Artem Chobanian
It’s not very easy to predict what teams will be relegated in the middle of the season. However, there are clubs that are most likely to be at the bottom of the table when the football year ends. In Ukraine the situation differs from year to year, but this season the battle for survival promises to be a most intricate one.
There’s one team in the Ukrainian Premier League that has not yet gained any victory in 17 matches: FC Kharkiv. For a city that is represented in the UEFA Cup with Metalist Kharkiv the probable loss of one of the clubs will be a disaster. However, the majority of supporters and pundits are sure FC Kharkiv will be relegated.
This confidence comes not only from the poor performances and awful results of the club, but also from the tendency that has followed the team through all these years. Three years ago FC Kharkiv escaped being relegated and managed to steer a course close to the middle of the table. The next year they fell down and have to thank fortune that other teams played even worse than they did. Last year they managed to stay in Premier League only due to a draw in the last game of the season. This “falling down” tendency led to a situation when the team lost almost all their key players and now, it seems, FC Kharkiv cannot do anything to climb higher in the league. With eight defeats and nine draws they have recorded a new record for a Ukrainian team in terms of performances in the first half of the season.
Comparing FC Kharkiv to their city rivals Metalist the club is almost poor in terms of finance and support from the city authorities. The media do not pay much attention to FC Kharkiv, stating only something like “FC Kharkiv lost to Vorskla” – and nothing more. The supporters of the club visit Metalist online forums to ask for help, but unfortunately the owner of Metalist Alexander Yaroslavsky cannot afford to spend so much and bear the entire burden on his shoulders. Yaroslavsky is very much involved in Metalist, the new arena and Kharkiv’s airport reconstruction that he initiated to attract UEFA officials so that they would choose Kharkiv as a major city for Euro 2012.
If we look at the bookmakers’ odds FC Kharkiv have the highest chance of being relegated and there is simply no precedent for the team to survive in the league for another year from this half-way position. They have been lucky for three years – now it’s time to pay for inconsistency and lack of will.
The second bottom spot in the table belongs to Illichivets. The third bottom is FC Lviv. Both teams joined the Premier League last year: FC Lviv for the first time, but Illichivets used to be among the 16 best clubs from time to time. As it often happens with new teams, FC Lviv started very promisingly, even beating the champions Shakhtar Donetsk 2:0. Illichivets were quite a strong team a couple of seasons ago, but returning from the First League the club lost power and players that could be of any value even at Ukrainian level.
Both clubs have shown absolutely different levels of performance – FC Lviv were persistent and willing to try to win in every game; Illichivets were acting like they were 100 points ahead of other teams and were moving like turtles. In some games Illichivets conceded goals when their opposition were attacking and Illichivets players were simply following them with their eyes as if asking “What are these guys doing here, at the place where I am jogging?” According to the statistics Illichivets have been the easiest team to defeat and FC Lviv have been the most difficult. However, the teams have equal points in the table: three victories, three draws, and 11 defeats. But these points were gained in completely different ways.
FC Lviv defeated Shakhtar, FC Kharkiv, played out a draw against Metalist and Vorskla – the teams that are among the best now – and exchanged wins with Illichivets. Illichivets managed to defeat Arsenal Kyiv and Chernomorets Odessa and could not draw against any of the teams from the top five.
Despite the pitiful situation, the position of the teams can change many times especially if we take into account the fact that Tavria and Arsenal are only two points ahead and both clubs have played very poorly this season. Tavria lost their coach and Arsenal almost lost their coach Zavarov too, who was willing to quit when the bosses declined his request to buy at least two good footballers that could keep the team in the league.
This season has been very unusual with many established teams being unable to gain good results and only two clubs – Dynamo Kyiv and Metalist – have played excellently. After the draw against FC Lviv the head coach of Metalist, Miron Markevich said in the interview: “Lviv almost crushed us. We were lucky to escape to the draw and I wish my players showed as much zest and desire to win…”
Alexander Volkov, Illichivets coach, announced after the final match of the year against Dynamo (which Illichivets lost 4:3): “I don’t know how much effort we can produce to stay in the league… one thing I can say for sure – to be among the best any team has to have the spirit of a winner, which my players lack. To inspire them we need to show them how much they will gain from being in the Premier League and what prospects are ahead of them. To do that is my primary duty.”
