Shakhtar Donetsk: Making a Mark

Shakhtar Donetsk boss Mircea Lucescu has decided to leave Shakhtar after 10 years at the club. Since joining in May 2004, Lucescu has won eight Ukrainian Championships, including five in a row since 2009/10.

However, Lucescu's departure from Shakhtar is shrouded in controversy, after it came to light that he was leaving the Donbass Arena because of the fighting in Ukraine. Having started in February of this year, fighting has raged on throughout Ukraine, especially in eastern Ukraine, where Donetsk is situated.

I would like to thank Shakhtar Donetsk for my fantastic 10 years here at the club. It has been a brilliant experience, but I feel that it is time for change here. There is a fantastic setup, and I encourage the club to push harder than ever in Europe; something I could never achieve. Unfortunately, the crisis in and around Ukraine and Donetsk has led to my decision to leave Shakhtar. I feel that, as much as I love the club, my wife and my wellbeing must come first. I look forward to the future for Shakhtar, and the club will forever be in my heart.

During Lucescu's career he has also managed 9 other clubs, including Inter Milan and Galatasaray, as well as the Romanian national team. He also won five Ukrainian Cups, as well as being voted coach of the year on six occasions.

Love Shakhtar, will follow this closely. And good luck!

Unique club and great start, writing and presentation wise. Looking forward to this!

Should've done Shakhtar Donetsk: The Love Shak

Very nice start, good luck

Tallery: Cheers mate, hope you enjoy it along the way.

Ducksworthh: Thanks a lot mate, really trying to go in-depth with this one.

AlexTHFC: Ummmmm...no? Thanks a lot mate .

Different choice of club, nice start.

2014-08-12 17:54#189375 AaronHJFT96 : Different choice of club, nice start.

Thanks very much mate, hope you enjoy it .

Shakhtar Donetsk have today announced that Ukraine legend Andriy Shevchenko will be taking over as manager for the coming season. The news comes after Mircea Lucescu left at the end of the Ukrainian season, having secured the league for his eighth time.

Shevchenko had a dazzling career and played for Dynamo Kyiv, Milan and Chelsea before ending his career back at Kyiv. In this time he scored 219 goals in 446 professional appearances. Shevchenko also took time away from football after he became a politician for Ukraine's democratic party.



The move is slightly controversial though, with Shevchenko being a club legend at Dynamo Kyiv, one of Shakhtar's fiercest rivals. However, billionaire owner Rinat Akhmetov didn't think so:

Firstly, I want to welcome Andriy to the club. He is a brilliant man to get into the club to start of this new era. Hopefully Sheva will bring us all the success of the last few years, while also going further than before and creating more history at this fantastic club. I know that Andriy is particularly fond of our rivals Dynamo, but I have overlooked this as he has been a great servant to the country over the last 20 or so years.

Live from the Donbass Arena

Today we are coming at you live from the Donbass Arena in Donetsk, Ukraine for the welcoming press conference of Andriy Shevchenko. It looks like things are ready to get underway.

Andriy Shevchenko
Rinat Akhmetov
Reporters

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. Today, myself and Andriy are here to take questions over Andriy's appointment.

Ruslan Ivanov of Sport-1: Andriy, How happy are you to be at Shakhtar?

It is a brilliant opportunity for me as a manager. I have never coached before, but the club and Rinat have accepted me willingly with open arms. Shakhtar are a great club in terms of Ukrainian history, and I want to personally make that history even greater. Mircea Lucescu has left behind a brilliant team, as well as a brilliant setup at the club.

Anton Kotov of Komanda: Rinat, why Andriy Shevchenko?

Well as I have said before, Andriy has been a great servant to football and this country, and I see a promising future for Andriy here at Shakhtar. Andriy brings a new dimension of coaching to Shakhtar: He was a player in the past, and a very successful one as well. I hope that Andriy can help make our players and the whole club successful.

Andriy Gladyki of The Donetsk Football Review: Andriy, Considering that you are a Dynamo Kyiv fan, it seems strange that you have taken over here. Will your love for Dynamo cause any conflict in your approach here?

Obviously it is tough for me to take over here. Dynamo were a brilliant club to me and I enjoyed my time there. However, in football things like this happen and I have to be professional about it. It will still be interesting to have matches against Dynamo, but I look forward to them just as I do with every match.

Petro Kruglyak of Football.ua: Andriy, what is it like to work at a club with the facilities that are on offer here?

Well as I said, the setup and facilities are excellent here, and I look forward to being able to use them to their full extent while I am at the club.

Ruslan Ivanov of Sport-1: You arrive at Shakhtar just after Mircea Lucescu has left. Do you feel the pressure on your shoulders in replacing the clubs most successful manager?

Mircea was a brilliant manager while here at Shakhtar. He is a legend at the club, and I can only dream about winning things like he did. However, Mircea has left, and it is now my time to win things here.

Thank you very much everybody for coming, and we hope to see you soon during next season. Thank you.

Great couple of updates!

Tallery: Cheers mate!