I wish Patrick success and victories!
Monday, July 3, 2023
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FC Shakhtar CEO Serhii Palkin reflected on the appointment of Van Leeuwen, gratitude to Jovicevic and Piatov's future
– Mr Palkin, today Shakhtar introduced new head coach – Patrik van Leeuwen. What can you say about the mentor?
– First of all, I would like to welcome Patrick van Leeuwen as the head coach of our team. If you look at history, we have a very deep connections with Patrick: he joined our club in 2006 as the deputy director of the Academy, then he became the director. In my opinion, he is the best director of the Academy that we have had during the last 20 years – very systematic, very professional. Then he went to other clubs: he was the sports director, the head coach of Maccabi. And then there were Zorya that, I believe, became the apogee of his career: they built this team practically from scratch and took third place in the Ukrainian Championship, with Patrick being recognized as the best coach of the season. And we decided to appoint Van Leeuwen as the head coach of our team based on the combination of all these factors. I want to wish him success, victories, victories and even more victories! And we will help and support him 24/7 in all his actions.
– There is a certain deja vu because a year ago we were also in Rotterdam, there was a presentation of new coach – Igor Jovicevic. How would you sum up the year for Shakhtar under his leadership?
– From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank Igor and his coaching staff as they really did a very good job. They joined the club in very difficult times when the war was in full spate, foreign footballers left and we had to build a new team with new leaders led by Ukrainian footballers. And we managed, we made a very powerful team, won the Ukrainian League, played excellently in the Champions League group, there was a very emotional game against Rennes in the Europa League play-offs. It was a great season – a winning season, a bright season. And it was a good project. I would like to thank Igor and his assistants for this. I am sure that he already has a queue of clubs inviting him to join them. We wish him success, new challenges and all the best.
– Andrii Piatov did not come with the team. What is his future career?
– Andrii Piatov has finished his performances as a football player of our club at this moment. He have had a long and bright journey: 16 years, 482 apps, a lot of titles and victories. So we have to be grateful to him for that. You know that we will play a charity match against Tottenham on August 6 and we offered Piatov to play a farewell match to thank Andrii for everything he did for Shakhtar. I am 100% sure that the stadium will be full, that Ukrainian fans will come. As you know, there was Covid when we played in front of the empty stands, then the war began, unfortunately, not allowing fans today to attend arenas in Ukraine. Therefore, it is a good opportunity to part with Andrii Piatov in a packed stadium. I hope he will accept the invitation, play in this match and we will say goodbye to the legend of our club in a proper manner. At the same time, we say goodbye to Andrii only as a football player, but we would like to see him in the coaching staff of Patrick van Leeuwen as a goalkeeping coach. We offer Piatov to stay at the club because his knowledge and charisma are very important for us. We have a lot of young footballers and Andrii's experience is very much needed. Therefore, we are sure that he will help.
– First of all, I would like to welcome Patrick van Leeuwen as the head coach of our team. If you look at history, we have a very deep connections with Patrick: he joined our club in 2006 as the deputy director of the Academy, then he became the director. In my opinion, he is the best director of the Academy that we have had during the last 20 years – very systematic, very professional. Then he went to other clubs: he was the sports director, the head coach of Maccabi. And then there were Zorya that, I believe, became the apogee of his career: they built this team practically from scratch and took third place in the Ukrainian Championship, with Patrick being recognized as the best coach of the season. And we decided to appoint Van Leeuwen as the head coach of our team based on the combination of all these factors. I want to wish him success, victories, victories and even more victories! And we will help and support him 24/7 in all his actions.
– There is a certain deja vu because a year ago we were also in Rotterdam, there was a presentation of new coach – Igor Jovicevic. How would you sum up the year for Shakhtar under his leadership?
– From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank Igor and his coaching staff as they really did a very good job. They joined the club in very difficult times when the war was in full spate, foreign footballers left and we had to build a new team with new leaders led by Ukrainian footballers. And we managed, we made a very powerful team, won the Ukrainian League, played excellently in the Champions League group, there was a very emotional game against Rennes in the Europa League play-offs. It was a great season – a winning season, a bright season. And it was a good project. I would like to thank Igor and his assistants for this. I am sure that he already has a queue of clubs inviting him to join them. We wish him success, new challenges and all the best.
– Andrii Piatov did not come with the team. What is his future career?
– Andrii Piatov has finished his performances as a football player of our club at this moment. He have had a long and bright journey: 16 years, 482 apps, a lot of titles and victories. So we have to be grateful to him for that. You know that we will play a charity match against Tottenham on August 6 and we offered Piatov to play a farewell match to thank Andrii for everything he did for Shakhtar. I am 100% sure that the stadium will be full, that Ukrainian fans will come. As you know, there was Covid when we played in front of the empty stands, then the war began, unfortunately, not allowing fans today to attend arenas in Ukraine. Therefore, it is a good opportunity to part with Andrii Piatov in a packed stadium. I hope he will accept the invitation, play in this match and we will say goodbye to the legend of our club in a proper manner. At the same time, we say goodbye to Andrii only as a football player, but we would like to see him in the coaching staff of Patrick van Leeuwen as a goalkeeping coach. We offer Piatov to stay at the club because his knowledge and charisma are very important for us. We have a lot of young footballers and Andrii's experience is very much needed. Therefore, we are sure that he will help.