Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ulvi Babaev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Igor Konovalov is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
A 1‑1 draw with Spartak Kostroma leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Timur Matveev chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chernomorets can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings1 Nov 2027
Up for the corner, and Ilja Zhigulev delivers — 7.77
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Ilja Zhigulev scored, was marked 7.77, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chernomorets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Krasian Kolev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Stanislav Biblyk. 2‑1 against Chelyabinsk, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Goalkeepers do not get to make mistakes; they get to make goals. He made one, he knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
In brief
The dugoutNikita Korets is still being punished for one mistake
Ilja Zhigulev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Krasian Kolev falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Giorgos Velkov is 33 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Nizhniy Novgorod in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Chernomorets, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chernomorets can pretend not to have heard.
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chernomorets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Zaurbek Pliev and Chernomorets agree another 2 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ulvi Babaev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Chernomorets know it.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
115% of the income goes out in wages at Chernomorets
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
24 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Chernomorets lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
1 for Ilja Zhigulev, marked 7.59, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
6.73, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
The name of Kirill Morozov has come up in conversations Chernomorets were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Krasian Kolev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Chernomorets asked and Zenit said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Chernomorets had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Chaika, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Chernomorets asked and Baltika said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Dylan Ragolle was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The window is open, and with it the only month of the year when a supporter’s hopes are limited by nothing but arithmetic. The board know the arithmetic; the supporters know the hopes.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Chernomorets will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chernomorets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Krasian Kolev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Kirill Suslov is on it.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Kirill Morozov has written the date down.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Chernomorets know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The words a physio says slowly. 21 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Krasian Kolev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chernomorets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Kirill Suslov is on it.
28 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Chernomorets lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Ilja Zhigulev was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
The least glamorous thing a foreign signing ever does and the one that decides most of them. A player who can hear the shout behind him is a different footballer from one who cannot.
The words a physio says slowly. 36 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Krasian Kolev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chernomorets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Chernomorets than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Chernomorets. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
44 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Chernomorets lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Ilja Zhigulev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Krasian Kolev falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
51 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Chernomorets lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Kirill Suslov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Something was said to Georgy Natabashvili and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Boardroom19 Apr 2027
92% of the income goes out in wages at Chernomorets
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Kirill Suslov is on it.
58 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Chernomorets lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Ilja Zhigulev and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Krasian Kolev falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Chernomorets, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Krasian Kolev signs something — a contract at Chernomorets or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Kirill Morozov has written the date down.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Zaur Tarba
MatchNothing left to play for but pride at Chernomorets
66 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Chernomorets lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Ilja Zhigulev was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Chernomorets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Krasian Kolev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Sokol made Chernomorets work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
Daniil Martovoy was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.34. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Timur Matveev, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
74 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Chernomorets lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chernomorets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Kirill Suslov’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Chernomorets needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Chernomorets know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Chernomorets would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Chernomorets. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
82 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Chernomorets lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Chernomorets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Krasian Kolev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Chernomorets will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Chernomorets pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager’s verdict
The dugoutKirill Suslov has become a man the manager trusts
The words a physio says slowly. 89 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
1‑5 against Spartak Kostroma, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
1 for Ilja Zhigulev, marked 7.92, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Chernomorets and Spartak Kostroma, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Krasian Kolev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chernomorets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑5 Timur Matveev left the room before anybody could ask which.
98 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Chernomorets lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Two goals and a mark of 8.86 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Chernomorets will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
8 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Chelyabinsk were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ilja Zhigulev and Chernomorets agree another 3 years.
Ilja Zhigulev was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Anton Antonov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.20. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
105 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Chernomorets lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Rubin Yalta had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Chernomorets will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chernomorets can pretend not to have heard.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 1 arrived, 2 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Yenisey keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chernomorets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Chernomorets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Krasian Kolev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Botond Angyal is living that version at Chernomorets, and it tends to show in the first month.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chernomorets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Chernomorets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Krasian Kolev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Chernomorets have made the call to Spartak Moscow. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Chernomorets will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Dylan Ragolle was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Timur Matveev after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Volga defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
26 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Chernomorets lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
7.70, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Ilja Zhigulev was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 12 combined actions and a mark of 6.82, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Position 15, 20 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Maximilian Onisiwo, and the manager let it.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Timur Matveev, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
33 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Chernomorets lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Position 17 and 17 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
1 for Igor Konovalov, marked 7.90, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 14 actions, 6.96, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Krasian Kolev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Dylan Ragolle and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Timur Matveev after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
40 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Chernomorets lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Ilja Zhigulev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Krasian Kolev falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
115% of the income goes out in wages at Chernomorets
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Kirill Morozov has his answer from Chernomorets; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
8 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Timur Matveev left the room before anybody could ask which.
Ilja Zhigulev and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Krasian Kolev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Chernomorets have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Maxim Khalilov is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Krasian Kolev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 10 actions, 6.56, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Timur Matveev after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Spartak Tambov go through and Chernomorets go home, 1‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
1 for Kirill Suslov, marked 7.55, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Krasian Kolev falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Kirill Suslov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
133% of the income goes out in wages at Chernomorets
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
18 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The clubs have shaken hands with Cherepovets; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Dinamo Moscow is saying, and nobody at Chernomorets is enjoying the guessing.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chernomorets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 11 actions, 6.84, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.