Marked for Masoud Fahed
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match14 Aug 2027
29 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Dinamo Makhachkala 2 has to find a result from somewhere.
Match14 Aug 2027
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 22 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad16 Aug 2027
12 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 terraces16 Aug 2027
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.
Match14 Aug 2027
A 0‑3 beating by Rubin Yalta was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Market16 Aug 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dinamo Makhachkala 2 can pretend not to have heard.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Islam Mikhteev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout16 Aug 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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Masoud Fahed was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match7 Aug 2027
28 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Dinamo Makhachkala 2 has to find a result from somewhere.
Match7 Aug 2027
21 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Match7 Aug 2027
0‑5 to Pobeda, 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.
Market9 Aug 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dinamo Makhachkala 2 can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad9 Aug 2027
Artem Dudarev 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Masoud Fahed 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 Dinamo Makhachkala 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bogatyr Razhbudinov, and the manager let it.
Market9 Aug 2027
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Dinamo Makhachkala 2 has been clear about where Magomed Abdullabekov stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match31 Jul 2027
The run now stands at 27, and the questions being asked around Dinamo Makhachkala 2 are no longer polite ones.
Match31 Jul 2027
20 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Market2 Aug 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 Dinamo Makhachkala 2, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Magomed Ibragimov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words at Dinamo Makhachkala 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artem Dudarev 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 dugout2 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Artem Dudarev
“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 ratings2 Aug 2027
Marked 6.59 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.
Market2 Aug 2027
“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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Masoud Fahed 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
Uneasy
Market12 Jul 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dinamo Makhachkala 2 can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad12 Jul 2027
Masoud Fahed 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 Dinamo Makhachkala 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Bogatyr Razhbudinov 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 dugout12 Jul 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.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
Islam Mikhteev 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 Islam Mikhteev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Jun 2027
Magomed Ibragimov 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Magomed Ibragimov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout7 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Dinamo Makhachkala 2 will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
Market7 Jun 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Dinamo Makhachkala 2, another week without a signature from Bogatyr Razhbudinov.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
Masoud Fahed loses the manager who believed in him
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Masoud Fahed's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.