Marked for Stanislav Topinka
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market22 Mar 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market22 Mar 2027
“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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Chaika
Stanislav Biblyk 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.
Boardroom22 Mar 2027
Wages eat 164% of everything Chaika 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Maílson 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.
Squad22 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 Chaika, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 38. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match5 Dec 2026
5 matches without a win for Chaika
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Chaika are no longer polite ones.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Chaika have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad7 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 Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Stanislav Biblyk, and the manager let it.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 17 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 50. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market16 Nov 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Chaika
Stanislav Biblyk 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.
Match14 Nov 2026
Chaika come up short against Rotor
Rotor left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad16 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.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
There was no pressure on him and nowhere he had to be. Chaika lost a goal to a decision that took half a second and will be discussed all week.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Shots: 10, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
A mark of 5.63 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
Squad16 Nov 2026
At 29 he is in the side on merit and somebody else is watching from the bench. Places at Chaika are won quietly and lost loudly.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 40. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Chaika may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad12 Oct 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 Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match10 Oct 2026
Spartak Kostroma left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
A performance of 8.76 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ruslan Cherviakov, and the manager let it.