Marked for Sergey Konakov
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Feb 2028
“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.
Market28 Feb 2028
Only the photograph left for Sergey Konakov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sergey Konakov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Khimik the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Dmitry Veber in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom28 Feb 2028
The numbers do not look good at Khimik
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.
Squad28 Feb 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.
Loan watch28 Feb 2028
“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 Khimik, and 1 appearances in 25 say he has earned the hearing.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Feb 2028
Ilja Gruznov in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom21 Feb 2028
Wages eat 134% of everything Khimik 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.
Market21 Feb 2028
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Khimik will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Loan watch21 Feb 2028
“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 Khimik, and 1 appearances in 29 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Oleg Trofimov 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 Oleg Trofimov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market21 Feb 2028
The name of Ilja Gruznov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Khimik say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Feb 2028
Hassan Idris 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 Khimik can pretend not to have heard.
Match14 Feb 2028
Khimik are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 35 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Andrey Savinov: 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.” Khimik have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad14 Feb 2028
50 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Tempers go at Khimik
Ilja Gruznov 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.
Market14 Feb 2028
The phone has started ringing about Alexandr Goryachkin again, and this time the name on the line is Legion. Khimik are listening politely and promising nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Feb 2028
“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.
Squad7 Feb 2028
36 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Ilja Gruznov in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 Jan 2028
64 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Market10 Jan 2028
Only the photograph left for Sergey Konakov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sergey Konakov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Khimik the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Tempers go at Khimik
Dmitry Veber 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match11 Dec 2027
Still nobody has beaten Khimik
The unbeaten run reaches 10. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Match11 Dec 2027
The wait goes on for Khimik
5 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.
Market13 Dec 2027
Sergey Konakov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Khimik they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Tempers go at Khimik
Ilja Gruznov 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.
Player ratings13 Dec 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings13 Dec 2027
Defensive actions: 20, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Ilja Gruznov 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.
Player ratings13 Dec 2027
Defensive actions: 18, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad13 Dec 2027
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Khimik pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market15 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.
Market15 Nov 2027
Only the photograph left for Sergey Konakov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sergey Konakov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Khimik the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Player ratings15 Nov 2027
Defensive actions: 23. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Dmitry Veber in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match13 Nov 2027
Whatever happens, Khimik do not lose
6 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.
Player ratings15 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings15 Nov 2027
Defensive actions: 18, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings15 Nov 2027
The afternoon belonged to Daniil Zuev
A mark of 7.66, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Squad15 Nov 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market18 Oct 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Khimik is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Nikita Shulkin: 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.” Khimik have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match16 Oct 2027
No end in sight to Khimik's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Khimik has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Tempers go at Khimik
Ilja Gruznov 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.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.13, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad18 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.
Match16 Oct 2027
It needed Ilja Gruznov to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Amkar, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Market18 Oct 2027
The name of Gleb Yakushevich keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Khimik say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match6 Oct 2027
The cup run ends for Khimik
1‑3 against Akron, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Market11 Oct 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.
The terraces11 Oct 2027
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 5 of the 25 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Tempers go at Khimik
Dmitry Veber 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.
Boardroom11 Oct 2027
Khimik counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Khimik now.
Squad11 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.
Player ratings11 Oct 2027
A performance of 8.52 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings11 Oct 2027
Marked 8.17 — 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.
Loan watch11 Oct 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 Khimik, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market20 Sep 2027
Only the photograph left for Sergey Konakov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sergey Konakov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Khimik the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match18 Sep 2027
Whatever happens, Khimik 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.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Tempers go at Khimik
Ilja Gruznov 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.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
A performance of 9.31 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match18 Sep 2027
It finished 1‑0, and it was Gleb Yakushevich’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Khimik.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.33, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
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
Dmitry Veber 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 Veber trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match11 Sep 2027
7 unbeaten for Khimik
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation Khimik did not have in the autumn.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Ilja Gruznov in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom13 Sep 2027
Khimik counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Khimik now.
Market13 Sep 2027
The name of Sergey Konakov has come up in conversations Khimik were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
A performance of 8.74 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad13 Sep 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.
Market13 Sep 2027
Luki-Energiya are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Khimik will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Match11 Sep 2027
A 1‑1 draw with Ural 2 leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market6 Sep 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Tempers go at Khimik
Ilja Gruznov 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.
