Marked for Artur Maxetsov
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match10 Jun 2028
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad12 Jun 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.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Artur Maxetsov 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.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Words exchanged at Aktobe
Andrey Yegorychev 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 dugout12 Jun 2028
The manager makes an example of Kirill Malyarov
“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 dugout12 Jun 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Rubin Hebaj's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
The dugout12 Jun 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.
The dugout12 Jun 2028
Jani Atanasov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Aktobe 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.
Player ratings12 Jun 2028
A mark of 4.95 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Jun 2028
Tempers go at Aktobe
Rubin Hebaj 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.
Match3 Jun 2028
Kairat left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Boardroom5 Jun 2028
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Nūrbergen Nūrbol has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Aktobe have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Artur Maxetsov 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
No hiding place for Uroš Ćuk
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Uroš Ćuk, and the manager let it.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Four weeks in which nobody in the division did his job better. The award goes on a shelf and the player goes back into the side, which is the order Aktobe prefer.
The dugout5 Jun 2028
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Yeldos Beysebekov after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Jani Atanasov makes the team of the month
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Market5 Jun 2028
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Aktobe has been clear about where Darkhan Berdibek stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings22 May 2028
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad22 May 2028
Ivan Ordets 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 Aktobe this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 May 2028
A row about effort at Aktobe
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Artur Maxetsov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout22 May 2028
“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 dugout22 May 2028
Rubin Hebaj 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 dugout22 May 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Yeldos Beysebekov was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Aktobe dressing room was either.
The dugout22 May 2028
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Squad22 May 2028
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.
Match20 May 2028
Point won or two lost for Aktobe?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Tobol? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match13 May 2028
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Atyrau, and it could have been more.
Player ratings15 May 2028
A brace, and Artur Shushenachev takes the afternoon — 8.88
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Artur Shushenachev provided it, and the 8.88 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings15 May 2028
Jani Atanasov goes up and wins it — 7.98
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.98 for the rest of it.
Match13 May 2028
Another one collected away from home
4 on the bounce on the road for Aktobe. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Squad15 May 2028
A falling-out at Aktobe
Ivan Ordets and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 May 2028
Words at Aktobe training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artur Maxetsov 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.
Squad15 May 2028
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Aktobe can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The dugout15 May 2028
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Yeldos Beysebekov on a 3‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The dugout15 May 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
Upbeat
Match6 May 2028
3‑0, and Jani Atanasov took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Aktobe tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings8 May 2028
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.29, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad8 May 2028
Tempers go at Aktobe
Rubin Hebaj 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 ratings8 May 2028
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match6 May 2028
Another one collected away from home
3 on the bounce on the road for Aktobe. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Squad8 May 2028
A row about effort at Aktobe
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Uroš Ćuk was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout8 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Artur Maxetsov, and the manager let it.
Squad8 May 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Abdulla Al-Marzooqi commits to Aktobe for another 2 years.
Squad8 May 2028
Ivan Ordets makes the team of the month
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout24 Apr 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Aktobe may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match22 Apr 2028
Nobody wants to play Aktobe 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.
Match22 Apr 2028
Shakhter made Aktobe work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
“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.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Artur Maxetsov 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.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Ivan Ordets 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 Aktobe this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings24 Apr 2028
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.97 on the card, and the Aktobe support went home talking about one name.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Aktobe are still strangers to each other
11 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Yeldos Beysebekov could afford to be generous.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
Two goals and a mark of 9.07 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad10 Apr 2028
16 days out for Alexandr Zuev after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Aktobe will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
Uroš Ćuk: 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.” Aktobe have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match8 Apr 2028
Taraz made Aktobe work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad10 Apr 2028
15 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad10 Apr 2028
A row about effort at Aktobe
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Artur Maxetsov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words exchanged at Aktobe
Ivan Ordets 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.
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Yeldos Beysebekov on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Apr 2028
A fracture rules Alexandr Zuev out for 23 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Aktobe will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Words exchanged at Aktobe
Talğat Kusiapov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Artur Maxetsov 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.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
The dugout3 Apr 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 dugout3 Apr 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Yeldos Beysebekov was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Aktobe dressing room was either.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Player ratings3 Apr 2028
Shots: 11, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Match1 Apr 2028
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Irtysh defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad13 Mar 2028
A fracture rules Alexandr Zuev out for 44 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Aktobe will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad13 Mar 2028
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.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
Artur Maxetsov: 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.” Aktobe have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad13 Mar 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 Aktobe this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match11 Mar 2028
Kairat left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout13 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.
Squad13 Mar 2028
200 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Yeldos Beysebekov after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
Jani Atanasov 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 Jani Atanasov is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 Jan 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Yegor Baburin
29 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Aktobe lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Alexandr Zuev breaks a bone — 89 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 89 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market31 Jan 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 Aktobe can pretend not to have heard.
