Marked for Dmitry Chamzhaev
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The terraces26 May 2036
Anger at Nosta 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.
Squad26 May 2036
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 14 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match26 May 2036
Nosta refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 42 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.
Market26 May 2036
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Nosta is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout26 May 2036
This is not rotation. Pavel Satuchin has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Nosta is pretending otherwise.
Squad26 May 2036
Tempers go at Nosta
Ondřej Sprinz 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 May 2036
A row about effort at Nosta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dmitry Chamzhaev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout26 May 2036
A promise honoured at Nosta
Something was said to Federico Pierluigi and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout26 May 2036
Lucas Poll 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom19 May 2036
Pressure builds in the Nosta boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad19 May 2036
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 21 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market19 May 2036
Jiří Novotný has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Nosta they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad19 May 2036
Tempers go at Nosta
Zainudin Zainudinov 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.
Squad19 May 2036
Words at Nosta training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ondřej Sprinz 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.
Market19 May 2036
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Nosta, another week without a signature from Lucas Poll.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom5 May 2036
Interim Coach has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Nosta can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Squad5 May 2036
A fracture rules Michel Shaqiri out for 35 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Nosta will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market5 May 2036
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Nosta they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad5 May 2036
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nosta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 May 2036
Words at Nosta training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Chamzhaev 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.
Boardroom5 May 2036
Wages swallow 479% of the Nosta 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 dugout5 May 2036
“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.
Market5 May 2036
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Nosta, another week without a signature from Nabil Zamani.
The dugout5 May 2036
Nabil Zamani without the man who signed him
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Nabil Zamani was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom21 Apr 2036
The scrutiny sharpens at Nosta
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Nosta is running low.
Squad21 Apr 2036
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 49 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market21 Apr 2036
Only the photograph left for Jiří Novotný
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jiří Novotný will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Nosta the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad21 Apr 2036
Tempers go at Nosta
Dmitry Chamzhaev 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 Apr 2036
Words at Nosta training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ondřej Sprinz 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 Apr 2036
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Pavel Satuchin, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market14 Apr 2036
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Nosta is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad14 Apr 2036
A falling-out at Nosta
Ondřej Sprinz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Apr 2036
Words at Nosta training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Chamzhaev 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.
Boardroom14 Apr 2036
Embargo at Nosta
No fees may be paid for anybody, whatever the squad needs. Every rumour about this club until it lifts is a rumour about a deal that cannot be done.
The dugout14 Apr 2036
Lucas Poll 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.
Market14 Apr 2036
“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.
The dugout14 Apr 2036
Nikita Pershin 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.
Market14 Apr 2036
The name of Dmitry Chamzhaev keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Nosta say nothing, which says plenty.
Market14 Apr 2036
5 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Nosta could get for him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom24 Mar 2036
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Nosta
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market24 Mar 2036
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Nosta is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad24 Mar 2036
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Squad24 Mar 2036
Tempers go at Nosta
Zainudin Zainudinov 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 Mar 2036
Words at Nosta training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Chamzhaev 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 dugout24 Mar 2036
Loris Fontana 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 Nosta, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market24 Mar 2036
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Nosta know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout24 Mar 2036
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.
Market24 Mar 2036
1 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Nosta money.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market17 Mar 2036
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Nosta is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad17 Mar 2036
Nabil Zamani 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 Nosta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Mar 2036
A row about effort at Nosta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ondřej Sprinz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom17 Mar 2036
Embargo at Nosta
No fees may be paid for anybody, whatever the squad needs. Every rumour about this club until it lifts is a rumour about a deal that cannot be done.
The dugout17 Mar 2036
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Julian Arnautovic, and the manager let it.
Market17 Mar 2036
The name of Dmitry Chamzhaev keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Nosta say nothing, which says plenty.
Market17 Mar 2036
The clock does Nikita Pershin’s negotiating for him
6 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Nosta could ask drops and the wages Nikita Pershin can ask rise.
