Marked for Dmitry Vasiljev
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market17 Sep 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Dmitry Vasiljev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Orenburg the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match15 Sep 2029
Still nobody has beaten Orenburg
The unbeaten run reaches 10. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
The dugout17 Sep 2029
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Transfer targets17 Sep 2029
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.
Squad17 Sep 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Orenburg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Sep 2029
Maxime Sivis 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.
Match15 Sep 2029
The run is over for Orenburg
4 matches without defeat, and then Arsenal Tula. Nobody at the ground pretended it would go on forever; nobody expected it to stop here either.
The dugout17 Sep 2029
The manager makes an example of Danila Yanov
“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 ratings17 Sep 2029
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market3 Sep 2029
“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.
Market3 Sep 2029
Fakel come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Orenburg did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Player ratings3 Sep 2029
A brace, and Osman Minatulaev takes the afternoon — 8.72
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Osman Minatulaev provided it, and the 8.72 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Transfer targets3 Sep 2029
Orenburg and Ufa have settled on $200.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Market3 Sep 2029
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Orenburg have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Match1 Sep 2029
Nobody wants to play Orenburg right now
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.
Squad3 Sep 2029
A falling-out at Orenburg
Robert Mejía and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Sep 2029
Words at Orenburg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxime Sivis 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.
Transfer targets3 Sep 2029
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market27 Aug 2029
“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 Orenburg, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout27 Aug 2029
“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.
Market27 Aug 2029
Add another name to the list: Rubin have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Dmitry Vasiljev. The answer from Orenburg has not changed — yet.
Transfer targets27 Aug 2029
The deal with Chelsea is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Match25 Aug 2029
Whatever happens, Orenburg do not lose
7 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.
Squad27 Aug 2029
Words exchanged at Orenburg
Robert Mejía 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.
Squad27 Aug 2029
Words at Orenburg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxime Sivis 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.
Transfer targets27 Aug 2029
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.
The dugout27 Aug 2029
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market13 Aug 2029
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Orenburg people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Squad13 Aug 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market13 Aug 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Orenburg can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets13 Aug 2029
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.
Transfer targets13 Aug 2029
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Orenburg have done the hard part with PSV, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets13 Aug 2029
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Feyenoord is saying, and nobody at Orenburg is enjoying the guessing.
Market13 Aug 2029
CSKA Moscow paid $300.0K and Orenburg took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
The dugout13 Aug 2029
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad13 Aug 2029
Maxime Sivis 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
Uneasy
Market16 Jul 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Dmitry Vasiljev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Orenburg the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market16 Jul 2029
“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.
Market16 Jul 2029
The fee is $1.0M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Baltika drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Osman Minatulaev is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Boardroom16 Jul 2029
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Artem Yamangulov has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Robert Mejía 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 Orenburg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Jul 2029
At 25 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 3 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.
Transfer targets16 Jul 2029
Orenburg offered $34.0K; Irkutsk said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Yaroslav Zharov gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Yaroslav Zharov has just signed for Orenburg, and for once the answer mattered.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market9 Jul 2029
“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.
Market9 Jul 2029
The fee is $500.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Baltika drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Squad9 Jul 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Gedeon Guzina and Orenburg agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Renat Golybin is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad9 Jul 2029
A falling-out at Orenburg
Robert Mejía and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Jul 2029
At 28 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Transfer targets9 Jul 2029
Orenburg offered $150.0K; Amkar said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Market9 Jul 2029
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Orenburg hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Boardroom9 Jul 2029
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Islam-Bek Gubzhokov has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Orenburg have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match18 Jun 2029
Orenburg are in real trouble now
Position 15, 14 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market18 Jun 2029
“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 Orenburg, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market18 Jun 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Dmitry Vasiljev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Orenburg the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets18 Jun 2029
$34.0K settles it between the clubs for Aziz Gaziev
Dinamo St Petersburg have accepted the money. What Orenburg do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Squad18 Jun 2029
Robert Mejía 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 Orenburg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets18 Jun 2029
The offer went to SKA Khabarovsk this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Transfer targets18 Jun 2029
$110.0K was the most the club would pay and Irkutsk were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Boardroom18 Jun 2029
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.
Transfer targets18 Jun 2029
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match21 May 2029
Orenburg are in real trouble now
Position 15, 14 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market21 May 2029
“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 Orenburg, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market21 May 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Dmitry Vasiljev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Orenburg the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad21 May 2029
Robert Mejía 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.
