“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 The request is on a desk at Angusht, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Angusht they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad28 May 2029
Words at Angusht training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aman Babakhanov 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.
Fedor Skok 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Cherif Koroma trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
7 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.
6 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aman Babakhanov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Fedor Skok 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Fedor Skok 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Angusht can pretend not to have heard.
Roman Romanov 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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Angusht can tell you which week it ends in.
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.
“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.
In brief
The dugoutRoman Romanov asks for a word with the manager
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 72 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 Angusht, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ilja Vorotnikov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Angusht this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is 22 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.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Ilja Vorotnikov.
In brief
Player ratingsThe afternoon belonged to Cherif Koroma
8 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.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Fedor Skok scored, was marked 7.63, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Words at Angusht training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilja Vorotnikov 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.
A point taken on 87 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Angusht, another week without a signature from Roman Romanov.
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ilja Vorotnikov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 dugout18 Dec 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 0‑1 Anatoly Avdeev left the room before anybody could ask which.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Angusht told Nikita Kolesin something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 90th minute. Dinamo Makhachkala 2 will replay every second of the added time for a week.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Angusht is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
Fedor Skok 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.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Angusht know it.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Angusht, another week without a signature from Vadim Bogdanov.
In brief
Squad6 new faces, and Angusht are still learning each other
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Angusht have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Ilja Vorotnikov 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Roman Romanov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Anatoly Avdeev after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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.
Fedor Skok 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Lukas Tangedal 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.
A 1‑0 win over Shakhter Donetsk, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
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.
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.49 on the card, and the Angusht support went home talking about one name.
The dugout25 Sep 2028
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.” Anatoly Avdeev kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
In brief
The dugoutCherif Koroma asks for a word with the manager
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
The deal with Mashuk is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at CSKA Moscow is saying, and nobody at Angusht is enjoying the guessing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Angusht this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kaluga have kept their man, and Angusht go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Words at Angusht training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilja Vorotnikov 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Angusht is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Roman Romanov 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ilja Vorotnikov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Alania 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.
The dugout24 Jul 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Anatoly Avdeev was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Angusht dressing room was either.
The mood at Angusht 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.
“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 Angusht, and it is not being withdrawn.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Angusht have done the hard part with Spartak Moscow, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Ilja Vorotnikov 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.
1 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Angusht asked and Volna said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
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 board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
“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 Angusht, and it is not being withdrawn.
This is money that keeps the lights on rather than money that buys a centre-half, and the difference is the whole story. A club funded by its owner rather than by its football has exactly one conversation left ahead of it.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Fedor Skok and Angusht agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Oliver Kubka 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 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.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Anatoly Avdeev has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Position 18 and 29 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Fedor Nikitin will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Angusht the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Angusht this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
This is money that keeps the lights on rather than money that buys a centre-half, and the difference is the whole story. A club funded by its owner rather than by its football has exactly one conversation left ahead of it.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Cherif Koroma 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.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Gelani Khashtyrov.
52 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Angusht lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Angusht this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Words at Angusht training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cherif Koroma 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Anatoly Avdeev after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Angusht, and both men came out saying it was fine.
66 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Angusht lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Ilja Vorotnikov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Cherif Koroma 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.
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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Fedor Skok 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.