Obolon President Oleksandr Slobodian commented on the latest news from the camp of the second capital club toUV.
Oleksandr Slobodian- Oleksandr Vyacheslavovych, it is interesting to hear the position of the first person in the club regarding the latest personnel decisions.
- Ivashchenko gained coaching experience under many head coaches at our club, starting in 2013, before he became the head coach. He is well aware of the responsibility for the result. Valeriy Volodymyrovych was warned after the loss to Rukh in a tie game that you don't lose like that, and then we had three more defeats in a row.
It is clear that one point out of 15 and 16th place were the last straw for me. The limit of patience was crossed. He was given a chance to improve the situation. I am not a person who tends to change coaches often. Ivashchenko had a lot of trust, which he did not use.
- Did they start looking for a replacement for Ivashchenko after Rukh, after the 2nd round?
- We weren't looking for a coach before the loss to Zorya in the 5th round.
- Ivashchenko publicly admitted that the match with Polissia (0-4 in Zhytomyr) was a failure, and in the rest of the matches he cited statistics according to which Obolon looked better than their opponents. Were you not convinced? There were objective reasons - for example, fatigue after 120 minutes and a penalty shootout with Kolos in the Cup...
- There are 25 players in the team, not 11. Not all the players took part in the Cup game. There were some fresh players who could have played in Zhytomyr. And to say that the team was tired...
- Nevertheless, the lack of arrival, the treatment of the Obolon Arena pitch at the time when the players were supposed to be training, could have had a decisive impact on the outcome of the game with Polissya
- I agreed to three options: the Obolon-Arena hotel, in Bucha or in Zhytomyr. Moving 140 kilometers is not a big deal... Kryvbas, for example, played 9 matches in a month with long travels. Many leading Ukrainian teams play several matches a week.
- The lack of training due to worms somewhere hurts the reputation of the club and the corporation, you must admit.
- The team did not receive a training process because of the work of the head coach, and looking for micro-causes is a biased excuse. If there are issues within the club, I don't remember the president not meeting the head coach halfway. He had to sit down with the director, call the agronomists and delay the application of mineral fertilizers for several hours. If Valeriy Volodymyrovych clings to micro-problems, it only means that he is not yet ready to work in a team of the UPL level. The coach should not look for reasons on the side or in the players.
- Did the players have any conflicts with the coach or management within the team?
- Relations within the club are among the strongest. All football people will tell you that. If there were minor issues, they could be resolved. We have a good material base, our own stadium, we train on our own fields, the club is provided with everything, including transportation. It is a sin to complain and look for reasons for defeats. Everyone has their own character and demands to be respected. We need to sit down at the table and communicate. If there is a constant dialog, all issues are resolved. As the president of a football club on a voluntary basis, I am not satisfied when people cannot agree with each other.
- Ivashchenko was the head coach of Obolon for three years, which used to change several specialists on the coaching bench in such a short time.
- This island of stability was provided by the friendly atmosphere that was built at the club. The Obolon Corporation provides functional activities to the football club and creates conditions for its existence on a stable basis. Everything else either fits into this structure or does not.
- The choice of a successor fell on Serhiy Shyshchenko, although the names of Dulub and Kovalets could be heard from colleagues...
- Sergiy was the first candidate on our list. We know him well, as a well-known player in the past who gave a great result with Polissia. We like his desire to play an interesting, combinational game, which I also like. Since childhood, I have loved teams that play combination football, which is popular with the audience and brings results.
- Does Obolon's current squad of players suit the football you want to see?
- We have a fairly balanced team. These players are capable of showing much better results than they do now. It is clear that we lost about three points due to one-sided mistakes of the referees. We can recall Poltava, the first match with Kovalivka. We have what we have. From the first minutes of his arrival at the club, Serhiy Yuriyovych inspired optimism in the players and club officials. Today, Obolon has more potential than it did a year ago. And we have to use it.
Oleksandr Karpenko
