The Sokol Post
Squad3 Aug 2026
Nikita Pechenkin signs on for more
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nikita Pechenkin and Sokol agree another 4 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Sokol
Nikita Pechenkin 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 targets3 Aug 2026
Door shut on Ruslan Bart
Sokol asked and Sochi said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match1 Aug 2026
Shinnik take the points off Sokol
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Market3 Aug 2026
Talks stall between Sokol and Vladimir Azarov
“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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
9 new faces, and Sokol are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Dmitri Belikov left the room before anybody could ask which.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Sokol ask about Daniil Veselov
A loan enquiry to Lokomotiv Moscow: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Market3 Aug 2026
Timur Kraikov is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Sokol has been clear about where Timur Kraikov stands, which is more than many ever get.
In brief
- The dugout The plan did not have a place for Nikita Pechenkin
- Looking ahead A reunion for Stepan Oganesyan
- Squad Artem Bykov remains an outsider