Squad21 May 2029
Words at Orenburg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxime Sivis 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 dugout21 May 2029
Danila Yanov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Orenburg 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.
Market21 May 2029
The name of Gedeon Guzina keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Orenburg say nothing, which says plenty.
Market21 May 2029
Orenburg have let the market know Mikhail Kozin can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Squad21 May 2029
The penny has dropped for Medin Gashi
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at Orenburg the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 May 2029
“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.
Squad14 May 2029
Words exchanged at Orenburg
Robert Mejía 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.
Squad14 May 2029
Maxime Sivis 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.
The dugout14 May 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nikita Yavorskiy, and the manager let it.
Market14 May 2029
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout14 May 2029
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout14 May 2029
Vladan Bubanja has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Orenburg 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.
Squad14 May 2029
No place for Semyon Semenov in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Orenburg are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Market14 May 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Robert Mejía’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match23 Apr 2029
Orenburg sink to position 15
14 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad23 Apr 2029
16 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Orenburg lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market23 Apr 2029
“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 Orenburg, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market23 Apr 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Dmitry Vasiljev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Orenburg the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad23 Apr 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Orenburg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Apr 2029
A row about effort at Orenburg
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxime Sivis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout23 Apr 2029
The manager makes an example of Dmitry Yashin
“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.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Too much change too quickly at Orenburg
6 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 dugout23 Apr 2029
Danila Yanov gets picked when it counts
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 Danila Yanov is on it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Apr 2029
Gleb Pokrovsky damages knee ligaments — 23 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 23 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.
Market16 Apr 2029
“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.
The dugout16 Apr 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Orenburg may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad16 Apr 2029
A falling-out at Orenburg
Alexandre Jesus and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Apr 2029
A row about effort at Orenburg
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxime Sivis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad16 Apr 2029
16 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market9 Apr 2029
Ruslan Kul' hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Orenburg can pretend not to have heard.
Squad9 Apr 2029
A falling-out at Orenburg
Robert Mejía and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Apr 2029
Yegor Glukhov arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Yegor Glukhov has, at Orenburg, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
The dugout9 Apr 2029
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad9 Apr 2029
Words at Orenburg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxime Sivis 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.
Squad9 Apr 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Dmitry Yashin commits to Orenburg for another 2 years.
The dugout9 Apr 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bogdan Ovsyannikov, and the manager let it.
The dugout9 Apr 2029
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Dmitry Vasiljev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout9 Apr 2029
A promise honoured at Orenburg
Something was said to Danil Sobolev and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match26 Mar 2029
Every point is an argument now for Orenburg
Position 15 and 14 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.
Market26 Mar 2029
“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 Orenburg, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market26 Mar 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Dmitry Vasiljev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Orenburg the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Robert Mejía 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 Mar 2029
Words at Orenburg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxime Sivis 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 dugout26 Mar 2029
“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.
The dugout26 Mar 2029
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout26 Mar 2029
Danila Yanov gets picked when it counts
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 Danila Yanov is on it.
Market26 Mar 2029
The name of Gedeon Guzina keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Orenburg say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match26 Feb 2029
Orenburg are in real trouble now
Position 15, 14 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market26 Feb 2029
“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.
Market26 Feb 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Orenburg is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom26 Feb 2029
Window shuts: 4 in, 4 out at Orenburg
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 4 arrived, 4 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Market26 Feb 2029
The bid was some way short and Orenburg did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad26 Feb 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Orenburg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Feb 2029
A row about effort at Orenburg
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxime Sivis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout26 Feb 2029
Dmitry Vasiljev asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Boardroom26 Feb 2029
A clause somebody insisted on years ago, in a negotiation nobody remembers, has just paid Orenburg $1.2M. Damián Puebla left a long time ago; the paperwork stayed.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Feb 2029
“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.
Market19 Feb 2029
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets19 Feb 2029
$1.0M was the most the club would pay and Zenit were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Words exchanged at Orenburg
Robert Mejía 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.
Squad19 Feb 2029
A row about effort at Orenburg
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxime Sivis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets19 Feb 2029
Orenburg asked and Triestina said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout19 Feb 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dmitry Yashin, and the manager let it.
