Marked for Dmitry Medvedev
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market4 Sep 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nikita Zhustjev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Irtysh the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market4 Sep 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 Irtysh can pretend not to have heard.
Match2 Sep 2028
No end in sight to Irtysh's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Irtysh has to find a result from somewhere.
The dugout4 Sep 2028
This is not rotation. Mikołaj Wierniuk has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Irtysh is pretending otherwise.
Market4 Sep 2028
The deal that would have taken Dmitry Medvedev to Kvant has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Irtysh with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Match2 Sep 2028
Irtysh make home a hard place to visit
9 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
$89.6K from the owner keeps Irtysh afloat
The gap in the accounts was filled from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be grateful and to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings arrive together.
Squad4 Sep 2028
200 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
Squad4 Sep 2028
A row about effort at Irtysh
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aznaur Geryugov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match16 Aug 2028
Irtysh out of the cup
Veles ended it 0‑1. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Market21 Aug 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 dugout21 Aug 2028
This is not rotation. Matvey Zhustjev has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Irtysh is pretending otherwise.
Market21 Aug 2028
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Irtysh have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Boardroom21 Aug 2028
No signings allowed at Irtysh
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
Squad21 Aug 2028
200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
Squad21 Aug 2028
A row about effort at Irtysh
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aznaur Geryugov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom21 Aug 2028
The Irtysh debt reaches $4.6M
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
Player ratings21 Aug 2028
Marked 7.28 on 9 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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The dugout
Yury Bavin has become a man the manager trusts
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The dugout
Ilja Krylov asks for a word with the manager
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 Jul 2028
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Irtysh have lost him in all but the paperwork.
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.
Player ratings31 Jul 2028
Lucas Neverdal, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.63
A mark of 7.63 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Match29 Jul 2028
The wait goes on for Irtysh
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.
Match29 Jul 2028
8 unbeaten for Irtysh
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 8 matches without defeat is a foundation Irtysh did not have in the autumn.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Tempers go at Irtysh
Alexandr Smirnov 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 Jul 2028
Words at Irtysh training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aznaur Geryugov 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.
Squad31 Jul 2028
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Irtysh are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Match29 Jul 2028
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom10 Jul 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Irtysh
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market10 Jul 2028
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Irtysh have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market10 Jul 2028
Jakub Welter 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 Irtysh can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout10 Jul 2028
This is not rotation. Mikołaj Wierniuk has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Irtysh is pretending otherwise.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Aznaur Geryugov 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.
Boardroom10 Jul 2028
Wages swallow 113% of the Irtysh income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The dugout10 Jul 2028
The manager makes an example of Nikita Zhustjev
“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 dugout10 Jul 2028
When it matters, Yury Bavin plays
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.
The dugout10 Jul 2028
Ilja Krylov 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 Irtysh, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Jun 2028
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Irtysh have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Words exchanged at Irtysh
Alexandr Smirnov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout26 Jun 2028
This is not rotation. Matvey Zhustjev has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Irtysh is pretending otherwise.
Boardroom26 Jun 2028
Irtysh cannot sign anybody
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
Boardroom26 Jun 2028
Irtysh are $4.2M in the red
The borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
The dugout26 Jun 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
Uneasy
The dugout22 May 2028
This is not rotation. Jakub Welter has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Irtysh is pretending otherwise.
Squad22 May 2028
Aznaur Geryugov 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 dugout22 May 2028
Alexey Gusev 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 Irtysh, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout22 May 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.
Match22 May 2028
Irtysh have something to play for
Position 6 on 41 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
Market22 May 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Nikita Zhustjev’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Apr 2028
A falling-out at Irtysh
Alexandr Smirnov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
This is not rotation. Jakub Welter has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Irtysh is pretending otherwise.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
Lucas Neverdal 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 Irtysh, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
Nikita Zhustjev has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Irtysh 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.
Match24 Apr 2028
Continental football is in reach for Irtysh
41 points from position 6. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
Market24 Apr 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Nikita Zhustjev’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Roman Gribov has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Irtysh can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market7 Feb 2028
Jakub Welter 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 Irtysh can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
The numbers do not look good at Irtysh
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 terraces7 Feb 2028
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Match5 Feb 2028
Three points for Irtysh, 2‑0 the final word against Dinamo Bryansk in a contest settled by the finer margins.
The dugout7 Feb 2028
This is not rotation. Matvey Zhustjev has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Irtysh is pretending otherwise.
The dugout7 Feb 2028
The manager makes an example of Yury Bavin
“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.
Market7 Feb 2028
Add another name to the list: Zarya Lugansk have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Dmitry Medvedev. The answer from Irtysh has not changed — yet.
Player ratings7 Feb 2028
Marked 7.17 on 10 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The dugout20 Dec 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Words at Irtysh training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Roman Yanushkovskiy 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.
Match18 Dec 2027
0‑1 to Metallurg, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
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.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
The manager makes an example of Elvin Talibov
“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 ratings20 Dec 2027
Successful dribbles: 12. 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.
Market20 Dec 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Irtysh know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market20 Dec 2027
Irtysh have let the market know Mikołaj Wierniuk can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom26 Apr 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Irtysh
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Irtysh is running low.
Market26 Apr 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Matvey Zhustjev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Irtysh the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad26 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Irtysh this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Irtysh training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aznaur Geryugov 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.
Boardroom26 Apr 2027
Belts tighten at Irtysh
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom29 Mar 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Irtysh
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Irtysh is running low.
Squad29 Mar 2027
18 days out for Artemy Maleev after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Irtysh will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market29 Mar 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Irtysh is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Irtysh
Alexandr Smirnov 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 Mar 2027
Everybody at Irtysh saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 34 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Squad29 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Irtysh
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aznaur Geryugov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom29 Mar 2027
Belts tighten at Irtysh
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Jakub Welter 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 dugout29 Mar 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces25 Jan 2027
Anger at Irtysh spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Artemy Maleev breaks a bone — 81 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 81 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market25 Jan 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Irtysh, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad25 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Irtysh
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Roman Yanushkovskiy was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom25 Jan 2027
Wages swallow 128% of the Irtysh income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces28 Dec 2026
Supporters organise against the Irtysh board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Irtysh
Alexandr Smirnov 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.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Wages swallow 192% of the Irtysh income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mikołaj Wierniuk, and the manager let it.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Yury Bavin 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 Yury Bavin is on it.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Jakub Welter 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 Jakub Welter trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces30 Nov 2026
The mood at Irtysh has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Wages eat 193% of everything Irtysh earn
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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Irtysh this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Irtysh training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aznaur Geryugov 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 Nov 2026
When it matters, Yury Bavin plays
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.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Dmitry Medvedev
“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
Uneasy
Match23 Nov 2026
Every point is an argument now for Irtysh
Position 6 and 11 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.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Dmitry Medvedev: 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.” Irtysh have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Jakub Welter gets it from the manager
“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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Irtysh
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aznaur Geryugov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Roman Safronov 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.
Market23 Nov 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Alexandr Goryachkin’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.