Market31 Jan 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Rafail' Ospanov 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. Rafail' Ospanov has, at Aktobe, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad31 Jan 2028
A falling-out at Aktobe
Rubin Hebaj and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout31 Jan 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Elia Tantalocchi's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
The dugout31 Jan 2028
Giorgi Zaria has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Aktobe will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout31 Jan 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Yeremy Angulo, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Jan 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Yegor Baburin
44 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Aktobe lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Alexandr Zuev breaks a bone — 105 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 105 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market17 Jan 2028
Bağdat Qaiyrov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Aktobe they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Too much change too quickly at Aktobe
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 dugout17 Jan 2028
Jani Atanasov 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 Jani Atanasov is on it.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
Rubin Hebaj 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 Rubin Hebaj trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Jan 2028
Yegor Baburin damages knee ligaments — 52 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 52 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.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Alexandr Zuev breaks a bone — 112 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 112 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Tempers go at Aktobe
Ivan Ordets was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad10 Jan 2028
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Aktobe will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
The dugout10 Jan 2028
When it matters, Ivan Ordets 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 Jan 2028
Arman Keńesov 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 Aktobe, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Jan 2028
Yegor Baburin damages knee ligaments — 59 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 59 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.
Squad3 Jan 2028
119 days out for Alexandr Zuev after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Aktobe will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad3 Jan 2028
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Aktobe had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Tempers go at Aktobe
Ivan Ordets 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 dugout3 Jan 2028
The manager makes an example of Artur Maxetsov
“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 dugout3 Jan 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Elia Tantalocchi's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad27 Dec 2027
66 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Aktobe lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Alexandr Zuev breaks a bone — 127 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 127 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Words exchanged at Aktobe
Ivan Ordets 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.
Boardroom27 Dec 2027
Wages eat 96% of everything Aktobe 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.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
Yegor Baburin has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Aktobe will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad20 Dec 2027
Yegor Baburin 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.
Market20 Dec 2027
Only the photograph left for Bağdat Qaiyrov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bağdat Qaiyrov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Aktobe the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad20 Dec 2027
A falling-out at Aktobe
Ivan Ordets and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad20 Dec 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Vladimir Vomenko commits to Aktobe for another 2 years.
Squad20 Dec 2027
6 new faces, and Aktobe are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad13 Dec 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Yegor Baburin
81 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Aktobe lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Vladimir Vomenko has just signed for Aktobe, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad13 Dec 2027
A falling-out at Aktobe
Rubin Hebaj and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market13 Dec 2027
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Timur Rudosel'skii is a Aktobe player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Squad13 Dec 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Andrey Yegorychev commits to Aktobe for another 1 years.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
Ivan Ordets has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Aktobe 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad6 Dec 2027
Yegor Baburin damages knee ligaments — 89 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 89 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Tempers go at Aktobe
Ivan Ordets was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
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 Aktobe, another week without a signature from Yegor Baburin.
Squad6 Dec 2027
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Aktobe know it.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
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
Steady
Market25 Oct 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Aktobe is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Rubin Hebaj 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 Aktobe this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
Ivan Ordets 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.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
Jani Atanasov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Aktobe 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.
Match25 Oct 2027
Aktobe in the hunt for Europe
Position 6, 34 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
Jan Pieter 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 Jan Pieter trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Oct 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 Aktobe this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Andre Gyan 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Too much change too quickly at Aktobe
7 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 dugout11 Oct 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Elia Tantalocchi's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
Giorgi Zaria has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Aktobe will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
Rubin Hebaj 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 Aktobe, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market20 Sep 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market20 Sep 2027
The phone has started ringing about Bağdat Qaiyrov again, and this time the name on the line is Taraz. Aktobe are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Ivan Ordets 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 Aktobe this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets20 Sep 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Deportivo Laferrere have kept their man, and Aktobe go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Words at Aktobe training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andre Gyan 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 Sep 2027
When it matters, Ivan Ordets 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 dugout20 Sep 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Aktobe will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Market20 Sep 2027
The window shut and Erkebūlan Seidakhmet is still in the building
Aktobe spent a month trying to move him and nobody rang back. He trains with a squad that has told him where he stands, and both sides start counting down to the next one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Jun 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Leningradets is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad14 Jun 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 Leningradets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Danila Yemeljanov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom14 Jun 2027
Wages swallow 155% of the Leningradets 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.
Market14 Jun 2027
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Leningradets has been clear about where Denis Scherbitskiy stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matvey Pershin, and the manager let it.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
Artur Maxetsov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Leningradets 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.