Transfer targets19 Feb 2029
A loan move for Sean Neave is in the works
Orenburg have made the call to Southampton. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout19 Feb 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Orenburg, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market5 Feb 2029
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Orenburg people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Match5 Feb 2029
Full time on the season at Orenburg
Position 15 on 14 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
The dugout5 Feb 2029
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Transfer targets5 Feb 2029
The offer went to Zenit this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Transfer targets5 Feb 2029
$270.0K on the table at Sochi. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad5 Feb 2029
Robert Mejía 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 Orenburg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets5 Feb 2029
Orenburg offered $460.0K; CSKA Moscow said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Squad5 Feb 2029
A row about effort at Orenburg
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxime Sivis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout5 Feb 2029
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad29 Jan 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 12 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match29 Jan 2029
Orenburg are in real trouble now
Position 15, 13 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market29 Jan 2029
“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 Orenburg, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market29 Jan 2029
The bid was some way short and Orenburg did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
The dugout29 Jan 2029
“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.
Market29 Jan 2029
The name of Dmitry Vasiljev has come up in conversations Orenburg were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Robert Mejía 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.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Maxime Sivis 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.
Match27 Jan 2029
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market22 Jan 2029
“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.
The dugout22 Jan 2029
“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.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Words exchanged at Orenburg
Robert Mejía 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.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Words at Orenburg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxime Sivis 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.
Match20 Jan 2029
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout22 Jan 2029
No place for Robert Mejía on the big day
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Orenburg pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
The dugout22 Jan 2029
“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.
The dugout22 Jan 2029
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 0‑2 Ruslan Andreev left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad22 Jan 2029
One booking too many, and a game watched from the stand. Orenburg lose him for the most avoidable reason in the sport.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match3 Jan 2029
Akhmat ended it 0‑2. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Match6 Jan 2029
No end in sight to Orenburg's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Orenburg has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad8 Jan 2029
7 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.
Market8 Jan 2029
“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 Orenburg, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout8 Jan 2029
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad8 Jan 2029
Alexandre Jesus 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.
Market8 Jan 2029
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Mikhail Pykhcheev is a Orenburg player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Denis Gnedoy arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Denis Gnedoy has, at Orenburg, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad8 Jan 2029
A row about effort at Orenburg
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxime Sivis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match30 Dec 2028
Beaten 1‑6 by Dinamo Moscow, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match1 Jan 2029
Orenburg are in real trouble now
Position 15, 9 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad1 Jan 2029
9 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.
Market1 Jan 2029
“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.
Market1 Jan 2029
Orenburg say no — this time
The offer from Cerro Largo for Ilja Rozhkov was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Match30 Dec 2028
No end in sight to Orenburg's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Orenburg has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Robert Mejía 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.
Match30 Dec 2028
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Orenburg and Dinamo Moscow, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Maxime Sivis 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
Uneasy
Market18 Dec 2028
“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 Orenburg, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout18 Dec 2028
“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.
Match16 Dec 2028
No end in sight to Orenburg's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Orenburg has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad18 Dec 2028
A falling-out at Orenburg
Robert Mejía and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad18 Dec 2028
A row about effort at Orenburg
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxime Sivis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market18 Dec 2028
He is 20, and nobody at Orenburg signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
The dugout18 Dec 2028
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Dmitry Yashin will call it something else in private.
The dugout18 Dec 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Anton Roschin, and the manager let it.
The dugout18 Dec 2028
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match18 Nov 2028
Nowhere to hide for Orenburg
0‑3 against Akron, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match18 Nov 2028
7 matches without a win for Orenburg
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Orenburg are no longer polite ones.
Match18 Nov 2028
No clean sheets in sight for Orenburg
6 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Jersson González 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.
Squad20 Nov 2028
A row about effort at Orenburg
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Robert Mejía was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout20 Nov 2028
“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.
Boardroom20 Nov 2028
Nobody left the Orenburg 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.
Market20 Nov 2028
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad30 Oct 2028
There were 11 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match28 Oct 2028
Nowhere to hide for Orenburg
1‑4 against Spartak Moscow, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
The dugout30 Oct 2028
“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.
Match28 Oct 2028
No end in sight to Orenburg's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Orenburg has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Words exchanged at Orenburg
Robert Mejía 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.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Words at Orenburg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxime Sivis 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 dugout30 Oct 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dmitry Vasiljev, and the manager let it.
Player ratings30 Oct 2028
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Boardroom30 Oct 2028
Nobody left the Orenburg 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.
