Marked for Ilya Seleznev
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 May 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Anton Gordeichuk
16 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Naftan lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad10 May 2027
Ignat Pranovich 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.
Squad10 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 Naftan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings10 May 2027
Marked 8.16 — 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.
Match8 May 2027
It needed Ignat Pranovich to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Vitebsk, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout10 May 2027
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.” Yahor Rios chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
Market10 May 2027
“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.
The dugout10 May 2027
Somebody else is better right now than Shamil Gadjiev
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.
The dugout10 May 2027
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Naftan told Ivan Tikhonov something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad3 May 2027
24 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Naftan lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Player ratings3 May 2027
Marked 7.85 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
The dugout3 May 2027
Ilya Seleznev: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Naftan have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match1 May 2027
Nobody wins at Naftan
11 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Squad3 May 2027
Tempers go at Naftan
Yamoussa Camara 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.
Squad3 May 2027
Ignat Pranovich 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 terraces3 May 2027
At 21 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.
Match1 May 2027
Three points for Naftan, 1‑0 the final word against Torpedo-BelAZ in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Market3 May 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Naftan, another week without a signature from Vladislav Dybin.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
Ilya Seleznev: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Naftan have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Andrey Lebedev commits to Naftan for another 2 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Naftan
Yamoussa Camara 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Ignat Pranovich 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 Mar 2027
Half-satisfied: Yahor Rios on the draw
“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.
Market8 Mar 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Naftan, another week without a signature from Evgeniy Karpovich.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
Somebody else is better right now than Evgeniy Karpovich
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.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
Egor Yuschenko has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Naftan 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market25 Jan 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 Naftan, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market25 Jan 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alexey Abramenko will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Naftan the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad25 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 Naftan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Naftan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ignat Pranovich 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.
Market25 Jan 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Evgeniy Zemko has his answer from Naftan; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ilya Seleznev, and the manager let it.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
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 Artemiy Litvinov is on it.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
Shamil Gadjiev 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 Naftan, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market25 Jan 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Naftan know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market28 Dec 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Naftan they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad28 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 Naftan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Naftan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ignat Pranovich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Ilya Seleznev
“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 dugout28 Dec 2026
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 dugout28 Dec 2026
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Alexey Kharitonovich has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Shamil Gadjiev: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Naftan have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market30 Nov 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alexey Abramenko will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Naftan the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad30 Nov 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 Naftan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout30 Nov 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Egor Yuschenko 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 dugout30 Nov 2026
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
Squad2 Nov 2026
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Naftan will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Market2 Nov 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alexey Abramenko will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Naftan the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Naftan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ignat Pranovich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Naftan
Artem Kuratnik 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 dugout2 Nov 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.
Market2 Nov 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Andrey Lebedev 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 Naftan, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
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.