Shovkovsky is higher than Pusic, Maksimov is in the top three, Vernidub is the best at the distance. Performance indicators of UPL coaches

The last round of the UPL championship remains to be played. For 14 clubs, the football season will end on May 25, with teams in 13th and 14th places facing transition matches. Four days before the end of the Premier League championship, we decided to analyze efficiency of head coaches of clubs in the elite division of Ukrainian football. Note that only four mentors will finish the championship with the teams they started with.

Let’s say right away that the rating is quite conditional for several reasons. Firstly, in terms of the mentor’s work time: for example, the head coach of Kolos, Alexander Pozdeev, has not worked with the first team of Kolos for even a month, while Roman Grigorchuk has worked with Chernomorets for more than two years. Secondly, the quality of the matches. Shakhtar’s head coach Marino Pusic, who had a fantastic series with the Miners in domestic tournaments, lost in European competition, as did Zorya’s coach Yuriy Koval. Thirdly, of course, the numbers do not take into account the personnel potential of the teams: with Dynamo, for example, it is easier to score points than, without offense or bias, with Veres or Minaj.

But still, let us note a few indicative moments. Of course, this is the work that Zeljko Ljubenovic did with Minaj. Yes, the Transcarpathian club has not yet been saved from direct relegation, but it can do this in the last round, plus the 19 points earned by the team under the leadership of the Serbian coach in 15 matches are impressive. Especially compared to the team’s performance before Lyubenovic’s arrival.

Dnepr-1 coach Yuri Maksimov, despite, to put it mildly, not the best second part of the season, is in the TOP 3 in terms of points scored on average per match. Partly due to the time spent working with the team (half the number of matches than Yuri Vernidub), partly due to the bright autumn part of the championship.

Yuriy Vernidub, who greeted Krivbass with the third bronze medal in the history of Krivoy Rog football, once again proved that he knows how to build teams and produce results over a distance. Well, Vitaly Ponomarev’s work with Rukh is the main discovery of the current championship.

It is impossible not to note the excellent performance of Oleg Dulub in LNZ, as well as the so far disastrous results of Viktor Skripnik in Metalist 1925. As well as Sergei Dolgansky, who replaced him in Vorskla.

Only four mentors will finish the championship with the teams they started with – the already mentioned Vernidub and Ponomarev, as well as Ruslan Rotan with Alexandria and Valery Ivashchenko with Obolon. For the latter, this is the first season in the elite as a head coach; of the other three, Rotan has the worst performance over the distance.

Note: Obolon coach Valery Ivashchenko only took into account matches with the team in the 2023/2024 season, which the Brewers play in the elite.