On January 21, «Minai» announced the termination of cooperation with Željko Ljubenović and has been without a coaching staff since then.
Yevhen Kalynychenko (photo: fcnyva.com)The number one candidate for the coaching position of the Transcarpathians is Yevhen Kalynychenko. The 35-year-old specialist has been unemployed since September 2024, when he was dismissed from the position of mentor of Ternopil's «Niva». Under his leadership, the team earned seven points in six starting rounds of the First League and was knocked out of the Cup after losing in the first preliminary round to «Bucovina» in a penalty shootout (4:5).
Kalynychenko's candidacy was considered in the winter of 2023 when Minai was looking for a replacement for Volodymyr Sharan.
At the same time, it is unlikely that the name of the head coach of «Minai» will be announced before the start of the team's training camp, which is tentatively scheduled for the second half of February. This is related to the management's desire to reduce the expense part and save on the salaries of the future coaching staff. This correlates with the fact that, according to our information, one of the conditions for the termination of Ljubenović's contract with «Minai» was the refusal of the Serbian specialist to the unpaid salary for November, December, and part of January at that time.
