Marked for Murad Alimov
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Oct 2026
Murad Alimov 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 Rostov 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces5 Oct 2026
At 20 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Vladimir Kasparyan 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 Oct 2026
Ilja Zubenko 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.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Nobody left the Rostov 2 dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
The cruellest goal, and it is Nikita Romanov's
A touch he did not want, a bounce he could not have read, and his name in the wrong column. There is no consoling a man after one of these, and Rostov 2 will not try tonight.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“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 Rostov 2 will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
A mark of 7.25, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 32. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Rustam Asenchukov, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.68
A mark of 7.68 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Market28 Sep 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Danil Ryazanov 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Rostov 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kirill Cheburakov 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
Steady
Match19 Sep 2026
0‑3 to Druzhba, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
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 Rostov 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. 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
Kirill Cheburakov 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nikita Kolyuchkin, and the manager let it.
Boardroom21 Sep 2026
Nobody left the Rostov 2 dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match12 Sep 2026
Chastening afternoon for Rostov 2
A 2‑9 beating by Dinamo Stavropol was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
No sign of nerves from Kirill Cheburakov at 20 — 7.69
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Kirill Cheburakov did not need any: 7.69, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
The terraces14 Sep 2026
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 4 of the 19 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Beaten 9 times, with 3 saves for company. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines on their record whoever actually caused them, which is the quiet injustice of the job.
Match12 Sep 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 11 goals between Rostov 2 and Dinamo Stavropol, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Rostov 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Murad Alimov 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 Sep 2026
Murad Alimov 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.
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Squad14 Sep 2026
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
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 Rostov 2, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Kirill Cheburakov, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.73
A mark of 7.73 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match5 Sep 2026
A 2‑1 win over Dinamo Makhachkala 2, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The terraces7 Sep 2026
At 20 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Squad7 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ilja Zubenko, and the manager let it.
Match5 Sep 2026
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Dinamo Makhachkala 2 tried to reorganise, Rostov 2 did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Vladimir Kasparyan 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.
Market7 Sep 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Rostov 2, another week without a signature from Nikita Kolyuchkin.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market31 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.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match29 Aug 2026
1‑2 to Sochi 2, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad31 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Danil Ryazanov
“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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Rostov 2 told Danil Ryazanov something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Squad31 Aug 2026
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match22 Aug 2026
Going 2 down does something to a side, and what it usually does is finish them. Not here. Rostov 2 rebuilt the afternoon goal by goal, and Rubin Yalta had no answer to any of it.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Kirill Cheburakov, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.55
A mark of 8.55 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Match22 Aug 2026
Rostov 2 make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Rostov 2 have 3 straight wins of it.
Match22 Aug 2026
It finished 4‑3, and it was Murad Alimov’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Rostov 2.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
At 20 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Vladimir Kasparyan 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.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Maxim Radchenko 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vladimir Kasparyan, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
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 Rostov 2, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Rustam Asenchukov, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.00
A mark of 8.00 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Market17 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Murad Alimov 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.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Rustam Asenchukov 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Rustam Asenchukov. 2‑0 against Pobeda, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match8 Aug 2026
Kirill Cheburakov wins it after the whistle should have gone
93 minutes played. Kirill Cheburakov found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Angusht went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Market10 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 Rostov 2, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Kirill Cheburakov, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.74
A mark of 7.74 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. 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
Danil Ryazanov 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.
Match8 Aug 2026
It finished 2‑1, and it was Kirill Cheburakov’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Rostov 2.
The terraces10 Aug 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Kirill Cheburakov 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Yaroslav Solovjov commits to Rostov 2 for another 3 years.
Market10 Aug 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Rostov 2, another week without a signature from Kirill Cheburakov.