Marked for Arseny Salenko
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match20 Nov 2027
No end in sight to Chelyabinsk 2's wait for a win
41 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Chelyabinsk 2 has to find a result from somewhere.
Match22 Nov 2027
1 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market22 Nov 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.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Artem Ignatjev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Looking ahead22 Nov 2027
Everything rides on KDV Tomsk
Both clubs in the mire, one fixture between them, and a ground that will be louder and more frightened than at any point in the season. Chelyabinsk 2 know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Match20 Nov 2027
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Akron 2 defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Market22 Nov 2027
The clock does Ivandro Silva’s negotiating for him
3 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Chelyabinsk 2 could ask drops and the wages Ivandro Silva can ask rise.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
The plan did not have a place for Alexandr Pashkov
Nobody at Chelyabinsk 2 is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match14 Aug 2027
27 matches without a win for Chelyabinsk 2
The run now stands at 27, and the questions being asked around Chelyabinsk 2 are no longer polite ones.
Match14 Aug 2027
14 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Chelyabinsk 2 can tell you which week it ends in.
Market16 Aug 2027
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Market16 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 Chelyabinsk 2, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market16 Aug 2027
Ivandro Silva has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Chelyabinsk 2 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match14 Aug 2027
Chelyabinsk 2 are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Alexandr Melezhechkin 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.
Match14 Aug 2027
Khimik left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Artem Ignatjev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match31 Jul 2027
25 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Match31 Jul 2027
12 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
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Chelyabinsk 2 have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Match31 Jul 2027
0‑4 to Krylya Sovetov 2, 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.
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 Chelyabinsk 2, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom2 Aug 2027
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
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 0‑4 defeat, delivered by Denis Nikiforov to a room that had heard them before.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Alexandr Pashkov 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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Nikita Zyryanov is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match17 Jul 2027
23 matches without a win for Chelyabinsk 2
The run now stands at 23, and the questions being asked around Chelyabinsk 2 are no longer polite ones.
Match17 Jul 2027
10 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.
Market19 Jul 2027
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Alexandr Melezhechkin had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Match17 Jul 2027
0‑3 to Amkar, 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Alexandr Melezhechkin 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.
Boardroom19 Jul 2027
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Arseny Salenko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market21 Jun 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Chelyabinsk 2 people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market21 Jun 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 Chelyabinsk 2, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Alexandr Melezhechkin 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces31 May 2027
Anger at Chelyabinsk 2 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.
Market31 May 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 Chelyabinsk 2, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad31 May 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 Chelyabinsk 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match12 Apr 2027
Every point is an argument now for Chelyabinsk 2
Position 13 and 2 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market12 Apr 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Chelyabinsk 2 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Vasily Palkin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Yefim Stanislavchuk 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 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Igor Rusyaev, and the manager let it.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Vasily Palkin has been around long enough to know what the spring feels like when it goes wrong, and he can feel it. A dressing room that is frightened plays like one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market22 Feb 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
Arseny Salenko: 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.” Chelyabinsk 2 have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Alexandr Melezhechkin 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Chelyabinsk 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vasily Palkin 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 dugout22 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Bogdan Rogochiy
“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 Feb 2027
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match15 Feb 2027
Position 13, 2 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market15 Feb 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alexandr Melezhechkin will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Chelyabinsk 2 the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at Chelyabinsk 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vasily Palkin 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 Feb 2027
Denis Firsov 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 dugout15 Feb 2027
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Bogdan Rogochiy will call it something else in private.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
The plan did not have a place for Bogdan Rogochiy
Nobody at Chelyabinsk 2 is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
Squad15 Feb 2027
The table is being checked before the results are in, which is always the tell. Nobody at Chelyabinsk 2 says the word and every senior player in the building is thinking it.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Ilja Mironov: “I am not a substitute”
“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 Chelyabinsk 2 will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match18 Jan 2027
Position 13, 2 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Denis Firsov 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Yefim Stanislavchuk 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
Crisis
Match2 Jan 2027
21 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Match2 Jan 2027
A 0‑3 beating by KDV Tomsk was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad4 Jan 2027
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match2 Jan 2027
8 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Chelyabinsk 2 can tell you which week it ends in.
