Marked for Rustam Asenchukov
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Market26 Apr 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Rostov 2, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Marked 7.73 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad26 Apr 2027
He is 21, he is averaging 7.24, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Match24 Apr 2027
The run at home goes on for Rostov 2
10 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Match24 Apr 2027
Whatever happens, Rostov 2 do not lose
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad26 Apr 2027
German Ignatov 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.
Match24 Apr 2027
A 2‑0 win over Zarya Lugansk, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad26 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rostov 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Marked 7.84. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Vladimir Kasparyan did not need any: 7.61, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
Reziuan Mirzov, 33, rolls back the years — 8.14
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.14 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market12 Apr 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Eyad El Askalany will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Rostov 2 the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match10 Apr 2027
Nobody wants to play Rostov 2 right now
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad12 Apr 2027
He is 20, he is averaging 7.01, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Squad12 Apr 2027
A falling-out at Rostov 2
Danil Ryazanov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match10 Apr 2027
Rostov 2 make home a hard place to visit
9 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Match10 Apr 2027
It finished 3‑1, and it was Vladimir Kasparyan’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Rostov 2.
Squad12 Apr 2027
German Ignatov 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.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match20 Mar 2027
Rostov 2 win it in stoppage time
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 91th minute. Dinamo Makhachkala 2 will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Market22 Mar 2027
IBV come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Rostov 2 did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
No sign of nerves from Georgy Suanov at 21 — 7.71
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Georgy Suanov did not need any: 7.71, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
At 33 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.90, and nobody on the pitch better.
Market22 Mar 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Yaroslav Solovjov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Rostov 2 the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Rostov 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. German Ignatov 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.
The terraces22 Mar 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Georgy Suanov has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Ivan Petrov 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.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.38, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Maxim Radchenko, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.06
A mark of 8.06 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Market15 Mar 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Rostov 2 is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad15 Mar 2027
A season average of 7.00 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Rostov 2 know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Match13 Mar 2027
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Rostov 2 and Legion, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Match13 Mar 2027
A 4‑2 win over Legion, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Rostov 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. German Ignatov 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.
The terraces15 Mar 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Rustam Asenchukov has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Market15 Feb 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Rostov 2 people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market15 Feb 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market15 Feb 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Marked 7.70 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Market15 Feb 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Eyad El Askalany will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Rostov 2 the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match13 Feb 2027
Rostov 2 cannot stop winning
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Rostov 2
German Ignatov 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.
The terraces15 Feb 2027
At 22 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.
Match13 Feb 2027
Three points for Rostov 2, 1‑0 the final word against Neftyanik in a contest settled by the finer margins.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market25 Jan 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Rostov 2, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad25 Jan 2027
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Market25 Jan 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Rostov 2 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad25 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Rostov 2
German Ignatov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match23 Jan 2027
A bad afternoon for Rostov 2 against Nart
1‑2 to Nart, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Market25 Jan 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Daniil Gorovykh has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Rostov 2.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Andrei Zheleznov after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
A defender's goal wins it for Rostov 2 — 7.40
1 for Daniil Gorovykh, marked 7.40, 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.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad14 Dec 2026
German Ignatov 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
At 21, Rustam Asenchukov is already the best thing here
An average of 7.00 in a first team he is several years too young for. Rostov 2 have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“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.
Match12 Dec 2026
A 1‑1 draw with Pobeda leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Andrei Zheleznov after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Squad14 Dec 2026
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Rostov 2 have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match5 Dec 2026
4‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Rustam Asenchukov, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.32
A mark of 8.32 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A season average of 7.27 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Rostov 2 know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Market7 Dec 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Rostov 2 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” German Ignatov and Rostov 2 agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Rostov 2
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and German Ignatov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces7 Dec 2026
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Ninety minutes of Daniil Shantaliy at his very best
Marked 8.31. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Rostov 2.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Rostov 2
Ivan Petrov 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match21 Nov 2026
4‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Georgy Suanov, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.09
A mark of 8.09 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Market23 Nov 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Eyad El Askalany will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Rostov 2 the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad23 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Rostov 2
Danil Ryazanov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match21 Nov 2026
Whatever happens, Rostov 2 do not lose
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
The terraces23 Nov 2026
At 22 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 ratings23 Nov 2026
A performance of 8.31 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The terraces23 Nov 2026
A long trip to Druzhba worth making
4-0, and a corner of somebody else's ground that made more noise than the rest of it put together. Those coaches leave before dawn and nobody outside them ever mentions it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Nov 2026
A season average of 7.31 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Rostov 2 know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
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. 17 actions, 7.54, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Market9 Nov 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Rostov 2 is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Danil Ryazanov 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Rostov 2
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniil Gorovykh was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Marked 6.81 on 10 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
A promise honoured at Rostov 2
Something was said to Daniil Gorovykh and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Match7 Nov 2026
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Andrei Zheleznov after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match24 Oct 2026
2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Kirill Cheburakov will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Rostov 2 escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.46 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Marked 7.65 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Rostov 2 may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market26 Oct 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Rostov 2 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vladimir Kasparyan, and the manager let it.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Rostov 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniil Gorovykh 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Ivan Petrov in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rostov 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Too much change too quickly at Rostov 2
19 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
7.95, 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 dugout19 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Rostov 2 may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Kirill Cheburakov is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Daniil Gorovykh 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 terraces19 Oct 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Rustam Asenchukov has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Match17 Oct 2026
Kuban Holding made Rostov 2 work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Andrei Zheleznov could afford to be generous.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Nobody at Rostov 2 is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.41 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Marked 8.05 at 19, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Market5 Oct 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Rostov 2 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Rostov 2
Danil Ryazanov 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.