In brief
-
The dugout
The view from the dugout
-
Squad
Bookings catch up with Robert Mejía
-
The dugout
Ruslan Kul' has become a man the manager trusts
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad2 Oct 2028
Words exchanged at Orenburg
Robert Mejía 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.
Squad2 Oct 2028
The medical room confirms 36 days on the sidelines for Danila Vedernikov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Words at Orenburg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxime Sivis 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.
Match30 Sep 2028
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout2 Oct 2028
The manager makes an example of Dmitry Vasiljev
“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.
Squad2 Oct 2028
He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday. The order of those three tells you everything about what a football club actually values.
The dugout2 Oct 2028
Jersson González 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.
The dugout2 Oct 2028
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.
The dugout2 Oct 2028
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings25 Sep 2028
Successful dribbles: 33. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Match23 Sep 2028
At last: Orenburg win one
13 matches without a win, and then this, against Sochi. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Squad25 Sep 2028
A falling-out at Orenburg
Robert Mejía and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Words at Orenburg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxime Sivis 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.
Match23 Sep 2028
It finished 1‑0, and it was Alexandre Jesus’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Orenburg.
Squad25 Sep 2028
34 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Player ratings25 Sep 2028
Defensive actions: 18, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings25 Sep 2028
7.58, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Orenburg had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Market25 Sep 2028
No place for Ruslan Kul' in the plan
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Ruslan Kul' has his answer from Orenburg; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match2 Sep 2028
No end in sight to Orenburg's wait for a win
11 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Orenburg has to find a result from somewhere.
Match2 Sep 2028
Orenburg are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 8 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Player ratings4 Sep 2028
Successful dribbles: 24. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Market4 Sep 2028
The chase for Ramazan Aliev ended with $280.0K changing hands and Dinamo Makhachkala out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Robert Mejía 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.
Transfer targets4 Sep 2028
$120.0K on the table at Volga. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Transfer targets4 Sep 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dinamo Makhachkala have kept their man, and Orenburg go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Maxime Sivis 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.
Match2 Sep 2028
Gedeon Guzina scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Fakel, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
In brief
-
The dugout
The manager makes an example of Dmitry Vasiljev
-
Squad
Too much change too quickly at Orenburg
-
The dugout
The manager’s verdict
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match29 Jul 2028
Beaten 0‑3 by Nizhniy Novgorod, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Player ratings31 Jul 2028
Successful dribbles: 30. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Market31 Jul 2028
“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.
Match29 Jul 2028
6 matches without a win for Orenburg
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Orenburg are no longer polite ones.
Market31 Jul 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets31 Jul 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Rodina have kept their man, and Orenburg go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Robert Mejía 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 Orenburg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market31 Jul 2028
Sochi pay $640.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Will Jackson is 18, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Jun 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 19 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market19 Jun 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Orenburg can pretend not to have heard.
Market19 Jun 2028
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Orenburg have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Transfer targets19 Jun 2028
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Orenburg have done the hard part with Volga, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Words exchanged at Orenburg
Robert Mejía 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.
Transfer targets19 Jun 2028
Orenburg offered $370.0K; Dinamo Makhachkala said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Transfer targets19 Jun 2028
Orenburg asked and Leningradets said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Boardroom19 Jun 2028
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Alexandr Seraskhov has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Orenburg have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Ilja Rozhkov 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
Uneasy
Squad5 Jun 2028
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Orenburg will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market5 Jun 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Orenburg can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout5 Jun 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad5 Jun 2028
Sergey Iljin arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Sergey Iljin has, at Orenburg, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Words exchanged at Orenburg
Jersson González 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.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Maxime Sivis 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.
The dugout5 Jun 2028
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 Atsamaz Revazov is on it.
The dugout5 Jun 2028
Maxim Saveljev knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Maxim Saveljev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market5 Jun 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Dmitry Vasiljev’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 May 2028
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Orenburg will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market29 May 2028
Emil Tsenov hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Orenburg can pretend not to have heard.
Squad29 May 2028
Jersson González 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.
Squad29 May 2028
A row about effort at Orenburg
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dmitry Vasiljev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout29 May 2028
Robert Mejía knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Orenburg, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout29 May 2028
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 Vladan Bubanja is on it.
Market29 May 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Gedeon Guzina’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market29 May 2028
Orenburg have let the market know Jhon Palacios can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
The dugout29 May 2028
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 May 2028
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Orenburg will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market22 May 2028
“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.
