The common feature of the last few seasons is that teams in the bottom half completely revamp their squads (8 to 15 new players) in order to insure survival. Two different strategies are used to achieve this: first, the teams have try-outs for 20 to 30 unattached players, mainly players from neighboring leagues. The other strategy is to fill your squad with talented reserve team players from the major clubs like Dynamo, Shakhtar, and Dnipro. The players they get on loan are very talented but young and inexperienced. The former strategy is widely used especially for the clubs which were promoted to the Premier League. For example: in the beginning of this season PFC Sevastopol almost completely changed the team that won promotion. Clubs at the foot of the table usually are not well financed and can’t solely depend on their own academy products, which means that cheap players are the way to rearm. The latter strategy was used by two clubs last season during the winter campaign. After months of financial uncertainty both FC Zoria Lugansk and FC Kruvbass Kryvyy-Rig were acquired by new owners. To save the team from relegation Zoria’s coach brought in a few experienced signings from other Premier League clubs plus a half dozen FC Shakhtar Donetsk reserve players. At first, the side struggled for points and stayed just above the relegation zone. But after the first four games the team finally started to produce results. The club finished a few points above the relegation zone.
Another case last season was FC Kryvbass, who at the winter break were at the foot of the table and destined for relegation (7 points in 20 games). In the winter break the club acquired a new young head coach (not without controversy) from FC Obolon Kyiv, where he was successful at bringing the club to the top division and finishing in the top 10 after the first half of the season. From Obolon he also brought a few players to Kryvbas. But his main talent came from loaning young players from Dynamo and Dnipro. Results didn’t come easy at first. The club picked up points where it could, but it didn’t look like it would be enough to survive. Only a few weeks before the end of the campaign the club got a surprising victory away at Karpaty (0:2), who finished 5th in the league that year, and now were in touching distance from safety. It all came down to the last game of the season. The club started the day a point behind FC Chornomorets Odesa and needed a win in order to have any chance to stay up. The club won its game 3:1 against FC Zakarpattia and Chornomorets drew against FC Zoria, which meant that the club would stay in the top division for another season.
Here is part 1 of the spring half preview starting with the clubs at the bottom.
FC Matalurg Zaporizhzha (16th)
Before the start of the 2010/2011 season, rumors were circling in the popular media that the club might be sold. A prominent businessmen was rumored to be in talks with club officials, but negotiations came to a halt and the club started the campaign with the same people in charge. It would be an understatement to say that the club struggled in the first half of the campaign. The club finished with ten points and only one win. No drastic changes were made during the winter break. The club continued their policy of selling their best talent to other premier league clubs. Team leaders Arzhanov and Polevoy made the move to Arsenal Kyiv, while Nevmyvaka joined FC Illichevets. During pre-season training, the club looked at anywhere from 10 to 20 players, signing new contracts with only 2. If no progress is made in terms of the club’s ownership, it is hard to see the club staying another year in the Ukrainian Football Premier League.
PFC Sevastopol (15th)
During the winter break the club got some much needed financial injection. The first major acquisition for the club was the hiring of experienced Bulgarian coach Angel Chervenkov. Besides his vast experience in charge of top Bulgarian clubs, the new coach also brought his proven knowledge of the European transfer market. The club signed a number of players who have experience in western Europe like Besart Ibraimi from Shalke 04 and Georgian international Mate Ghvinianidze from 1860 Munich. In addition to changes on the field, the club finally made a deal with the local government about long term loan of the stadium. The first half of the season the club was forced to play in Simferopol since their home ground didn’t pass minimum requirements of the UFPL. The stadium needed major renovations, which the club started to implement in January after the deal with the city government was signed. The goal for the remaining 11 games is to stay up in the division, the gap is 4 points.
FC Illichivets Mariupol (14th)
Illichevets represents a team with the most turnover both on and off the field. In December the club restructured, and are rumored to be in the ownership of one of Rinat Ahmetov’s business partners. The first major change was the appointment of former FC Shakhtar Donetsk reserves coach Valeriy Yaremchenko. The reaction of the fans was negative and a small group of them made a public protest at the first press conference. With the renewed ties with Shakhtar the first newcomers to the team were loan signings of Shakhtar players. The first cohort featured players who played the first half of the season at FC Zorya. At the same time all of the foreign players left the club. For the first pre-season training camp the club invited another half a dozen Shakhtar products, this time from the reserve team, who Yaremchenko is very familiar with. The total number of new players at the club is 12, 11 of which are on loan from Shakhtar Donetsk. The sole non-Shakhtar player is the former Metalurg Zaporizhzha and Ukraine U21 international Dmytro Nevmyvaka. The majority of pre-season the club spent in Turkey, playing 8 matches. The most notable wins came against FC Minsk of Belarus (3:1), and Danish side Brøndby IF. In the interview last week Yaremchenko noted that his side will need 12 points in the remaining 11 games to insure survival.
FC Kryvbas Kryvyy Rig (13th)
FC Kryvbas still remains one of the most mysterious clubs in Ukrainian football. With financing from unknown sources and close links with FC Dnipro, the club spent the last two seasons in the bottom half of the table with their aim only of survival. In the summer the club lost many on loan players from the spring of 2010, which were replaced by less talented players. The side struggled for most of the fall campaign, which pushed the head coach to made drastic changes in the winter break. The young, on-loan winger Dmytro Homchenovskyy decided against signing a full contract and instead went on trials first to FC Metalurg Donetsk and then FC Zorya. Seven of FC Dnipro’s on-loan players have also left the team. In the other direction the club took two FC Dnipro players Fedorchuk and Kankava. The side also signed Jiří Jeslínek from Sparta Prague and Slovenian midfielder Darian Matic from an Israeli club. The biggest signing for the club came in the end of February when it was announced that the club signed Ukrainian U21 international striker Volodymyr Lysenko from FC Metalist until the end of the season. During pre-season the club made two trips to Turkey. Once again the club is rebuilding the first team, and inconsistent performances will remain. The main goal for the club is to avoid relegation.
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