Marked for Evgeny Pshennikov
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market9 Jul 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 The request is on a desk at Volga, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Karamba Diaby is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Tempers go at Volga
Vladislav Yakovlev 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.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Vladislav Yakovlev has improved at 27, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Transfer targets9 Jul 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Rodina have kept their man, and Volga go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad9 Jul 2029
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Volga are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Market9 Jul 2029
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Volga have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Boardroom9 Jul 2029
Wages swallow 85% of the Volga income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Boardroom9 Jul 2029
Volga have to sell first
The manager has a list and the board has a condition attached to it. That is not a crisis — half of football works this way — but it decides which of the two of them gets his way in August.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market11 Jun 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 The request is on a desk at Volga, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad11 Jun 2029
A falling-out at Volga
Andrey Kostin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Jun 2029
Words at Volga training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Karamba Diaby 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.
Boardroom11 Jun 2029
Volga can only buy what they sell
Nobody has barred the club from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every incoming name comes with an outgoing one attached.
The dugout11 Jun 2029
Andrey Kostin 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 Volga, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout11 Jun 2029
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.
The dugout11 Jun 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matvey Milyukov, and the manager let it.
Market11 Jun 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Vladislav Rudenko’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market11 Jun 2029
Volga have made Devid Kokoev available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 May 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 Volga, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout14 May 2029
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Volga have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad14 May 2029
Words at Volga training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrey Kostin 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.
Squad14 May 2029
Tempers go at Volga
Valery Matveenkov 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.
Boardroom14 May 2029
Nobody arrives at Volga until somebody leaves
The club is not barred from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every name linked with Volga this window arrives with a name leaving in the same sentence.
The dugout14 May 2029
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.
The dugout14 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 Volga, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market14 May 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Vladislav Rudenko signs something — a contract at Volga or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad14 May 2029
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Volga would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom7 May 2029
Pressure builds in the Volga boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad7 May 2029
Words exchanged at Volga
Danil Pshenichnikov 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.
Squad7 May 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Karamba Diaby and Volga agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad7 May 2029
Kamil Ibragimov 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 dugout7 May 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Artur Murza, and the manager let it.
The dugout7 May 2029
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad7 May 2029
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Market7 May 2029
Still no offer on the table, and Karamba Diaby’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
Market7 May 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Alexandr Saplinov signs something — a contract at Volga or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market16 Apr 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 Volga can pretend not to have heard.
Squad16 Apr 2029
A falling-out at Volga
Danil Pshenichnikov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Words at Volga training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kamil Ibragimov 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.
Market16 Apr 2029
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Stepan Cherkasov has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market16 Apr 2029
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Nazar Bykov has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market16 Apr 2029
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Evgeniy Romanov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Boardroom16 Apr 2029
Volga have to sell first
The manager has a list and the board has a condition attached to it. That is not a crisis — half of football works this way — but it decides which of the two of them gets his way in August.
The dugout16 Apr 2029
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Danil Pshenichnikov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout16 Apr 2029
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 Evgeny Pshennikov is on it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Mar 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Volga is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market26 Mar 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 Volga, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad26 Mar 2029
A row about effort at Volga
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kamil Ibragimov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Words exchanged at Volga
Valery Matveenkov 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 dugout26 Mar 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Evgeny Pshennikov, and the manager let it.
Market26 Mar 2029
Artur Murza linked with a move away
The name of Artur Murza keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Volga say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad26 Mar 2029
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Volga will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Market26 Mar 2029
1 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Volga could get for him.
The dugout26 Mar 2029
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Evgeni Anisimov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout19 Mar 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Volga may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Words exchanged at Volga
Andrey Kostin 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.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Kamil Ibragimov 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 dugout19 Mar 2029
Artur Murza 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.
