The new head coach of the newcomer to the Second League, "Lisne", Oleksandr Ryabokon, spoke about the latest news from his team’s camp.
— Oleksandr Dmytrovych, personally for me, without any deceit, your appointment as the head coach of "Lisne" was not a surprise at all. I was sure that your position would change as soon as the club gained professional status.
And for you, was the offer from Yuriy Hirniak to lead the team, replacing the young Denys Skepskyi at its helm, also predictable?
— I wouldn’t say it was a surprise because certain discussions with the management had been ongoing regarding this time to time [the change of position from consultant coach to full-fledged head coach]. Everything is natural.
Maybe if I had some specific offer, say from a club in the Ukrainian Premier League, the fate would have turned out a bit differently. But I agreed to head "Lisne" because I’ve been working in the structure of this club for more than a month now.
— Has the coaching staff already been formed? I know that a place has been found for your predecessor Skepskyi in it.
— All the people who worked are staying in their places, but the coaching staff will still be formed. Denys Skepskyi will be my assistant.
The main stars of "Lisne"— Denys Harmash and Serhiy Rybalko— are in the team?
— They are in place. Both are training with us, preparing for the new season. I am counting on them. Both Harmash and Rybalko will play for another season or two.
— Will they be able to handle the level of the Second League?
— Of course! They can handle the load. They have no extra weight. Just look at Denys— bones and sinews. (Smiling). So I have no doubts that they will manage. I am confident that both Harmash and Rybalko will be useful for the team.
— Recently, another ex-Dynamo player was left without a team— Yevhen Khacheridi. Would such an aged grenadier be useful for "Lisne"?
— I haven’t considered Khacheridi’s candidacy yet, but… I do not exclude it. (Smiling). Currently, among those players who are training with us and are on trial, there are both 18-year-old youths and 35-year-old veterans. Age is not the main thing. The main thing is that the player corresponds to my vision of football. And it is also very important what human qualities the players have.
— The last time we spoke, Harmash had just recovered from an injury, he strained his driving muscle and almost suffered a relapse in the very first game after that. Has Denys healed his injury?
— Yes, he has already made it. He is training in the general group.
— Where will "Lisne" play its home matches in the Second League? Definitely not in Vorzel, as there is no stadium there.
— Our main home stadium is the arena in Makariv. Matches of both the Second and First Leagues have already been played there. It has a good quality pitch, it should be noted. Plus, there is cooperation with the local youth school.
— What about newcomers? Is there anyone already to fill the gaps left after the aforementioned ten players departed?
— We currently have about ten players on trial. You might ask, who are they? I won’t name names, but I will say that there are no loud names like Harmash or Rybalko. However, there are well-known guys in a narrow circle with experience playing in the First League and even having played a bit in the UPL.
I will frankly say that I do not like trials. But considering that the team has lost ten players at once, I will try to finalize all these trials as soon as possible. We will play a couple of friendly matches, and then it will be clear who will remain in the team. Only then will we begin to prepare directly for the matches in the Second League Championship.
— Is there already a clear goal for the season, or is it too early to talk about storming the Second League now?
— There is a goal. First of all— to form a team, and only after that will we set some other, higher goals. For now, we can say that we want to be among the leaders of the Second League, but… There is no formed team yet, and consequently, there are no clear tasks.
Viktor Glukhennyi