Marked for Sergey Gaiduk
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad22 Oct 2029
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.
Market22 Oct 2029
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.
Market22 Oct 2029
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.
Squad22 Oct 2029
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.
Squad22 Oct 2029
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.
Match20 Oct 2029
Rostov 2 left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout22 Oct 2029
“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.
Squad22 Oct 2029
“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.
Match22 Oct 2029
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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 Oct 2029
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.
Market1 Oct 2029
“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 dugout1 Oct 2029
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 ratings1 Oct 2029
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.
Market1 Oct 2029
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.
Squad1 Oct 2029
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.
Squad1 Oct 2029
“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.
Squad1 Oct 2029
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.
Match29 Sep 2029
1‑2 to Sevastopol, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match15 Sep 2029
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.
Market17 Sep 2029
“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.
Market17 Sep 2029
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.
Squad17 Sep 2029
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.
Match15 Sep 2029
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 ratings17 Sep 2029
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.
Squad17 Sep 2029
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.
Squad17 Sep 2029
The medical room confirms 17 days on the sidelines for Federico Ferreira, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad17 Sep 2029
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market7 May 2029
“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.
Squad7 May 2029
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.
Squad7 May 2029
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.
Squad7 May 2029
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 dugout7 May 2029
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.
Market7 May 2029
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 dugout7 May 2029
“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.
Squad7 May 2029
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.
Match7 May 2029
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market30 Apr 2029
“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.
Market30 Apr 2029
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.
Market30 Apr 2029
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.
Squad30 Apr 2029
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.
Squad30 Apr 2029
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.
Squad30 Apr 2029
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 dugout30 Apr 2029
“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 dugout30 Apr 2029
“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 dugout30 Apr 2029
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Jun 2028
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 dugout12 Jun 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Ufa may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
The dugout12 Jun 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad12 Jun 2028
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.
Squad12 Jun 2028
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.
Squad12 Jun 2028
14 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad13 Mar 2028
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.
Market13 Mar 2028
“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 dugout13 Mar 2028
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Squad13 Mar 2028
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.
Squad13 Mar 2028
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 dugout13 Mar 2028
“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.
Squad13 Mar 2028
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.
Market13 Mar 2028
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 dugout13 Mar 2028
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Feb 2028
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.
Market28 Feb 2028
“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.
Market28 Feb 2028
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.
Boardroom28 Feb 2028
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.
Squad28 Feb 2028
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 targets28 Feb 2028
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.
Squad28 Feb 2028
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 targets28 Feb 2028
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.
Market28 Feb 2028
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout21 Feb 2028
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Boardroom21 Feb 2028
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.
Squad21 Feb 2028
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 targets21 Feb 2028
$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 targets21 Feb 2028
$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.
Boardroom21 Feb 2028
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.
Squad21 Feb 2028
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 dugout21 Feb 2028
“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 dugout21 Feb 2028
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match5 Feb 2028
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 ratings7 Feb 2028
Successful dribbles: 32. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match7 Feb 2028
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.
Market7 Feb 2028
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.
Market7 Feb 2028
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 dugout7 Feb 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad7 Feb 2028
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 targets7 Feb 2028
$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.
Squad7 Feb 2028
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.