Match3 Oct 2026
Kyzyltash made Rostov 2 work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
The terraces5 Oct 2026
He is 19 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Daniil Gorovykh 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Rustam Asenchukov is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Market14 Sep 2026
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Arsenal Tula had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Match12 Sep 2026
The 87th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Kirill Cheburakov decided nobody was going anywhere. Shakhter Donetsk had no time left to answer.
Market14 Sep 2026
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Rostov 2 have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Marked 7.75 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad14 Sep 2026
He is 20, he is averaging 7.10, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Match12 Sep 2026
Whatever happens, Rostov 2 do not lose
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
The terraces14 Sep 2026
At 21 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.
In brief
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Squad
Words at Rostov 2 training over how hard people work
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
-
The dugout
The manager makes an example of Nikita Babakin
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Serafim Grozovskiy did not need any: 7.84, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Market31 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market31 Aug 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Eyad El Askalany will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Rostov 2 the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The terraces31 Aug 2026
At 20 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
Angusht made Rostov 2 work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad31 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Rostov 2
Rostislav Polyakov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Andrey Amosov, and the manager let it.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Rostov 2 are still strangers to each other
19 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 dugout31 Aug 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Andrei Zheleznov kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market24 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Ilja Zhbanov again, and this time the name on the line is Akron. Rostov 2 are listening politely and promising nothing.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Danil Ryazanov, and the manager let it.
Squad24 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rostov 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match22 Aug 2026
Rostov 2 caught on 90 minutes
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Nart scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
Match22 Aug 2026
Honours even between Rostov 2 and Nart
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
Rustam Asenchukov is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
One lapse, one goal, and ninety minutes of honest work counting for nothing. That is the job at Rostov 2, and it is a cruel one.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Rostov 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. German Ignatov 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.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Andrei Zheleznov was not hiding it after 2‑2, and nobody in the Rostov 2 dressing room was either.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
A brace, and Kirill Cheburakov takes the afternoon — 8.63
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Kirill Cheburakov provided it, and the 8.63 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market17 Aug 2026
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Rostov 2 have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Marked 7.80 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Match15 Aug 2026
Rostov 2 cannot stop winning
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Danil Ryazanov 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
A 3‑2 win over Astrakhan, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
At 21 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 dugout17 Aug 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.” Andrei Zheleznov, on a 3‑2 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Rostov 2
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and German Ignatov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad10 Aug 2026
53 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Squad10 Aug 2026
40 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Match8 Aug 2026
95‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Vadim Rassadin, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 9.99
A mark of 9.99 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Rostov 2
Danil Ryazanov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match8 Aug 2026
95 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Rostov 2 and Chaika M in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
The terraces10 Aug 2026
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Squad10 Aug 2026
50 goals for this club, and somewhere in the stand there is a person who can still tell you where they were for most of them.
The terraces10 Aug 2026
A long trip to another club worth making
95-0, and a corner of somebody else's ground that made more noise than the rest of it put together. Those coaches leave before dawn and nobody outside them ever mentions it.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
A brace, and Kirill Cheburakov takes the afternoon — 8.45
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Kirill Cheburakov provided it, and the 8.45 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Danil Ryazanov and Rostov 2 agree another 4 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Rostov 2
Danil Ryazanov 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Rostov 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladimir Kasparyan 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.
Match1 Aug 2026
It finished 2‑1, and it was Kirill Cheburakov’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Rostov 2.
The terraces3 Aug 2026
At 20 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 dugout3 Aug 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Boardroom3 Aug 2026
Nobody left the Rostov 2 dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
In brief
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Squad
23 new faces, and Rostov 2 are still learning each other
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Player ratings
Nobody could get near Rustam Asenchukov
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The dugout
The view from the dugout