Marked for Stepan Burdakov
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match13 Oct 2027
Sondre Herfindal wins it after the whistle should have gone
118 minutes played. Sondre Herfindal found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Nart went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Marked 7.93 at 18, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Leon Musaev 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 SKA Khabarovsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces18 Oct 2027
He is 18 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Match16 Oct 2027
0‑1 to Irtysh, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alexandr Mukhin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
“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.
Boardroom18 Oct 2027
Nobody left the SKA Khabarovsk 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Aug 2027
Vladimir Tsapurin damages knee ligaments — 24 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 24 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.
Market30 Aug 2027
“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 The request is on a desk at SKA Khabarovsk 2, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market30 Aug 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market30 Aug 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at SKA Khabarovsk 2 is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad30 Aug 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at SKA Khabarovsk 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match28 Aug 2027
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Market30 Aug 2027
Rodina M are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. SKA Khabarovsk 2 will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Evgeny Ilyin was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the SKA Khabarovsk 2 dressing room was either.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad16 Aug 2027
Vladimir Tsapurin damages knee ligaments — 38 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 38 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.
The terraces16 Aug 2027
The mood at SKA Khabarovsk 2 has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Market16 Aug 2027
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Avangard had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Market16 Aug 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what SKA Khabarovsk 2 can pretend not to have heard.
Squad16 Aug 2027
14 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Stepan Burdakov 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.
Market16 Aug 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. SKA Khabarovsk 2 have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
Marked 8.22 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Jul 2027
There were 20 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match24 Jul 2027
Beaten 2‑5 by Avangard, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market26 Jul 2027
The offer from Zvezda for Stepan Burdakov was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Match24 Jul 2027
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between SKA Khabarovsk 2 and Avangard, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Stanislav Kupeev 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 terraces26 Jul 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Stepan Burdakov 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.
Player ratings26 Jul 2027
A performance of 8.18 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Boardroom26 Jul 2027
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.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 2‑5, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market5 Jul 2027
The offer from Luki-Energiya for Vladimir Tsapurin was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Market5 Jul 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at SKA Khabarovsk 2 is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Kirill Mordasov is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad5 Jul 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at SKA Khabarovsk 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Stepan Burdakov, and the manager let it.
Squad5 Jul 2027
“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 SKA Khabarovsk 2 will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad3 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at SKA Khabarovsk 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 May 2027
“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 SKA Khabarovsk 2 will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
The dugout3 May 2027
Eldar Bliev 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.
Market3 May 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Matvey Uzhgin signs something — a contract at SKA Khabarovsk 2 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market3 May 2027
Eldar Bliev runs his contract down
2 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs SKA Khabarovsk 2 money.
Squad3 May 2027
The coaching staff have set Stepan Burdakov something separate to do. Whether it is a weakness being addressed or a strength being sharpened, nobody outside the building will know until it shows up on a Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The terraces26 Apr 2027
Supporters organise against the SKA Khabarovsk 2 board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Market26 Apr 2027
Eldar Bliev 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 SKA Khabarovsk 2 can pretend not to have heard.
Market26 Apr 2027
Eldar Bliev has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around SKA Khabarovsk 2 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Alexandr Mukhin 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.
Market26 Apr 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Alexandr Maximenko signs something — a contract at SKA Khabarovsk 2 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
Maxim Pechenkin 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad15 Feb 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 18 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.74 for the rest of it.
Market15 Feb 2027
Zakhar Badyuk has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around SKA Khabarovsk 2 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad15 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at SKA Khabarovsk 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces15 Feb 2027
At 22 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 ratings15 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match13 Feb 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mikhail Gorelishvili. 1‑0 against Arsenal Tula 2, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at SKA Khabarovsk 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sergey Yemelkin 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
The terraces1 Feb 2027
Supporters organise against the SKA Khabarovsk 2 board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Market1 Feb 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around SKA Khabarovsk 2 people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Andrey Putilov 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.
Match30 Jan 2027
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Stepan Burdakov ran the middle of the pitch — 7.01
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 13 combined actions and a mark of 7.01, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Marked 8.06 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one SKA Khabarovsk 2 will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.22 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad18 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at SKA Khabarovsk 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces18 Jan 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Denis Pershin 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.
Match16 Jan 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Andrey Putilov. 2‑0 against Salyut, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad18 Jan 2027
100 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Vladislav Zykh
“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 dugout18 Jan 2027
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Evgeny Ilyin on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 11. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market18 Jan 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Nürtilek Sulaymanov signs something — a contract at SKA Khabarovsk 2 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Jan 2027
Alexandr Mukhin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
A defender's afternoon for Denis Pershin
Defensive actions: 17. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
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.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to David Bekoev, and the manager let it.
Match9 Jan 2027
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Kvant? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 11. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Market11 Jan 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Vladimir Tsapurin signs something — a contract at SKA Khabarovsk 2 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
The plan did not have a place for Sergey Yemelkin
Nobody at SKA Khabarovsk 2 is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
No sign of nerves from Stepan Burdakov at 21 — 7.64
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Stepan Burdakov did not need any: 7.64, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Match12 Dec 2026
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.
Squad14 Dec 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 SKA Khabarovsk 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match12 Dec 2026
Orel left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Marked 8.03 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Demjan Iljev
“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 dugout14 Dec 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 2‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad14 Dec 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 SKA Khabarovsk 2 will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Vladislav Zykh
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad9 Nov 2026
Andrey Putilov 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.
Match7 Nov 2026
A 1‑0 win over Strogino, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Marked 8.41 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Evgeny Ilyin kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to German Parfenov, and the manager let it.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
7 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.
Market9 Nov 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. SKA Khabarovsk 2 know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Market9 Nov 2026
SKA Khabarovsk 2 have let the market know Andrey Putilov can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match24 Oct 2026
Arsenal Tula 2 will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. SKA Khabarovsk 2 were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
No sign of nerves from Stepan Burdakov at 21 — 7.75
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Stepan Burdakov did not need any: 7.75, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.39 for the rest of it.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Matvey Uzhgin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces26 Oct 2026
At 22 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.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alexandr Maximenko, and the manager let it.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
17 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.99 on the card, and the SKA Khabarovsk 2 support went home talking about one name.
Squad26 Oct 2026
22 new faces, and SKA Khabarovsk 2 are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Sep 2026
Kirill Mordasov is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Andrey Putilov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Everybody at SKA Khabarovsk 2 saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 37 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Squad28 Sep 2026
22 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Evgeny Ilyin was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the SKA Khabarovsk 2 dressing room was either.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
Maxim Ulezko dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Zakhar Badyuk, and the manager let it.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
5 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match12 Sep 2026
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.
Market14 Sep 2026
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
A brace, and Andrey Putilov takes the afternoon — 7.98
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Andrey Putilov provided it, and the 7.98 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
No sign of nerves from Stepan Burdakov at 21 — 8.02
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Stepan Burdakov did not need any: 8.02, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Market14 Sep 2026
Add another name to the list: Tver have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Vladimir Tsapurin. The answer from SKA Khabarovsk 2 has not changed — yet.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Andrey Putilov 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 terraces14 Sep 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Daniil Borisov 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.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matvey Uzhgin, and the manager let it.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Evgeny Ilyin kept it short after the 3‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
In brief
-
Market
Kolomna are about to pick up the phone
-
The dugout
Somebody else is better right now than Ovik Galayan
-
The dugout
Andrey Putilov asks for a word with the manager