Match2 Jan 2027
No clean sheets in sight for Chelyabinsk 2
7 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Vasily Palkin 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yefim Stanislavchuk was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
Nobody left the Chelyabinsk 2 dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
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 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Denis Nikiforov to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Dec 2026
18 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Match12 Dec 2026
5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Chelyabinsk 2 can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Alexandr Melezhechkin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Chelyabinsk 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vasily Palkin 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.
Match12 Dec 2026
4 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Match12 Dec 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Market14 Dec 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Alexandr Melezhechkin signs something — a contract at Chelyabinsk 2 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match5 Dec 2026
17 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Match5 Dec 2026
Beaten 0‑3 by Nosta, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match5 Dec 2026
4 matches without a goal for Chelyabinsk 2
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Vasily Palkin 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Yefim Stanislavchuk 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.
Looking ahead7 Dec 2026
Everything rides on Ural 2
Both clubs in the mire, one fixture between them, and a ground that will be louder and more frightened than at any point in the season. Chelyabinsk 2 know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
Boardroom7 Dec 2026
Nobody left the Chelyabinsk 2 dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
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 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Denis Nikiforov to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Vasily Palkin asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match14 Nov 2026
14 matches without a win for Chelyabinsk 2
The run now stands at 14, and the questions being asked around Chelyabinsk 2 are no longer polite ones.
Squad16 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chelyabinsk 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match14 Nov 2026
Krylya Sovetov 2 left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Yefim Stanislavchuk 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 dugout16 Nov 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 12. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Artem Ignatjev 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 Chelyabinsk 2, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match7 Nov 2026
13 matches without a win for Chelyabinsk 2
The run now stands at 13, and the questions being asked around Chelyabinsk 2 are no longer polite ones.
Match7 Nov 2026
1‑4 against Akron 2, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Arseny Salenko: 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.” Chelyabinsk 2 have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vasily Palkin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Denis Firsov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Nov 2026
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Match9 Nov 2026
Position 13, 2 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
Boardroom9 Nov 2026
Nobody left the Chelyabinsk 2 dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match17 Oct 2026
11 matches without a win for Chelyabinsk 2
The run now stands at 11, and the questions being asked around Chelyabinsk 2 are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
No sign of nerves from Yelizar Glukhov at 20 — 7.66
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Yelizar Glukhov did not need any: 7.66, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Artem Ignatjev is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Alexandr Melezhechkin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Vasily Palkin 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.
Match17 Oct 2026
A 1‑1 draw with Rubin 2 leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Denis Nikiforov chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
Looking ahead19 Oct 2026
A test against the best for Chelyabinsk 2
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Amkar.
Squad19 Oct 2026
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Chelyabinsk 2 have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market7 Sep 2026
“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.
Match5 Sep 2026
5 matches without a win for Chelyabinsk 2
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Chelyabinsk 2 are no longer polite ones.
Squad7 Sep 2026
He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday. The order of those three tells you everything about what a football club actually values.
Match5 Sep 2026
5 matches without a goal for Chelyabinsk 2
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 5 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Alexandr Melezhechkin 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.
Match5 Sep 2026
Nosta left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Voices raised on the Chelyabinsk 2 training ground
Two players, one bad tackle and a session that had to be stopped. It was over in a minute; it was outside the gates in an hour.
Squad7 Sep 2026
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 dugout7 Sep 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match29 Aug 2026
0‑5 against Khimik, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market31 Aug 2026
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Bogdan Rogochiy had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market31 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 Chelyabinsk 2, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match29 Aug 2026
4 matches without a win for Chelyabinsk 2
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Chelyabinsk 2 are no longer polite ones.
Match29 Aug 2026
4 matches without a goal for Chelyabinsk 2
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Alexandr Pashkov 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Chelyabinsk 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artem Ignatjev 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.
Boardroom31 Aug 2026
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
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 Chelyabinsk 2, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match22 Aug 2026
3 matches without a goal for Chelyabinsk 2
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Artem Ignatjev 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.
Market24 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Bogdan Rogochiy again, and this time the name on the line is Kosmos. Chelyabinsk 2 are listening politely and promising nothing.
Match22 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Nikolay Kozlov
“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 dugout24 Aug 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Yefim Stanislavchuk 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.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 12. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chelyabinsk 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match15 Aug 2026
0‑1 to Krylya Sovetov 2, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Arseny Salenko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A new face in his position and a shirt he thought he owned suddenly up for discussion. Chelyabinsk 2 have promised nothing, which is what clubs promise at this stage.