Market22 May 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Orenburg is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad22 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Orenburg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 May 2028
Maxime Sivis 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.
Loan watch22 May 2028
“I did not go to Ural to sit and watch. I want to come back to Orenburg and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 13 matches say the rest.
The dugout22 May 2028
Robert Mejía knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Robert Mejía trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout22 May 2028
Danila Yanov gets picked when it counts
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 Danila Yanov is on it.
Market22 May 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Alexandre Jesus signs something — a contract at Orenburg or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 May 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 66 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market8 May 2028
“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.
The dugout8 May 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad8 May 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Gedeon Guzina and Orenburg agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 May 2028
Words exchanged at Orenburg
Jersson González 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.
Squad8 May 2028
Words at Orenburg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Vasiljev 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 May 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 73 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market1 May 2028
“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.
The dugout1 May 2028
“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.
Squad1 May 2028
Jersson González 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 May 2028
A row about effort at Orenburg
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxime Sivis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout1 May 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Dmitry Vasiljev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Apr 2028
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Orenburg will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market24 Apr 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Orenburg can pretend not to have heard.
Market24 Apr 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Orenburg is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad24 Apr 2028
A row about effort at Orenburg
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxime Sivis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Emil Tsenov 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 Orenburg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch24 Apr 2028
“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 Orenburg, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
Danila Yanov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Orenburg 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.
Market24 Apr 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Alexandre Jesus signs something — a contract at Orenburg or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
Vladan Bubanja asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 Apr 2028
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.
Market17 Apr 2028
“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.
Squad17 Apr 2028
A falling-out at Orenburg
Jersson González and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Words at Orenburg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Vasiljev 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 dugout17 Apr 2028
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.
Market17 Apr 2028
The Robert Mejía talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Orenburg know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 Apr 2028
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Orenburg will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
“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.
Market10 Apr 2028
Maxim Rudakov hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Orenburg can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words exchanged at Orenburg
Jersson González 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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Maxime Sivis 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.
Market10 Apr 2028
Tomiwa Akinyimika is 18, and Orenburg 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.
Market10 Apr 2028
Will Jackson is 18, and Orenburg 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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Orenburg are still strangers to each other
6 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad20 Mar 2028
Alexei Ushakov damages knee ligaments — 20 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 20 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.
Market20 Mar 2028
“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.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
“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.
Squad20 Mar 2028
A falling-out at Orenburg
Jersson González and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Words at Orenburg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxime Sivis 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 dugout20 Mar 2028
“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.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
Jhon Palacios asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
Danila Khotulev has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Orenburg 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.
Market20 Mar 2028
The Robert Mejía talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Orenburg know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad13 Mar 2028
Alexei Ushakov damages knee ligaments — 29 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 29 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.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
“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.
Market13 Mar 2028
“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.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad13 Mar 2028
Robert Mejía 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 Orenburg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Mar 2028
A row about effort at Orenburg
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ilja Rozhkov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Too much change too quickly at Orenburg
6 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 dugout13 Mar 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Atsamaz Revazov, and the manager let it.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Orenburg, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Feb 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Alexei Ushakov
44 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Orenburg lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market28 Feb 2028
Rodina come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Orenburg did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets28 Feb 2028
$630.0K settles it between the clubs for Andrey Okladnikov
Yenisey have accepted the money. What Orenburg do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Market28 Feb 2028
The phone has started ringing about Robert Mejía again, and this time the name on the line is Dinamo Minsk. Orenburg are listening politely and promising nothing.
Boardroom28 Feb 2028
Deadline passes with 10 signed and 9 gone
That is the business done at Orenburg until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Market28 Feb 2028
Only the photograph left for Evgeny Bolotov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Evgeny Bolotov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Orenburg the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad28 Feb 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Orenburg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Feb 2028
A row about effort at Orenburg
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dmitry Vasiljev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets28 Feb 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Rostov have kept their man, and Orenburg go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Feb 2028
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Market14 Feb 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Orenburg can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout14 Feb 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words exchanged at Orenburg
Jersson González 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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words at Orenburg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Vasiljev 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.
Transfer targets14 Feb 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ufa have kept their man, and Orenburg go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market14 Feb 2028
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Vyacheslav Zaitsev 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.
Market14 Feb 2028
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Gavriil Protasov 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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Lenix Conde and Orenburg agree another 4 years.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match22 Jan 2028
0‑3 to Krasnodar, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Market24 Jan 2028
“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.
