Sergey Gaiduk

Attacking Midfielder (R) - Sochi 2
20 Dec 2029
Thursday
Process

Marked for Sergey Gaiduk

169 Edition

The Sochi 2 Courier

22 Oct 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Vasily Palkin damages knee ligaments — 19 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 19 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Market

Jorge Rojas 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.

Market

Artem Chaly is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sochi 2 is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

A falling-out at Sochi 2

Alexey Larin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Sochi 2 training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomas Rukas 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.

Match

Sochi 2 come up short against Rostov 2

Rostov 2 left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout

Roman Chenchikov 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.

Squad

Benjamín Moreno wants to go home

“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Sochi 2 can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.

Match

Sochi 2 at the halfway mark

Half the programme played, position 4, 25 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.

In brief

Back issues
166 Edition

The Sochi 2 Courier

1 Oct 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Vasily Palkin

45 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sochi 2 lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Market

Vladislav Panteleev asks to leave Sochi 2

“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 dugout

Alexandr Zotov: 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.” Sochi 2 have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Player ratings

Danil Novikov was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 28. 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.

Market

Makar Chirkov has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sochi 2 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Tempers go at Sochi 2

Danil Novikov 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.

Squad

Jorge Rojas wants to go home

“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Sochi 2 can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.

Squad

A row about effort at Sochi 2

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomas Rukas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

A bad afternoon for Sochi 2 against Sevastopol

1‑2 to Sevastopol, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

In brief

164 Edition

The Sochi 2 Courier

17 Sep 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Sochi 2 run riot against Angusht

3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.

Market

Simone Milazzo 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.

Market

Thabo Mile has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sochi 2 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

23 days out for Mikhail Gorelishvili after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Sochi 2 will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Match

Sochi 2 cannot stop winning

3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.

Player ratings

Aziz Gaziev scored one and made one — 7.84

Two of the goals had his name somewhere on them, which is the afternoon a manager wants from anybody asked to both create and finish. 7.84, and 2 involvements.

Squad

Tempers go at Sochi 2

Jorge Rojas 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.

Squad

Federico Ferreira out for 17 days

The medical room confirms 17 days on the sidelines for Federico Ferreira, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Squad

Words at Sochi 2 training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thabo Mile 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

145 Edition

The Sochi 2 Courier

7 May 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Danil Anosov asks to leave Sochi 2

“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.

Squad

A falling-out at Sochi 2

Dmitry Saganovich and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Sochi 2 training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Danil Novikov 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.

Squad

Too much change too quickly at Sochi 2

19 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 dugout

A promise honoured at Sochi 2

Something was said to Dmitry Saganovich and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.

Market

Sochi 2 buy the years ahead of Lucas Castro

He is 17, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.

The dugout

Oleg Kozhemyakin 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 Sochi 2, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Squad

A step back for Ivan Chudin at Sochi 2

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.

Match

Sochi 2 have something to play for

Position 4 on 46 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.

In brief

144 Edition

The Sochi 2 Courier

30 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Alexandr Tenyaev puts it in writing

“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 Sochi 2, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Only the photograph left for Alexandr Tenyaev

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alexandr Tenyaev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sochi 2 the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Market

As if he never left: Sergey Gaiduk returns

Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Sergey Gaiduk is a Sochi 2 player again, and the town has its story of the summer.

Squad

Dmitry Saganovich 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 Sochi 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Sergey Gaiduk arrives at the club he grew up with

Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Sergey Gaiduk has, at Sochi 2, and the first month will show what that does to a man.

Squad

A row about effort at Sochi 2

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Oleg Kozhemyakin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Roman Chenchikov

“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 dugout

Oleg Kozhemyakin 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 Oleg Kozhemyakin trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

The dugout

A promise honoured at Sochi 2

Something was said to Vladislav Panteleev and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.

In brief

98 Edition

The Ufa Sentinel

12 Jun 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Konstantin Troyanov

41 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ufa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

The dugout

Konstantin Troyanov keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Ufa may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

The dugout

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Squad

A falling-out at Ufa

Ivan Lomaev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Ufa training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vasily Cherov 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.

Squad

Ufa lose Sergey Gaiduk

14 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

In brief

85 Edition

The Ufa Sentinel

13 Mar 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Konstantin Troyanov

136 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ufa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Market

Sergey Gaiduk puts it in writing

“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 Ufa, and it is not being withdrawn.

The dugout

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Squad

Words exchanged at Ufa

Ivan Lomaev 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.

Squad

A move Dino Kurbegović would have made for nothing

There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Dino Kurbegović is living that version at Ufa, and it tends to show in the first month.

The dugout

Filip Mrzljak 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.

Squad

Words at Ufa training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivan Khomukha 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.

Market

A long bet from Ufa on Dino Kurbegović

He is 18, and nobody at Ufa signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.

The dugout

Konstantin Troyanov has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Ufa 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.

In brief

83 Edition

The Ufa Sentinel

28 Feb 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

The knee: Konstantin Troyanov out for 150 days

150 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ufa lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Market

Danil Lipovoy asks to leave Ufa

“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.

Market

Ural come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Ufa did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Boardroom

Window shuts: 1 in, 2 out at Ufa

The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 1 arrived, 2 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.

Squad

Vladislav Kamilov 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 Ufa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Transfer targets

No deal for Daniil Konoplev at that price

Ufa offered $110.0K; Dinamo Bryansk said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.

Squad

Words at Ufa training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Noah Mbamba 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.

Transfer targets

The window shuts on the Danila Yezhkov deal

Ufa ran out of time with Dinamo Vologda. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.

Market

The Evgeny Shlyakov talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ufa know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

In brief

82 Edition

The Ufa Sentinel

21 Feb 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The dugout

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Boardroom

Alexandr Lyasov signs for SKA Khabarovsk while still at Ufa

The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Alexandr Lyasov has agreed terms with SKA Khabarovsk for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.

Squad

A falling-out at Ufa

Mamadou Diakhon and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Transfer targets

Ufa make their move for Danila Yezhkov

$160.0K on the table at Dinamo Vologda. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.

Transfer targets

Too dear: Ufa walk away from Kirill Nikishin

$110.0K was the most the club would pay and Akron were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.

Boardroom

Stijn Meijer will join Ufa for nothing

The paperwork is done long before the player is. Stijn Meijer has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Ufa have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.

Squad

Denis Kutin 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 dugout

Ilja Moseichuk 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.

The dugout

Timofey Shipunov gets picked when it counts

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 Timofey Shipunov is on it.

In brief

80 Edition

The Ufa Sentinel

7 Feb 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Ufa run riot against Rubin

3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Mamadou Diakhon

Successful dribbles: 32. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

The season ends: position 12 for Ufa

The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 31 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.

Market

Sergey Gaiduk 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 Ufa can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Legion come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Ufa did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

The dugout

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Squad

Tempers go at Ufa

Mamadou Diakhon 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 targets

Too dear: Ufa walk away from Magomed Nasibov

$110.0K was the most the club would pay and Pobeda were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.

Squad

A row about effort at Ufa

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikita Saltykov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

In brief