The dugout17 Mar 2036
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Nosta. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Market17 Mar 2036
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Kevin Rieder leaves Nosta the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The terraces3 Mar 2036
Anger at Nosta 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.
Match3 Mar 2036
Nosta are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 42 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market3 Mar 2036
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Muhammed Demiral will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Nosta the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad3 Mar 2036
304 appearances across 10 seasons in one shirt. Careers like that are not built on purpose any more, and Nosta know exactly what they have.
The dugout3 Mar 2036
This is not rotation. Pavel Satuchin has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Nosta is pretending otherwise.
Boardroom3 Mar 2036
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad3 Mar 2036
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nosta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets3 Mar 2036
Nosta asked and CSKA Moscow said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad3 Mar 2036
Dmitry Chamzhaev 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
Upbeat
Boardroom25 Feb 2036
The scrutiny sharpens at Nosta
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Nosta is running low.
The dugout25 Feb 2036
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Nosta may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market25 Feb 2036
Only the photograph left for Kevin Rieder
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kevin Rieder will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Nosta the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom25 Feb 2036
Deadline passes with 1 signed and 1 gone
That is the business done at Nosta 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.
Squad25 Feb 2036
Words exchanged at Nosta
Ondřej Sprinz 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 targets25 Feb 2036
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Krasnodar have kept their man, and Nosta go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad25 Feb 2036
A row about effort at Nosta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dmitry Chamzhaev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets25 Feb 2036
Krylya Sovetov have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The dugout25 Feb 2036
Pavel Satuchin 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 Nosta, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market18 Feb 2036
“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 Nosta, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market18 Feb 2036
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Nosta they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Transfer targets18 Feb 2036
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Nosta have done the hard part with Krylya Sovetov, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad18 Feb 2036
Words exchanged at Nosta
Nikita Pershin 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 targets18 Feb 2036
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.
Squad18 Feb 2036
Words at Nosta training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ondřej Sprinz 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.
Boardroom18 Feb 2036
Embargo at Nosta
No fees may be paid for anybody, whatever the squad needs. Every rumour about this club until it lifts is a rumour about a deal that cannot be done.
Market18 Feb 2036
“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 dugout18 Feb 2036
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
Upbeat
Market11 Feb 2036
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Nosta is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom11 Feb 2036
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Jiří Novotný has agreed terms with Akhmat Grozny for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad11 Feb 2036
Tempers go at Nosta
Nikita Pershin 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 targets11 Feb 2036
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.
Squad11 Feb 2036
A row about effort at Nosta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ondřej Sprinz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom11 Feb 2036
Wages eat 668% of everything Nosta 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 dugout11 Feb 2036
“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.
Market11 Feb 2036
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Nosta, another week without a signature from Nikita Pershin.
The dugout11 Feb 2036
Nobody at Nosta 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
Triumph
The terraces4 Feb 2036
The mood at Nosta 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.
Boardroom4 Feb 2036
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Interim Coach has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Match2 Feb 2036
Nosta make it 6 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Nosta have 6 straight wins of it.
Match4 Feb 2036
Nosta refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 42 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.
The dugout4 Feb 2036
This is not rotation. Pavel Satuchin has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Nosta is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets4 Feb 2036
The deal with Akhmat Grozny 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.
Squad4 Feb 2036
“The easiest signature of my career.” Dmitry Chamzhaev and Nosta agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad4 Feb 2036
Words exchanged at Nosta
Zainudin Zainudinov 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.
Match2 Feb 2036
Nobody wins at Nosta
9 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match19 Jan 2036
Nobody wants to play Nosta right now
4 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.
Player ratings21 Jan 2036
Successful dribbles: 25. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Market21 Jan 2036
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Nosta is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom21 Jan 2036
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Avtandil Chakvetadze 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.
