Renowned expert and coach Oleg Fedorchuk shared his thoughts on the start of “Alexandria” in the 2025/26 season. Recall that the “city team” initially lost without a chance in the Conference League qualifying round to Serbian “Partizan” (0:1, 0:4), and then lost in the 1st round of the Ukrainian championship to the Premier League debutant, “Kudrivka” (1:3).
Oleg Fedorchuk
— This is a complete failure of the club’s management. I wouldn’t point all fingers at the young head coach (33-year-old Kyrylo Nesterenko, — ed.). In my opinion, in the situation that “Alexandria” has found itself in, an authoritative coach with a lot of experience could have helped.
Why was Rotan successful? At first, the team struggled, but still, the authority of this player from the past made the footballers believe, listen, and perform. Nesterenko doesn’t have that. And when it gets tough, it turns out that everyone is on their own. From the red cards, we see that the level of discipline in the team has significantly dropped.
— Four cards in three games is quite a lot...
— We can argue about the fairness of some of them, but what Kovalets and Kampush did in the match against “Kudrivka” again speaks of weak discipline in the team.
What the Portuguese defender did was nothing short of rudeness. Although last season I considered him one of the best center-backs in the league, the pairing of Shabanov—Kampush was fantastic, plus goalkeeper Ermakov. The success of “Alexandria” for me was largely associated with the successful play of these three players.
From Nesterenko’s interviews before the games against “Partizan,” it was clear that he was getting carried away; the coach just needed to stay quiet and work. So, although it’s tragic, it’s all predictable. God willing, everything works out for this mentor, but in my opinion, in this situation, he is not the right candidate for “Alexandria.” It’s like with weightlifters, he ordered the wrong weight. I’ll say more, after the next game, organizational conclusions may follow. For some reason, I have this premonition.
Serhiy Demyanchuk
