Oleksandr Karpenko