Squad21 Jan 2036
A falling-out at Nosta
Ondřej Sprinz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Jan 2036
Words at Nosta training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Chamzhaev 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.
Match19 Jan 2036
Nosta make home a hard place to visit
8 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.
Match19 Jan 2036
Dinamo Barnaul made Nosta work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Boardroom21 Jan 2036
Embargo at Nosta
No fees may be paid for anybody, whatever the squad needs. Every rumour about this club until it lifts is a rumour about a deal that cannot be done.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market14 Jan 2036
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Nosta can pretend not to have heard.
Market14 Jan 2036
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Nosta is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match12 Jan 2036
Nosta keep winning on the road
7 away wins in a row. Travelling support is the truest kind, and this season it is being repaid in the only currency that counts.
Match12 Jan 2036
Nobody wants to play Nosta 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.
Boardroom14 Jan 2036
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Vladislav Galkin has agreed terms with Irtysh for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Market14 Jan 2036
The shirt still fits. Zaurbek Ramonov is back at Nosta, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Squad14 Jan 2036
Tempers go at Nosta
Nikita Pershin 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 Jan 2036
A row about effort at Nosta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dmitry Chamzhaev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom14 Jan 2036
Wages eat 626% of everything Nosta 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The terraces7 Jan 2036
Supporters organise against the Nosta 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.
Match5 Jan 2036
No mercy from Nosta
Chelyabinsk 2 will want this one forgotten quickly: 5‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Nosta were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings7 Jan 2036
Two goals and a mark of 8.83 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Match7 Jan 2036
Nosta up to position 3
30 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Match5 Jan 2036
11 unbeaten for Nosta
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 11 matches without defeat is a foundation Nosta did not have in the autumn.
Player ratings7 Jan 2036
At 35 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.36, and nobody on the pitch better.
The dugout7 Jan 2036
This is not rotation. Pavel Satuchin has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Nosta is pretending otherwise.
Squad7 Jan 2036
Words exchanged at Nosta
Dmitry Chamzhaev 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.
Squad7 Jan 2036
Ondřej Sprinz 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
Upbeat
Market24 Dec 2035
Maxim Kiselev 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 Nosta can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout24 Dec 2035
“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.
Squad24 Dec 2035
Words exchanged at Nosta
Nikita Pershin 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.
Squad24 Dec 2035
A row about effort at Nosta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dmitry Chamzhaev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom24 Dec 2035
Embargo at Nosta
No fees may be paid for anybody, whatever the squad needs. Every rumour about this club until it lifts is a rumour about a deal that cannot be done.
Market24 Dec 2035
2 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Nosta could get for him.
Market24 Dec 2035
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ondřej Sprinz signs something — a contract at Nosta or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout24 Dec 2035
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 Michel Shaqiri is on it.
Match24 Dec 2035
Nosta have something to play for
Position 6 on 24 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market17 Dec 2035
“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.
Match15 Dec 2035
9 unbeaten for Nosta
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 9 matches without defeat is a foundation Nosta did not have in the autumn.
Squad17 Dec 2035
A falling-out at Nosta
Zainudin Zainudinov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 Dec 2035
Words at Nosta training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ondřej Sprinz 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.
Boardroom17 Dec 2035
Wages eat 606% of everything Nosta 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.
Player ratings17 Dec 2035
A mark of 7.21, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout17 Dec 2035
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 dugout17 Dec 2035
“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 Dec 2035
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Interim Coach after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom3 Dec 2035
The scrutiny sharpens at Nosta
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Nosta is running low.
Player ratings3 Dec 2035
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.92 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market3 Dec 2035
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Nosta is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match1 Dec 2035
Still nobody has beaten Nosta
The unbeaten run reaches 7. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad3 Dec 2035
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ondřej Sprinz commits to Nosta for another 2 years.
Squad3 Dec 2035
Words exchanged at Nosta
Ondřej Sprinz 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 Dec 2035
Dmitry Chamzhaev 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 dugout3 Dec 2035
“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.
