Marked for Ismail Dibirov
From our football correspondent
Crisis
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 The request is on a desk at Dinamo Kirov, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Andrey Savin in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Kirov this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Andrey Malykh 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 dugout31 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Artem Philippov, and the manager let it.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
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.
Looking ahead31 Aug 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Sibir in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match19 Aug 2026
Spartak Tambov are out and Dinamo Kirov go through, 2‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Market24 Aug 2026
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Dinamo Kirov people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Up for the corner, and Roman Polkovnikov delivers — 7.71
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Roman Polkovnikov scored, was marked 7.71, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Market24 Aug 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.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Roman Polkovnikov 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.
Match22 Aug 2026
Alania left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Ismail Dibirov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.39. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Roman Polkovnikov 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.
The dugout24 Aug 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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Luka Lukin to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market17 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 Dinamo Kirov, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market17 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: Salyut have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Vladimir Zadiraka. The answer from Dinamo Kirov has not changed — yet.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Andrey Malykh 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.
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 Dinamo Kirov this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match15 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vladimir Zadiraka, and the manager let it.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Luka Lukin after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Looking ahead17 Aug 2026
Alania next, and one man in the Dinamo Kirov dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A first senior shirt for Luka Shilov
Every debut is a small story about the future: Luka Shilov, 14 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.