The words a physio says slowly. 133 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.
Vyacheslav Zinkov 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.
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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Khimik, and 0 appearances in 21 say he has earned the hearing.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Khimik is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Words at Khimik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Veber 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.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“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 The request is on a desk at Khimik, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Khimik have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Vyacheslav Zinkov 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.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Dmitry Veber 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.
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.
Artem Vorobjov is 20, and Khimik have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Danila Polshikov has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Khimik have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
“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.
Squad6 Dec 2027
6 new faces, and Khimik are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Vyacheslav Zinkov is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Daniil Oganichev provided it, and the 8.56 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Dmitry Veber 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.
Oleg Trofimov 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.
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.
Marked 8.45 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
“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 Khimik, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vadim Yevseyev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Khimik the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Words at Khimik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Veber 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.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Daniil Zuev.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
1 for Alexandr Goryachkin, marked 7.15, 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.
Vyacheslav Zinkov 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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Stefan Kalinov is living that version at Khimik, and it tends to show in the first month.
20 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Khimik lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 6.68 for the rest of it.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at Khimik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Veber 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.
It needed Alexandr Goryachkin to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Chelyabinsk 2, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The words a physio says slowly. 28 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.
Vyacheslav Zinkov 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 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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Dmitry Veber 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.
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 is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
Vyacheslav Zinkov 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.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Dmitry Veber 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.
Nobody at Khimik will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Rubin 2 defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 16 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
KAMAZ go through and Khimik go home, 0‑0 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Two goals and a mark of 8.52 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Khimik have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 23 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
A 3‑1 win over Uralets-TS, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words at Khimik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Veber 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 23 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Ilja Gruznov will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Khimik escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.05 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 32 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vadim Yevseyev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Khimik the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Words at Khimik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Veber 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Daniil Oganichev. 2‑0 against Orenburg 2, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Daniil Oganichev in the middle of it, and Orenburg 2 unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
Marked 8.11 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 39 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Roman Raifegerste 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.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Dmitry Veber 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 46 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 Khimik, and it is not being withdrawn.
The terraces13 Sep 2027
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 10 of the 25 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Khimik they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The phone has started ringing about Vadim Yevseyev again, and this time the name on the line is Uralets-TS. Khimik are listening politely and promising nothing.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 53 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 Khimik, and it is not being withdrawn.
Vyacheslav Zinkov 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Dmitry Veber 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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Khimik, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Daniil Oganichev 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.
Three points for Khimik, 2‑0 the final word against Krylya Sovetov 2 in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
Ilja Gruznov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.49. 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Khimik 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 Khimik can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Words at Khimik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Veber 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 particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Oleg Trofimov 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.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
Oleg Trofimov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.06. 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Khimik will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 76 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Khimik have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Khimik is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Khimik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Veber 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Volna? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 12 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 83 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Roman Raifegerste 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 Aug 2027
Dmitry Veber 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.
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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Khimik has been clear about where Nikita Shulkin stands, which is more than many ever get.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 90 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The terraces2 Aug 2027
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 8 of the 27 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Dmitry Veber 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Khimik has been clear about where Daniil Knyazev stands, which is more than many ever get.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Khimik will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Vyacheslav Zinkov 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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Dmitry Veber 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.
18 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Uralets-TS? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Khimik 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 Khimik can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sifiso Mabunda will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Khimik the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at Khimik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Veber 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 no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Nil Zaytsev has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Vadim Yevseyev has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Khimik will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Murad Amirbekov is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
In brief
SquadWords at Khimik training over how hard people work
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Khimik will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Khimik they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Dmitry Veber 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.
Roman Raifegerste 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.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Andrey Savinov commits to Khimik for another 3 years.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Dmitry Veber 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.
Vyacheslav Zinkov 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.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Khimik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniil Zuev 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Khimik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Veber 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Position 1, 48 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Dmitry Veber 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.
Squad10 May 2027
Daniil Zuev 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.
Roman Raifegerste 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.
Squad3 May 2027
Dmitry Veber 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Khimik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Veber 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.
Nobody sells a season ticket on a signing like this. Every manager who has been through a bad October wants one anyway, and Khimik have gone and got theirs early.
A new face in his position, and Kirill Gordeev suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Khimik have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Daniil Zuev 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.
Position 1, 48 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Vyacheslav Zinkov 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Dmitry Veber 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Khimik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Veber 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Khimik has been clear about where Dmitry Veber stands, which is more than many ever get.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Khimik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniil Zuev 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.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Khimik may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Khimik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Veber 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Dmitry Veber 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.
In brief
SquadDaniil Zuev falls out with a teammate over standards
Vyacheslav Zinkov 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Dmitry Veber 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.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Khimik know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Khimik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Veber 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.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Kirill Gordeev is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
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.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Khimik would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Khimik know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Khimik can pretend not to have heard.
Dmitry Veber 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Khimik can pretend not to have heard.
Add another name to the list: Central Coast Mariners have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Ilja Gruznov. The answer from Khimik has not changed — yet.
Roman Raifegerste 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Dmitry Veber 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Daniil Zuev 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 is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Khimik have had the benefit of it.
Vyacheslav Zinkov 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ilja Gruznov. 2‑1 against Volna, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Dmitry Veber 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.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Ilja Gruznov
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Ilja Gruznov has come out of that comparison in the side, and Khimik have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Marked 5.76. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Khimik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Veber 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 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Khimik can pretend not to have heard.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Dmitry Veber 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Nosta? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Khimik have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Dmitry Veber 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.
Roman Raifegerste 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 easiest signature of my career.” Kirill Myrzakov and Khimik agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Dmitry Veber 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.
1 for Alexandr Goryachkin, marked 7.14, 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.
Dmitry Veber 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 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.
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.
20 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
A 1‑0 win over Chelyabinsk 2, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Khimik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Veber 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.
Vyacheslav Zinkov 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.
3 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
17 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
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.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Khimik will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
3 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.
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.
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.
Ivan Breslavtsev 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.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Gleb Yakushevich has come out of that comparison in the side, and Khimik have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Position 1 and 26 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
A brace, and Ilja Gruznov takes the afternoon — 8.38
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Ilja Gruznov provided it, and the 8.38 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Khimik can pretend not to have heard.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Dmitry Veber 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.
Oleg Trofimov 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Oleg Trofimov 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.
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.
Dmitry Veber 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Daniil Oganichev 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.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Gleb Yakushevich trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Khimik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniil Zuev 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Khimik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Veber 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 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.
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.
Position 2, 17 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Vyacheslav Zinkov 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.
“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.
Nobody at Khimik will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Nikita Nikiforov signs something — a contract at Khimik or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 11 of the 24 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 88th, and Krylya Sovetov 2 spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
A brace, and Ilja Gruznov takes the afternoon — 8.30
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Ilja Gruznov provided it, and the 8.30 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Daniil Knyazev scored, was marked 7.10, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
It finished 3‑2, and it was Ilja Gruznov’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Khimik.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Dmitry Veber 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Roman Raifegerste 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.
3 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
“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 Khimik, and it is not being withdrawn.
Dmitry Veber 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.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Gleb Yakushevich has come out of that comparison in the side, and Khimik have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Marked 8.27 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Nobody at Khimik will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Khimik, and both men came out saying it was fine.
14 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Khimik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Veber 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Oleg Trofimov. 2‑0 against Akron 2, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Khimik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Veber 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.
Add another name to the list: Kolomna have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Alexandr Goryachkin. The answer from Khimik has not changed — yet.
Still no offer on the table, and Gleb Yakushevich’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.