Player ratings3 Dec 2035
A performance of 8.15 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market19 Nov 2035
“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.
Squad19 Nov 2035
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Nosta can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad19 Nov 2035
Tempers go at Nosta
Pavel Satuchin 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.
Squad19 Nov 2035
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 35 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Nosta is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Squad19 Nov 2035
A row about effort at Nosta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ondřej Sprinz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom19 Nov 2035
696% of the income goes out in wages at Nosta
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 dugout19 Nov 2035
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 Zainudin Zainudinov is on it.
The dugout19 Nov 2035
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Avtandil Chakvetadze, and the manager let it.
The dugout19 Nov 2035
Pavel Satuchin 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 Nosta, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The terraces12 Nov 2035
Supporters organise against the Nosta 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.
The dugout12 Nov 2035
“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.
The dugout12 Nov 2035
This is not rotation. Pavel Satuchin has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Nosta is pretending otherwise.
Match10 Nov 2035
Nosta make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Nosta have 3 straight wins of it.
Player ratings12 Nov 2035
Successful dribbles: 22. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad12 Nov 2035
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nosta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Nov 2035
A row about effort at Nosta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dmitry Chamzhaev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match10 Nov 2035
It finished 1‑0, and it was Ondřej Sprinz’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Nosta.
The dugout12 Nov 2035
The manager makes an example of Rinat Abzalilov
“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
Squad22 Oct 2035
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 28 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings22 Oct 2035
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market22 Oct 2035
“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 Nosta, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings22 Oct 2035
A defender's goal wins it for Nosta — 7.48
1 for Nikita Pershin, marked 7.48, 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.
Player ratings22 Oct 2035
Oleg Korotkov goes up and wins it — 7.60
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 7.60 for the rest of it.
Squad22 Oct 2035
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nosta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Oct 2035
Words at Nosta training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Chamzhaev 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.
Boardroom22 Oct 2035
630% of the income goes out in wages at Nosta
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 dugout22 Oct 2035
“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
The terraces15 Oct 2035
The mood at Nosta 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.
Squad15 Oct 2035
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Nosta will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The dugout15 Oct 2035
This is not rotation. Pavel Satuchin has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Nosta is pretending otherwise.
Squad15 Oct 2035
Words exchanged at Nosta
Dmitry Chamzhaev 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.
Squad15 Oct 2035
Words at Nosta training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ondřej Sprinz 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 Oct 2035
Too much change too quickly at Nosta
8 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 dugout15 Oct 2035
Nobody at Nosta 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 dugout15 Oct 2035
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Timofey Shemenev, and the manager let it.
Market15 Oct 2035
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Nosta, another week without a signature from Anatoly Nemchenko.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings1 Oct 2035
Two goals and a mark of 8.88 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Match1 Oct 2035
Nosta sink to position 11
3 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Player ratings1 Oct 2035
Up for the corner, and Oleg Korotkov delivers — 7.26
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Oleg Korotkov scored, was marked 7.26, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Squad1 Oct 2035
Words exchanged at Nosta
Nikita Pershin 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.
Squad1 Oct 2035
Dmitry Chamzhaev 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.
Match29 Sep 2035
Nosta keep winning on the road
3 away wins in a row. Travelling support is the truest kind, and this season it is being repaid in the only currency that counts.
Boardroom1 Oct 2035
Nosta 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.
The dugout1 Oct 2035
“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.
Match29 Sep 2035
A goal on 89 minutes turned three points into one and a good afternoon into an argument about game management that will run until Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match22 Sep 2035
No mercy from Nosta
Chelyabinsk 2 will want this one forgotten quickly: 10‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Nosta were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Squad24 Sep 2035
The match ball belongs to Ondřej Sprinz, whose 4 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Squad24 Sep 2035
The match ball belongs to Pavel Satuchin, whose 4 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Player ratings24 Sep 2035
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.10 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Player ratings24 Sep 2035
Nikita Pershin pops up at the right end — 7.57
7.57, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Player ratings24 Sep 2035
Chances created: 18. Not on the scoresheet and not remotely anonymous — a passing performance that pulled a defence apart without leaving a mark on the column that gets read.