Match4 Sep 2027
Whatever happens, Khimik do not lose
6 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Khimik are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
Marked 8.72 — 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.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Wages eat 131% of everything Khimik 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.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market6 Sep 2027
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Khimik will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Loan watch6 Sep 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 Khimik, and 1 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match18 Aug 2027
Cup progress for Khimik
A 2‑0 win over Luki-Energiya, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Market23 Aug 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.
Market23 Aug 2027
The bid was some way short and Khimik did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Dmitry Veber in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
A performance of 9.37 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
Marked 9.24 — 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.
Market23 Aug 2027
The name of Daniil Shilov has come up in conversations Khimik were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.79, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market9 Aug 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 Khimik, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market9 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.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Dmitry Veber in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market9 Aug 2027
Add another name to the list: Pobeda have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Sergey Konakov. The answer from Khimik has not changed — yet.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.09, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match7 Aug 2027
Volna made Khimik work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Hassan Idris, and the manager let it.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Marked 8.04 — 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market5 Jul 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
“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 Khimik know it.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Tempers go at Khimik
Dmitry Veber 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Jun 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 Khimik, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 Jun 2027
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Khimik will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Squad7 Jun 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 Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market17 May 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 Khimik, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad17 May 2027
Dmitry Veber in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom17 May 2027
Wages eat 157% of everything Khimik 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.
Squad17 May 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Alexandr Krasnopevtsev commits to Khimik for another 3 years.
Squad17 May 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 Khimik, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market17 May 2027
The clock does Joan Chávez’s negotiating for him
3 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Khimik could ask drops and the wages Joan Chávez can ask rise.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market19 Apr 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.
Squad19 Apr 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 Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom19 Apr 2027
165% of the income goes out in wages at Khimik
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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
“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 Khimik know it.
Squad19 Apr 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Hassan Idris 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 Hassan Idris trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market15 Mar 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 Khimik, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Khimik
Roman Raifegerste 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Alexey Dolya
“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
Market15 Feb 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 Khimik, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad15 Feb 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Tempers go at Khimik
Vyacheslav Zinkov 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market18 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 Khimik, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Khimik
Vyacheslav Zinkov 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.
Squad18 Jan 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
Uneasy
Match19 Dec 2026
The wait goes on for Irkutsk
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.
Squad21 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 Irkutsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Adam Wierzbicki, and the manager let it.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.43, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match19 Dec 2026
It needed Sergey Konakov to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Dinamo Vologda, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market21 Dec 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.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The terraces21 Dec 2026
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 6 of the 26 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Khimik
Oleg Trofimov 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.
Match19 Dec 2026
Khimik come up short against Nosta
Nosta left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad21 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Ilja Gruznov
“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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Alexandr Krasnopevtsev and Khimik agree another 3 years.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Marked 5.55, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
5.78 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match5 Dec 2026
No end in sight to Irkutsk's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Irkutsk has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Dmitry Ikovanyuk and Irkutsk agree another 3 years.
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 Irkutsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Defensive actions: 22, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Defensive actions: 20, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad7 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Bohlale Thaba
“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 Dec 2026
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Irkutsk are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Marked 7.51 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Irkutsk had the best player on the pitch.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match21 Nov 2026
No mercy from Khimik
Akron 2 will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Khimik were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Defensive actions: 28. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Khimik may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Khimik
Vyacheslav Zinkov 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.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.81, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Marked 8.59 — 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kirill Myrzakov, and the manager let it.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Daniil Oganichev is not enjoying his job description
Played out of position, hooked on the hour, asked to be somebody he is not — the details vary and the mood does not. Khimik have a player doing his work under protest.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market26 Oct 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Khimik may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Khimik
Roman Raifegerste 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.
Match24 Oct 2026
It finished 3‑1, and it was Ilja Gruznov’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Khimik.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.92, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Marked 8.55 — 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.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.03, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad26 Oct 2026
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Khimik are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match29 Aug 2026
The wait goes on for Irkutsk
5 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.
Squad31 Aug 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 Irkutsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match29 Aug 2026
Torpedo Vladimir left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dmitry Pytlev, and the manager let it.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad31 Aug 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.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Shots: 9, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
5.33 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
Squad31 Aug 2026
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Irkutsk has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market17 Aug 2026
Khimik say no — this time
The offer from Kvant for Sergey Konakov was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Khimik
Vyacheslav Zinkov 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
14 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.