From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Nov 2027
“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.
Match15 Nov 2027
Avangard are in among the leadersPosition 3 and 19 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Squad15 Nov 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.
Denis Traigel Denis Traigel says Avangard went back on their word
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From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Nov 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Avangard have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market8 Nov 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.
Loan watch8 Nov 2027
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Avangard , and 0 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
Boardroom8 Nov 2027
Avangard counting the costThe accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Avangard now.
Squad8 Nov 2027
The manager makes an example of Rizvan Tashaev
“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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Dmitry Kiselev 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
Uneasy
Squad27 Sep 2027
The manager makes an example of Dmitry Khokhlov
“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.
Match25 Sep 2027
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Kuban will be the happier side with the point.
Market27 Sep 2027
The name of Alexandr Khrebtov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Avangard say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match20 Sep 2027
Avangard are in real trouble nowPosition 6, 12 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Match18 Sep 2027
Irtysh made Avangard work for it, but the scoreboard read 1-0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad20 Sep 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Denis Traigel 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Daniil Sedov wants a proper job in this sideShifted about, taken off before the hour, asked to do somebody else's running — Daniil Sedov has had enough of being useful and would like to be picked. Avangard know, and have known for weeks.
Market20 Sep 2027
Avangard spent the window trying to move Nurbol Tymoshchuk on and nobody came. He trains with a squad that has already told him he is not part of it, and both sides now wait for the next one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market2 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 Avangard can pretend not to have heard.
Market2 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.
Match31 Jul 2027
Three points for Avangard , 1-0 the final word against Irtysh in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Daniil Sedov 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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Avangard have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Denis Traigel 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 Avangard , and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market2 Aug 2027
The name of Alexandr Khrebtov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Avangard say nothing, which says plenty.
Market2 Aug 2027
12 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
Squad2 Aug 2027
A rating of 6.79 was enough for the selectors, and nobody who watched the match is going to argue with them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Apr 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Denis Traigel and Avangard agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Boardroom26 Apr 2027
Avangard counting the costThe accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Avangard now.
Squad26 Apr 2027
“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
Steady
Boardroom22 Mar 2027
Wages eat 178% of everything Avangard 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
The manager makes an example of Denis Traigel
“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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Ruslan Slavin 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
Steady
Match15 Feb 2027
Avangard up to position 219 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad15 Feb 2027
The medical room confirms 106 days on the sidelines for Vladislav Tereshkin , and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad15 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market11 Jan 2027
Shlomo Ayelin 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 Avangard can pretend not to have heard.
Squad11 Jan 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 Avangard , and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad11 Jan 2027
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Denis Traigel plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Dec 2026
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Avangard have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
406% of the income goes out in wages at Avangard
Every club in football 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 somebody has tried it.
Squad28 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Denis Traigel
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match21 Dec 2026
Avangard up to position 219 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad21 Dec 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Dmitry Khokhlov 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.
Denis Traigel Denis Traigel says Avangard went back on their word
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
Timofey Shemenev 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Denis Konshin plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
Squad16 Nov 2026
He came through the session, took part in everything and finished it smiling. Avangard will not rush him, and he will spend the next fortnight trying to rush them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 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.
Market9 Nov 2026
“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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“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
Steady
Match26 Oct 2026
Avangard up to position 219 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad26 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Daniil Sedov
“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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Denis Traigel 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
Steady
Match19 Aug 2026
Avangard march on in the cupStrogino are out and Avangard go through, 1-0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Market24 Aug 2026
Shlomo Ayelin 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 Avangard can pretend not to have heard.
Squad24 Aug 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.
Market24 Aug 2026
He is 20, and nobody at Avangard signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Match22 Aug 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Avangard have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.