President of "Inhulets" Oleksandr Povorozniuk explained why Zhelko Lyubenovych did not lead the club from Petrovo and left "Vorskla" without having led the Poltava team in any match.
Oleksandr Povorozniuk“In Vorskla it happened the same as in Inhulets. Lyubenovych has one "trick"
— Oleksandr Hryhorovych, Lyubenovych left “Vorskla” before the start of the season. Last year he was supposed to lead Inhulets, but that never happened. Time has passed, so maybe you can tell us what happened then?
— Lyubenovych in football is like Tymoshenko in politics. One is a problem in politics, and the other is in football. Give Tymoshenko the position of Prime Minister and she will start saying that Zelensky is the best president, but without a position everything seems wrong to her.
I spoke with the management of "Vorskla" when they came to us for a friendly match, and I can say that a similar situation occurred in the Poltava club with Lyubenovych as happened in "Inhulets" some time ago.
— So what happened with Lyubenovych in "Inhulets"?
— We had already agreed on everything, I gave him approval for all the players he wanted. The only question that remained was the salary. I asked him: “Let’s discuss the financial terms. How much do you want to earn?”. Lyubenovych replied: “Oleksandr Hryhorovych, the salary is not important for me. It’s important for me to work and show results. We will always agree, don’t worry”.
Time goes by, I tell him: “Come, let’s conclude the contract”. — “I’m currently abroad”. I ask: “Can I announce you as the head coach of “Inhulets”?”. To which he replied: “Of course! We will agree on everything, the salary is not important”.
Then bam! Two days left before the start of the championship, I get a call from Lyubenovych, and he starts telling me how much money he wants to receive. When I heard the amount, my eyes almost popped out, I nearly got cross-eyed.
I said: “How come? We discussed everything from the first day”. — “No! I’m not going to work for that money”. This exactly the same thing happened in "Vorskla". Lyubenovych has this “trick” that he doesn’t initially say how much he wants to earn. He saves it all for the very end, thinking that later there will be no way out for the club’s management. But there is always a way out.
“In my case, Lyubenovych wanted to receive 200 thousand hryvnias per month. Whereas Lupashko in "Inhulets" worked for 80 thousand”
— What salary did Lyubenovych want to receive in "Inhulets"?
— In my case, he wanted to receive 200 thousand hryvnias per month and for his assistants to receive 180 thousand. Whereas Lupashko in "Inhulets" worked for 80 thousand hryvnias, and his assistants received 60 thousand. I offered Lyubenovych the same conditions that Lupashko had, and I said: “I cannot raise your salary three times”. Lyubenovych stated that for such a salary, he wouldn’t come to us, he didn’t even want to negotiate, although before he said, “money is not a problem” and for him the main thing was to “show results”. His favorite phrase that annoys me: “We will always agree. It’s not about the money”. And in the end, he wanted 200 thousand two days before the start of the championship!
By the way, I arranged with Peresolyak for him to release Lyubenovych to Inhulets for free. Valera readily agreed. And not like Lyubenovych later claimed—that his club didn’t let him go or that agents threatened him. We just didn’t agree on the salary.
— And what salary did Lyubenovych receive in Minai?
— 50 thousand hryvnias.
Andriy Piskun
