Marked for Danila Prokopjev
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market29 May 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.
Squad29 May 2028
Nikolay Alekhin 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.
Squad29 May 2028
Everybody at Astrakhan 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.
Squad29 May 2028
Rasul Zhangurazov 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 dugout29 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Magomed Pirmagomedov, and the manager let it.
The dugout29 May 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Konstantin Kolesnikov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market15 May 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 dugout15 May 2028
This is not rotation. Rasul Zhangurazov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Astrakhan is pretending otherwise.
Boardroom15 May 2028
The borrowing at Astrakhan reaches $3.4M
Past the limit the bank set, which is the line between a club being financed and a club being in trouble. $3.4M is now the number every conversation about this club will start with.
Boardroom15 May 2028
Wages swallow 116% of the Astrakhan 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.
Squad15 May 2028
Words exchanged at Astrakhan
Mandla Vilakazi 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 dugout15 May 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Valentin Grishin trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad15 May 2028
No place for Aqşin Paşayev in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Astrakhan are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Market15 May 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Valentin Grishin’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market15 May 2028
Astrakhan have made Semyon Radostev available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market10 Apr 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 Astrakhan can pretend not to have heard.
Market10 Apr 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Astrakhan is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words exchanged at Astrakhan
Nikolay Alekhin 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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
A row about effort at Astrakhan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rasul Zhangurazov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match8 Apr 2028
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout10 Apr 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 dugout10 Apr 2028
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Maxim Milyukov after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
Dmitry Shilov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Astrakhan 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 dugout10 Apr 2028
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market27 Mar 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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Words at Astrakhan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rasul Zhangurazov 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.
Boardroom27 Mar 2028
Astrakhan cannot sign anybody
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Danil Sizov 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 dugout27 Mar 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Valentin Grishin trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout27 Mar 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.
Market27 Mar 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Semyon Radostev’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Match27 Mar 2028
Astrakhan in the hunt for Europe
Position 6, 57 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
Squad27 Mar 2028
“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 Astrakhan will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market13 Mar 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.
Market13 Mar 2028
Only the photograph left for Fedor Semenov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Fedor Semenov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Astrakhan the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Player ratings13 Mar 2028
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Valentin Grishin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match11 Mar 2028
0‑2 to Chaika M, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Valentin Grishin, and the manager let it.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
Dmitry Shilov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Astrakhan 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.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Magomed Pirmagomedov 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Feb 2028
Maxim Kovzikov damages knee ligaments — 14 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 14 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.
Market14 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.
Market14 Feb 2028
Only the photograph left for Fedor Semenov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Fedor Semenov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Astrakhan the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Valentin Grishin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets14 Feb 2028
Astrakhan asked and Kuban said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad14 Feb 2028
A row about effort at Astrakhan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Renat Malomusov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout14 Feb 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Maxim Kovzikov, and the manager let it.
Transfer targets14 Feb 2028
KAMAZ have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Transfer targets14 Feb 2028
Irtysh have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 Jan 2028
14 days out for Tobias Mikkelsen after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Astrakhan will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market17 Jan 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Astrakhan is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Player ratings17 Jan 2028
Successful dribbles: 20. 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.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Words exchanged at Astrakhan
Artem Karpekin 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.
Match15 Jan 2028
Rostov 2 left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad17 Jan 2028
A row about effort at Astrakhan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Renat Malomusov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Maxim Milyukov left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vasily Chekavinskiy, and the manager let it.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
Dmitry Shilov knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Dmitry Shilov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings20 Dec 2027
Two goals and a mark of 9.18 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 42 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match18 Dec 2027
Whatever happens, Astrakhan do not lose
8 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.
Market20 Dec 2027
Fedor Semenov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Astrakhan they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Words exchanged at Astrakhan
Valentin Grishin 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.
