Roman Loktionov, a former striker for Oleksandriia, Vorskla, Ingulets and a number of other Ukrainian and foreign clubs, who now heads Kudrivka, shared his memories of Mykola Pavlov's Yalta training camp.
Roman Loktionov- I was mentally prepared for it. My functional condition was good. I arrived in Poltava, from where we went to Yalta, where Pavlov traditionally held his first training camp. We spent about two weeks there. Of course, there were loads, running work, the "tsar's trail", all these tests. All this is true, as they write. I took it well. When a young player gets into such a team, he will endure to the last.
Mykola Petrovych gave me his best for every game. With this coach, you could never go to training relaxed. He always pushed forward. A big plus in Pavlov's approach was his absolute fairness. It was always a carrot and a stick. If a player worked hard, he was encouraged, but if he gave up... When Mykola Petrovych called me to his office, my heart rate was definitely 150.
Pavlov had his own specific requirements. Weight, blood pressure, functional condition were checked before each game. We were probably more afraid of not meeting these requirements than of making a mistake on the football field," Roman recalls.