Market14 Jun 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ilja Stefanovich’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The terraces14 Jun 2027
Supporters make their feelings known about Daniil Rodin
The speculation has reached the stands, and the stands have answered. Leningradets would like this settled before it becomes the only thing anybody asks about.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market14 Jun 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Rostov is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad14 Jun 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Konstantin Kuchaev and Rostov agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad14 Jun 2027
A row about effort at Rostov
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wendel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Tempers go at Rostov
Olakunle Olusegun was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad14 Jun 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Rostov can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Rostov told Yegor Golenkov something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Yaroslav Mikhailov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout14 Jun 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.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
Timur Suleimanov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Rostov 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 May 2027
Only the photograph left for Yegor Smirnov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Yegor Smirnov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Leningradets the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad24 May 2027
Alexey Kuznetsov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 May 2027
Danila Yemeljanov 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 dugout24 May 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Eldiyar Zarypbekov's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
The dugout24 May 2027
Artem Kulishev 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 dugout24 May 2027
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 Gennady Kiselev is on it.
Market24 May 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Maxim Bachinskiy’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout24 May 2027
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.
Squad24 May 2027
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market17 May 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Leningradets is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad17 May 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Danila Yemeljanov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom17 May 2027
Wages swallow 159% of the Leningradets 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 dugout17 May 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.
The dugout17 May 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.
Market17 May 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ilja Stefanovich’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market17 May 2027
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Rostov can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Market17 May 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Rostov they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad17 May 2027
A row about effort at Rostov
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wendel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout17 May 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.
The dugout17 May 2027
Danila Prokhin has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Rostov will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout17 May 2027
Oumar Sako 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 Rostov, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market17 May 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Rostov know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout17 May 2027
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Rostov. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Squad17 May 2027
The language is coming and there is somebody to talk to in the dressing room. A footballer who feels at home plays like one, and it never shows up in a scouting report.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Apr 2027
Danila Kozlov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Leningradets they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Alexey Kuznetsov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom19 Apr 2027
Wages eat 162% of everything Leningradets 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.
The dugout19 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.
The dugout19 Apr 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 dugout19 Apr 2027
Vitaly Gorulev 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 Leningradets, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market19 Apr 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Leningradets know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Loan watch19 Apr 2027
The goals keep arriving from Maxim Ortyashov’s exile
4 goals in 24 games at Chertanovo — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Leningradets updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
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
Market22 Mar 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Leningradets is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Danila Yemeljanov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom22 Mar 2027
Wages swallow 185% of the Leningradets 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 dugout22 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nikita Tereschuk, and the manager let it.
The dugout22 Mar 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 dugout22 Mar 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Roman Kudryavtsev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market22 Mar 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Leningradets know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Loan watch22 Mar 2027
24 appearances at Chertanovo and the goals keep coming. Leningradets are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Market22 Mar 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Artemy Ukomskiy may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Jan 2027
Danila Yemeljanov 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Artur Maxetsov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
Alexey Kuznetsov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Leningradets will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Matvey Pershin
“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 dugout18 Jan 2027
Daniil Rodin 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.
Market18 Jan 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Leningradets know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Leningradets have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
The Leningradets board want somebody sold
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match31 Oct 2026
1‑2 to Dinamo Moscow 2, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
461% of the income goes out in wages at Leningradets
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“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.
Match31 Oct 2026
4 matches without defeat, and then Dinamo Moscow 2. Nobody at the ground pretended it would go on forever; nobody expected it to stop here either.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Fedot Konovalov after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match17 Oct 2026
4‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Match19 Oct 2026
Leningradets refuse to drop out of the race
Position 2, 19 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Squad19 Oct 2026
The match ball belongs to Daniil Rodin, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Match17 Oct 2026
Nobody wants to play Leningradets 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Danila Yemeljanov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match17 Oct 2026
Another one collected away from home
3 on the bounce on the road for Leningradets. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Ninety minutes of Daniil Rodin at his very best
Marked 8.55. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Leningradets.
Looking ahead19 Oct 2026
The fixture the rest of the division is looking forward to more than either of the sides in it. Both know a win changes the season and a defeat does not end it, which is what makes it hard to play.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
A performance of 8.13 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market24 Aug 2026
“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 Leningradets, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad24 Aug 2026
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.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Maxim Sidelnikov, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.71
A mark of 7.71 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
A defender's goal wins it for Leningradets — 7.85
1 for Vitaly Gorulev, marked 7.85, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Leningradets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Danila Yemeljanov 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 terraces24 Aug 2026
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
A performance of 8.09 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match22 Aug 2026
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Anatoliy Makarov had Leningradets level again within 2 minutes, and Veles never got to play with a lead at all.