Match18 Dec 2027
Another one collected away from home
4 on the bounce on the road for Astrakhan. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Match18 Dec 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Artem Karpekin. 3‑1 against Kyzyltash, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The terraces20 Dec 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Danila Prokopjev 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 ratings20 Dec 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market11 Oct 2027
Only the photograph left for Maxim Kostyuk
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Maxim Kostyuk will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Astrakhan the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Artem Karpekin 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
A row about effort at Astrakhan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Renat Malomusov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout11 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.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Semyon Radostev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
Maxim Kostyuk gets picked when it counts
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 Maxim Kostyuk is on it.
Looking ahead11 Oct 2027
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Dmitry Shilov’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Astrakhan needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Market11 Oct 2027
The name of Valentin Grishin keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Astrakhan say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad11 Oct 2027
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match2 Oct 2027
Kirill Pluzhnikov had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Rubin Yalta were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
The numbers do not look good at Astrakhan
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.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
This is not rotation. Rasul Zhangurazov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Astrakhan is pretending otherwise.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Alexandr Bolonin commits to Astrakhan for another 2 years.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
Wages swallow 159% of the Astrakhan 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.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Words exchanged at Astrakhan
Artem Karpekin 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.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
Astrakhan are $2.5M in the red
The borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
Loan watch4 Oct 2027
“I did not go to Krasnodar to sit and watch. I want to come back to Astrakhan and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 13 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words exchanged at Astrakhan
Valentin Grishin 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 dugout7 Jun 2027
“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 Jun 2027
A row about effort at Astrakhan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Renat Malomusov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market7 Jun 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Valentin Grishin’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market7 Jun 2027
It is the least glamorous business a club does and the reason seasons do not collapse in February. Denis Gnedoy is here for the weeks when three men are injured and somebody still has to play.
Squad7 Jun 2027
A new face in his position and a shirt he thought he owned suddenly up for discussion. Astrakhan have promised nothing, which is what clubs promise at this stage.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
Artur Karpov 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Astrakhan will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
Market7 Jun 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Astrakhan, another week without a signature from Denis Gnedoy.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout31 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Dmitry Shilov
“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 May 2027
A row about effort at Astrakhan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Renat Malomusov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad31 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 Astrakhan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad29 Mar 2027
Yegor Saigushev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Astrakhan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Renat Malomusov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom29 Mar 2027
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
The dugout29 Mar 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.
Market29 Mar 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ivan Kudryashov signs something — a contract at Astrakhan or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market29 Mar 2027
Astrakhan have let the market know Renat Malomusov can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Astrakhan, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Loan watch29 Mar 2027
22 starts and a season average of 6.96. The loan is doing exactly what it was arranged to do.
Market29 Mar 2027
Two seats in the directors' box were spoken for, and the name in the notebook was Valentin Grishin. Nothing has been offered yet.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Dec 2026
66 days out for Pavel Solomatin after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Astrakhan will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match12 Dec 2026
9 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Maxim Milyukov was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Astrakhan dressing room was either.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Pacho
“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.
Match12 Dec 2026
Point won or two lost for Astrakhan?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against PSK Pervorechenskoe? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Looking ahead14 Dec 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Pacho’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Astrakhan needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Market14 Dec 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Valentin Grishin’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad16 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Pavel Solomatin out for 94 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Astrakhan will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Astrakhan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Konstantin Kolesnikov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Magomed Pirmagomedov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Aly Tagiev has had enough of the bench
“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 Astrakhan will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Danila Prokopjev, and the manager let it.
Market16 Nov 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Valentin Grishin’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Astrakhan. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Maxim Kostyuk 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 Astrakhan, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Looking ahead16 Nov 2026
Next up on the road: Angusht, position 17. The supporters who go will talk about it all week and the ones who do not will check their phones at ten to five.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 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.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Zenit have kept their man, and Astrakhan go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
Aly Tagiev 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Squad7 Sep 2026
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Danila Prokopjev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market7 Sep 2026
The shop window has Dmitry Belov in it
Astrakhan have let the market know Dmitry Belov can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
Looking ahead7 Sep 2026
Next up at home: Zarya Lugansk, who go into it in position 16. The kind of fixture a season is quietly built on or quietly loses its shape in.