Squad24 Sep 2035
Words exchanged at Nosta
Anatoly Nemchenko 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 ratings24 Sep 2035
A performance of 9.92 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match22 Sep 2035
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 11 goals between Nosta and Chelyabinsk 2, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
In brief
-
The dugout
Pedro Prieto frozen out at Nosta
-
Squad
Words at Nosta training over how hard people work
-
Boardroom
Wages swallow 530% of the Nosta income
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Sep 2035
“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.
Market10 Sep 2035
Pedro Prieto has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Nosta they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom10 Sep 2035
Deadline passes with 21 signed and 17 gone
That is the business done at Nosta 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.
Squad10 Sep 2035
A falling-out at Nosta
Anatoly Nemchenko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets10 Sep 2035
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dinamo Moscow have kept their man, and Nosta go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad10 Sep 2035
A row about effort at Nosta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dmitry Chamzhaev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market10 Sep 2035
A stepping stone, not a home, for Nikita Pershin
He is doing his job and he is not settling. Nosta were supposed to be a step up in his own reckoning, and his own reckoning has been adjusted since he arrived.
The dugout10 Sep 2035
“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.
Squad10 Sep 2035
This league is too small for Nikita Pershin
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Nosta will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad6 Aug 2035
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad6 Aug 2035
293 appearances across 10 seasons in one shirt. Careers like that are not built on purpose any more, and Nosta know exactly what they have.
Market6 Aug 2035
“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.
Boardroom6 Aug 2035
An order from above at Nosta: somebody has to go
Balance sheets do not care about form or about who the manager was planning to build around. The board have decided a sale is required, and the only question left is which name ends up carrying it.
Squad6 Aug 2035
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nosta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Aug 2035
A row about effort at Nosta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Anatoly Nemchenko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets6 Aug 2035
Nosta asked and Shinnik said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match4 Aug 2035
Nosta come up short against Ryazan
Ryazan left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout6 Aug 2035
The manager makes an example of Pavel Satuchin
“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
Player ratings30 Jul 2035
Martín Moya beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 31. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Market30 Jul 2035
“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 ratings30 Jul 2035
Oleg Korotkov goes up and wins it — 7.92
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 7.92 for the rest of it.
Transfer targets30 Jul 2035
Everything agreed with Dinamo Bryansk, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad30 Jul 2035
Tempers go at Nosta
Anatoly Nemchenko 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 targets30 Jul 2035
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.
Squad30 Jul 2035
Dmitry Chamzhaev 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.
Boardroom30 Jul 2035
Wages eat 276% of everything Nosta 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.
Match28 Jul 2035
Dinamo Vladivostok made Nosta work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market9 Jul 2035
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Nosta can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets9 Jul 2035
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Nosta have done the hard part with Amkar, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad9 Jul 2035
“The easiest signature of my career.” Dmitry Chamzhaev and Nosta agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad9 Jul 2035
Words exchanged at Nosta
Anatoly Nemchenko 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 targets9 Jul 2035
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. CSKA Moscow have kept their man, and Nosta go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad9 Jul 2035
A row about effort at Nosta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ondřej Sprinz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad9 Jul 2035
Nosta are still strangers to each other
9 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 dugout9 Jul 2035
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 dugout9 Jul 2035
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Anatoly Nemchenko trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market2 Jul 2035
“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.
Squad2 Jul 2035
“The easiest signature of my career.” Dmitry Chamzhaev and Nosta agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad2 Jul 2035
A falling-out at Nosta
Ilja Bykovskiy and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets2 Jul 2035
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.
