The Sochi 2 Courier
Market3 Aug 2026
Nikita Volkov 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 Sochi 2 can pretend not to have heard.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Mikhail Slepov stays put
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mikhail Slepov and Sochi 2 agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Nobody could get near Robert Gamalyan
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Sochi 2
Yegor Totskiy 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 terraces3 Aug 2026
Sochi 2 supporters have found a favourite in Alexey Filimonov
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Alexey Filimonov has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Match1 Aug 2026
Ruslan Bart the difference as Sochi 2 beat Pobeda
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ruslan Bart. 1‑0 against Pobeda, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Market3 Aug 2026
Sochi 2 and Yegor Totskiy are talking past each other
“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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I want to play”: Yegor Totskiy speaks
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Sochi 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexandr Osipov 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.
In brief
- Market Nobody at Sochi 2 has picked up the phone to Alexandr Osipov
- Player ratings Alexandr Metsiev spends the afternoon fouling