Marked for Ruslan Babayan
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces21 Sep 2026
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 6 of the 27 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Squad21 Sep 2026
46 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad21 Sep 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 Murom this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad21 Sep 2026
“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.
Match19 Sep 2026
A bad afternoon for Murom against Kuban
0‑1 to Kuban, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Sebastian Jensen asks for a word with the manager
“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.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
A mark of 5.75 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
5.75 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market7 Sep 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 The request is on a desk at Murom, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 Sep 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 Murom this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market7 Sep 2026
Veles paid $35.0K and Murom took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Market7 Sep 2026
Kuban Holding paid $18.0K and Murom took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Wages eat 1202% of everything Murom earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Match5 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Alexandr Ageev
“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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Murom will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Murom
Shamil Gasanov 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 Aug 2026
“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.
Market10 Aug 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Market10 Aug 2026
Ruslan Babayan is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Murom has been clear about where Ruslan Babayan stands, which is more than many ever get.
Match8 Aug 2026
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Torpedo Miass came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.