Squad19 Mar 2029
30 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad19 Mar 2029
The medical room confirms 28 days on the sidelines for Boris Zhemchuzhnikov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Boardroom19 Mar 2029
Nobody arrives at Volga until somebody leaves
The club is not barred from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every name linked with Volga this window arrives with a name leaving in the same sentence.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
Evgeny Pshennikov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Volga 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.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings19 Feb 2029
Successful dribbles: 38. 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.
Transfer targets19 Feb 2029
Everything agreed with Spartak Moscow, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Transfer targets19 Feb 2029
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Dinamo Moscow keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Boardroom19 Feb 2029
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Devid Kokoev has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Words exchanged at Volga
Andrey Kostin 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.
Transfer targets19 Feb 2029
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Match17 Feb 2029
It needed Alexandr Saplinov to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Chaika, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Boardroom19 Feb 2029
Nobody arrives at Volga until somebody leaves
The club is not barred from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every name linked with Volga this window arrives with a name leaving in the same sentence.
The dugout19 Feb 2029
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Gleb Shestakov chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market5 Feb 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.
Player ratings5 Feb 2029
Successful dribbles: 24. 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.
Squad5 Feb 2029
The medical room confirms 30 days on the sidelines for Andrey Kostin, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad5 Feb 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 Volga this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Feb 2029
Kamil Ibragimov 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.
Transfer targets5 Feb 2029
Volga 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.
Match3 Feb 2029
Torpedo Moscow left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad5 Feb 2029
200 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.
The dugout5 Feb 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad8 Jan 2029
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 36 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market8 Jan 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 Volga can pretend not to have heard.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad8 Jan 2029
61 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Match6 Jan 2029
Volga make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Volga have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad8 Jan 2029
A season average of 7.22 with 18 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Player ratings8 Jan 2029
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
Match6 Jan 2029
Chernomorets made Volga work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings8 Jan 2029
Marked 8.01. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Volga.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market18 Dec 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.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Tempers go at Volga
Vladislav Yakovlev 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.
Boardroom18 Dec 2028
Volga counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Volga now.
Squad18 Dec 2028
A row about effort at Volga
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andrey Kostin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match16 Dec 2028
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout18 Dec 2028
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Gleb Shestakov after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout18 Dec 2028
“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.
Looking ahead18 Dec 2028
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Yenisey in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Market18 Dec 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Alexandr Saplinov signs something — a contract at Volga or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match9 Dec 2028
A hiding for Volga
Beaten 0‑3 by Ural, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market11 Dec 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 Volga, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match9 Dec 2028
After 8 games, Volga finally taste it again
The first defeat in 8 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Ural; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Words exchanged at Volga
Vladislav Yakovlev 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.
Squad11 Dec 2028
A row about effort at Volga
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kamil Ibragimov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout11 Dec 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Artur Murza, and the manager let it.
Squad11 Dec 2028
42 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad11 Dec 2028
A divided room at Volga
3 groups that do not mix, and 2 players belonging to none of them. Nothing here can be fined or dropped, which is why it lasts longer than any row that can.
Boardroom11 Dec 2028
Inquest at Volga
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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Player ratings
Nobody could get near Artur Murza
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The dugout
Evgeny Pshennikov has become a man the manager trusts
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market27 Nov 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.
Player ratings27 Nov 2028
Artur Murza beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 27. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match25 Nov 2028
7 unbeaten for Volga
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation Volga did not have in the autumn.
Squad27 Nov 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 Volga this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Words at Volga training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrey Kostin 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.
Match25 Nov 2028
Three points for Volga, 2‑1 the final word against Sokol in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings27 Nov 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.11, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings27 Nov 2028
Vladislav Rudenko was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.07. 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.
Squad27 Nov 2028
100 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market13 Nov 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 Volga, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings13 Nov 2028
Successful dribbles: 25. 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.