Squad2 Jul 2035
A row about effort at Nosta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ondřej Sprinz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom2 Jul 2035
274% of the income goes out in wages at Nosta
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.
Boardroom2 Jul 2035
Nosta 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.
Market2 Jul 2035
“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 Jul 2035
Kevin Rieder is no longer first choice
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Kevin Rieder has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market21 May 2035
Oleg Korotkov 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 Nosta can pretend not to have heard.
Squad21 May 2035
A falling-out at Nosta
Anatoly Nemchenko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 May 2035
Words at Nosta training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ondřej Sprinz 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 2035
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Anatoly Nemchenko trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market21 May 2035
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Nosta, another week without a signature from Maxim Kiselev.
The dugout21 May 2035
Maximilian Posch has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Nosta 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
Market23 Apr 2035
Oleg Korotkov 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 Nosta can pretend not to have heard.
Squad23 Apr 2035
Tempers go at Nosta
Ilja Bykovskiy 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.
Squad23 Apr 2035
Words at Nosta training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ondřej Sprinz 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 dugout23 Apr 2035
Pavel Satuchin 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 Pavel Satuchin trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout23 Apr 2035
Maximilian Posch has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Nosta 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.
Market23 Apr 2035
1 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Nosta money.
Market23 Apr 2035
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Dmitry Chamzhaev’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market23 Apr 2035
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Jason Alderweireld may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Squad23 Apr 2035
The training reports on Pavel Satuchin are not good
A bad Saturday is forgiven; a bad Tuesday is chosen. Standards have slipped and in a building where everybody watches everybody, it has been noticed.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Mar 2035
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Nosta can pretend not to have heard.
Squad26 Mar 2035
Tempers go at Nosta
Ilja Bykovskiy 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 2035
A row about effort at Nosta
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ondřej Sprinz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout26 Mar 2035
“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 2035
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.
Market26 Mar 2035
2 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Nosta money.
The dugout26 Mar 2035
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Nosta, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market26 Mar 2035
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Dmitry Chamzhaev’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market26 Mar 2035
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Richard Cuadrado may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Feb 2035
“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.
Boardroom26 Feb 2035
Nosta close the window on a squad of their own making
0 in and 0 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Squad26 Feb 2035
A falling-out at Nosta
Anatoly Nemchenko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets26 Feb 2035
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Rostov have kept their man, and Nosta go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad26 Feb 2035
Ondřej Sprinz 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 dugout26 Feb 2035
Maximilian Posch has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Nosta 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.
Market26 Feb 2035
Jens Linnes is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Nosta has been clear about where Jens Linnes stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout26 Feb 2035
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mauro Mancini, and the manager let it.
Market26 Feb 2035
3 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Nosta money.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad4 Dec 2034
A knee injury of the worst kind for Anatoly Nemchenko
21 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Nosta lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market4 Dec 2034
“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.
Squad4 Dec 2034
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad4 Dec 2034
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Dmitry Chamzhaev commits to Nosta for another 2 years.
Squad4 Dec 2034
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nosta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match2 Dec 2034
Uralets-TS left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings4 Dec 2034
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout4 Dec 2034
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Interim Coach to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout4 Dec 2034
Nobody at Nosta 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
Squad6 Nov 2034
A knee injury of the worst kind for Anatoly Nemchenko
49 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Nosta lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market6 Nov 2034
“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 Nosta, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad6 Nov 2034
“The easiest signature of my career.” Zainudin Zainudinov and Nosta agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad6 Nov 2034
Words exchanged at Nosta
Anatoly Nemchenko 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.
Squad6 Nov 2034
Ondřej Sprinz 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.
Match4 Nov 2034
It finished 1‑0, and it was Ondřej Sprinz’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Nosta.
The dugout6 Nov 2034
Axel Vanaken 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.
Player ratings6 Nov 2034
Marked 7.61. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Player ratings6 Nov 2034
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.