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SHEV INTERVIEW WITH BOHS
Andrei 'Shev' Pereplyotkin is 18 and hails from the Ukraine. He joined the Saints Academy in July 2001. He has come on leaps and bounds and is tipped to be an exciting forward for Saints in the not-too-distant future.
However pain-in-the-ass red tape means that he cannot play for Saints where receipts are taken, and rather ridiculously that includes any game where spectators merely pass through a turnstile as that qualifies the game as a 'paying game' even though no receipts are actually taken.
Taking a proactive stance Saints have loaned him out to Irish champions Bohemians to gain experience. It is hoped that as well as helping Shev improve his game, the loan move will enable him to secure enough first-team games to sway a work permit application.
The following interview with Shev - so nicknamed as his favourite player is Andrei Shevchenko - was conducted just before Bohs' derby with Shamrock Rovers.
THE IRREPRESSIBLE UNPRONOUNCEABLE
Tony Magner
23-05-03
Andrei Pereplyotkin is hoping that Eircom League defenders find it as tough to shackle him as it is to pronounce his surname.
It is safe to assume that, growing up in the Ukranian city of Kharkov, Pereplyotkin was blissfully unaware of the rivalry between Bohemians and Shamrock Rovers.
But judging by his display when he came on against Cork City on Tuesday night, his all-action style will be well suited to a local derby.
Pereplyotkin said, "All of the boys have explained to me what this game means to the club and the supporters.
"I have no doubt that it will be a tough game, but I would love to make myself a hero by scoring if I get a chance."
The eighteen-year old has already caused a stir at Dalymount Park since finally completing his season-long loan move from Southampton, where his career hit a brick wall because of his inability to secure a work permit.
Dublin is just the latest port of call for the teenager who has spent little time at home since setting off in pursuit of his footballing dream.
Pereplyotkin said; "Since I was ten, I have always been away from home. I went to a special football school and I was always at camps or playing in tournaments so I have been used to travelling."
At the age of fourteen, he upped and left his hometown for Moscow to join Fili, a club in the lower divisions of the Russian League.
He recalled: "My mother Irina was really unhappy that I was leaving, that I was moving so far away from home - but it was what I wanted and they supported my decision."
Six months later he moved to Brussels to join Anderlecht.
He said, "Going to Belgium was tough, I found it very strange. The language was different, the culture was different. I found it hard to learn French. I had no friends and it was like starting life all over again.
"Sometimes I felt really homesick and wanted to go home but I did not because I knew I wanted to succeed at a club in Western Europe."
After a year at Anderlecht, Pereplyotkin was on the move again - to Southampton where everything would have been fine had he been allowed to progress beyond the youth side.
A Ukranian teenager with no international caps had no chance of a work permit.
Instead he obtained a student visa but this did not allow him to play in any game where admission was charged - ruling out the possibility of a breakthrough to the first team.
He revealed, "At first I did not mind because I was just happy to be at a Premiership club and to be playing - but I came to realise that was not enough.
"I needed to play at a higher level and that is why I have come to Ireland, but I would like to be a success at Southampton.
"It was very easy for me there in comparison to Belgium.
"At one stage I was one of four Russian speakers as two Latvian players, Marian Pahars and Imants Bleidelis, were there, as well as Andrei Kanchelskis.
"I want to go back there and I hope I can get a work permit but it is not going to be easy."
Pereplyotkin's desire to make the breakthrough is partly fuelled by his dislike for the corruption which he believes has ruined football in his home country.
He would also like to be able to provide for his parents, who grew up the hard way in the remote Siberian city of Irkutsk before moving to Ukraine.
His mother regularly goes months without pay in her job as a state doctor. Football is definitely a way out from a life of struggle.
Pereplyotkin said, "I don't know what I would have been if I had not become a footballer, maybe I would have been a decorator like my father Igor. My dad lives in Moscow now and my mother is still in Kharkiv which makes it hard to see them both.
"I want to do well and help my mother if I can. I already do what I can for her because life is difficult in Ukraine. It is totally different from any country in the West.
"And where my parents are from is even worse. It is in the middle of nowhere, six hours flying time from Moscow, and nobody cares about the people and that is why they had to leave for a better life. But it is still tough."
If there is one positive from Pereplyotkin's background it is that he has dual nationality and with Ukranian Under-21 boss Pavlo Yakovenko admitting that the striker is in his thoughts, the youngster has a decision to make on his international future.
A similar choice awaits his brother Gleb, who is already a member of the Spartak Moscow football academy at just seven-years old.
Pereplyotkin said, "I am not sure what I am going to do because I have connections with both countries but my heart tells me that I want to play for Ukraine."
But Pereplyotkin will first ensure that he makes a name for himself in his latest home.
He said, "This is the highest level that I have played at. It is tougher than the leagues I have been playing in. But I have confidence in my ability.
"I think Bohs are a good team and I have been made very welcome by everyone. I could not believe it when the fans started chanting my name when I came on against Cork."
Not surprisingly, the travelling support chose to chant his first name. But it might be worth the trouble of mastering his surname because we might be hearing quite a bit of it this season.
More about Shev
Profile
Update: Friendly Fire
Report: Irish Andrei's smiling
Shev is loaned to Bohs
Interview in Saints-Sunderland match programme
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