The dugout24 Jan 2028
Ruslan Kul': that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Orenburg have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Robert Mejía 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.
Squad24 Jan 2028
A row about effort at Orenburg
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dmitry Vasiljev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout24 Jan 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dmitry Vasiljev, and the manager let it.
Boardroom24 Jan 2028
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout24 Jan 2028
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout24 Jan 2028
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 Danila Khotulev is on it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 Jan 2028
19 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Orenburg lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings17 Jan 2028
Successful dribbles: 30. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Match15 Jan 2028
The drought breaks for Orenburg
7 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Rodina were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Words at Orenburg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Vasiljev 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.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Words exchanged at Orenburg
Ilja Rozhkov 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.
Match15 Jan 2028
Three points for Orenburg, 2‑1 the final word against Rodina in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings17 Jan 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.08, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Jan 2028
35 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Orenburg lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match1 Jan 2028
5 matches without a win for Orenburg
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Orenburg are no longer polite ones.
The dugout3 Jan 2028
“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.
Market3 Jan 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Orenburg is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Jersson González 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.
Player ratings3 Jan 2028
Successful dribbles: 22. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad3 Jan 2028
A row about effort at Orenburg
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dmitry Vasiljev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom3 Jan 2028
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Ilja Levchenkov has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Orenburg have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
The dugout3 Jan 2028
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad27 Dec 2027
43 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Orenburg lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market27 Dec 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 Orenburg, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match25 Dec 2027
No end in sight to Orenburg's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Orenburg has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Robert Mejía 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 Orenburg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Dec 2027
A row about effort at Orenburg
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dmitry Vasiljev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match25 Dec 2027
0‑2 to Krylya Sovetov, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Emil Tsenov, and the manager let it.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Player ratings27 Dec 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad13 Dec 2027
58 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Orenburg lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market13 Dec 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 Orenburg, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings13 Dec 2027
Gedeon Guzina, 33, rolls back the years — 7.97
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.97 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad13 Dec 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 Orenburg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Dec 2027
A row about effort at Orenburg
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dmitry Vasiljev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dmitry Vasiljev, and the manager let it.
Squad13 Dec 2027
100 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
Match11 Dec 2027
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad6 Dec 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Alexey Baranovskiy damages knee ligaments — 66 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 66 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.
Market6 Dec 2027
Only the photograph left for Evgeny Bolotov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Evgeny Bolotov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Orenburg the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom6 Dec 2027
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Evgeny Bolotov has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad6 Dec 2027
A falling-out at Orenburg
Robert Mejía and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad6 Dec 2027
A row about effort at Orenburg
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dmitry Vasiljev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings6 Dec 2027
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 16 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
The manager makes an example of Danila Khotulev
“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.
Market6 Dec 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Orenburg, another week without a signature from Emil Tsenov.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad29 Nov 2027
Alexey Baranovskiy damages knee ligaments — 73 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 73 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.
Market29 Nov 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 Orenburg, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings29 Nov 2027
Gedeon Guzina, 33, rolls back the years — 8.48
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.48 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad29 Nov 2027
A row about effort at Orenburg
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bogdan Ovsyannikov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match27 Nov 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Alexandre Jesus. 2‑1 against Dinamo Makhachkala, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings29 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
The manager makes an example of Amar Rahmanović
“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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Evgeny Bolotov 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 dugout29 Nov 2027
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑1, already talking about the next one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Nov 2027
80 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Orenburg lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match17 Nov 2027
Cup progress for Orenburg
A 1‑0 win over Fakel, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Squad22 Nov 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad22 Nov 2027
A falling-out at Orenburg
Jersson González and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Nov 2027
A row about effort at Orenburg
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dmitry Vasiljev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jhon Palacios, and the manager let it.
Player ratings22 Nov 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Nov 2027
Alexey Baranovskiy damages knee ligaments — 88 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 88 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.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
Danila Khotulev: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Orenburg have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad15 Nov 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 Orenburg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings15 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad15 Nov 2027
A row about effort at Orenburg
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dmitry Vasiljev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match13 Nov 2027
It finished 2‑1, and it was Alexandre Jesus’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Orenburg.
Player ratings15 Nov 2027
Alexandre Jesus was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.29. 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.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Ruslan Andreev on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The dugout15 Nov 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.