Match11 Nov 2028
The wait goes on for Volga
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Words exchanged at Volga
Vladislav Yakovlev 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 Nov 2028
A row about effort at Volga
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kamil Ibragimov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad13 Nov 2028
71 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
The dugout13 Nov 2028
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Gleb Shestakov after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The dugout13 Nov 2028
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match14 Oct 2028
Volga win it in stoppage time
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 94th minute. Rotor will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Squad16 Oct 2028
The medical room confirms 24 days on the sidelines for Evgeni Denisov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Words exchanged at Volga
Vladislav Yakovlev 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.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Words at Volga training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrey Kostin 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.
Match14 Oct 2028
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Alexandr Saplinov. 2‑1 against Rotor, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
The manager makes an example of Andrey Kostin
“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.
Player ratings16 Oct 2028
Ninety minutes of Artur Murza at his very best
Marked 8.14. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Volga.
Squad16 Oct 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Daníel Tal Mikaelsson and Volga agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings16 Oct 2028
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match16 Sep 2028
No end in sight to Volga's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Volga has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings18 Sep 2028
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market18 Sep 2028
The deal that would have taken Evgeny Voronin to Orenburg has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Volga with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Squad18 Sep 2028
52 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Words exchanged at Volga
Vladislav Yakovlev 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.
Squad18 Sep 2028
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Volga are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Kamil Ibragimov 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 dugout18 Sep 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Carlos Muela, and the manager let it.
Player ratings18 Sep 2028
7.65, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Volga had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market7 Aug 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.
The dugout7 Aug 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Boardroom7 Aug 2028
The Volga board want somebody sold
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
Transfer targets7 Aug 2028
Volga had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Zenit, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Words exchanged at Volga
Dmitry Tikhiy 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.
Squad7 Aug 2028
At 26 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Squad7 Aug 2028
A row about effort at Volga
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kamil Ibragimov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings7 Aug 2028
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad7 Aug 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Evgeny Pshennikov commits to Volga for another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Jun 2028
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Volga will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market5 Jun 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.
The dugout5 Jun 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Market5 Jun 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Volga is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom5 Jun 2028
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Words exchanged at Volga
Vladislav Yakovlev 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.
Boardroom5 Jun 2028
Volga counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Volga now.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Kirill Folmer 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.
Squad5 Jun 2028
A muscle injury and 17 days out for Aidar Khabibullin
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Volga will quote 17 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 May 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 80 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market8 May 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Volga can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout8 May 2028
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Market8 May 2028
Devid Kokoev has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Volga they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad8 May 2028
Words exchanged at Volga
Vladislav Yakovlev 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.
Boardroom8 May 2028
The numbers do not look good at Volga
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad8 May 2028
Kirill Folmer 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 dugout8 May 2028
Evgeny Voronin 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 Volga, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market8 May 2028
The name of Alexandr Saplinov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Volga say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 Apr 2028
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Volga will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market10 Apr 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.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
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Market10 Apr 2028
Devid Kokoev has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Volga they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words exchanged at Volga
Vladislav Yakovlev 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.
Boardroom10 Apr 2028
The numbers do not look good at Volga
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Market10 Apr 2028
The name of Alexandr Saplinov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Volga say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
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.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
Igor Gershun 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 Volga, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
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 Volga, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market13 Mar 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Volga is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
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Squad13 Mar 2028
Words exchanged at Volga
Vladislav Yakovlev 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.
Boardroom13 Mar 2028
The numbers do not look good at Volga
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Kirill Folmer 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.
Squad13 Mar 2028
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Volga know it.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Aleksandr Dovgal' trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market13 Mar 2028
The name of Alexandr Saplinov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Volga say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Jan 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 Volga, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout10 Jan 2028
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Squad10 Jan 2028
Tempers go at Volga
Vladislav Yakovlev 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.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Words at Volga training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kirill Folmer 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.
Squad10 Jan 2028
200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
Player ratings10 Jan 2028
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad10 Jan 2028
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Volga are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The dugout10 Jan 2028
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Match8 Jan 2028
Point won or two lost for Volga?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Chernomorets? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.