Marked for Artem Kulakov
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Irtysh have done the hard part with Rodina, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
Orenburg wanted more than $540.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad28 Jun 2027
A falling-out at Irtysh
Alexandr Smirnov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad28 Jun 2027
14 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Artem Kulakov, and the manager let it.
The dugout28 Jun 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 Georgy Makarov is on it.
Market28 Jun 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Roman Yanushkovskiy signs something — a contract at Irtysh or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad28 Jun 2027
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Irtysh will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market21 Jun 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Irtysh have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market21 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 The request is on a desk at Irtysh, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
The offer went to Orenburg this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words exchanged at Irtysh
Alexandr Smirnov 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 dugout21 Jun 2027
The manager makes an example of Georgy Makarov
“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.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
Rodina 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.
Boardroom21 Jun 2027
Belts tighten at Irtysh
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
Squad21 Jun 2027
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Irtysh will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
The dugout21 Jun 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 Evgeny Gusakov is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market15 Mar 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Irtysh they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad15 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Irtysh
Alexandr Smirnov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout15 Mar 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.
The dugout15 Mar 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 Vladislav Poletaev is on it.
The dugout15 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 Irtysh, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market15 Mar 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Alexandr Smirnov signs something — a contract at Irtysh or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad15 Mar 2027
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Irtysh will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Market15 Mar 2027
Irtysh have let the market know Artem Kulakov can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market1 Mar 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Kuban Holding waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Irtysh is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
Deadline passes with 2 signed and 2 gone
That is the business done at Irtysh until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Transfer targets1 Mar 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Irtysh have done the hard part with Torpedo Moscow, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Irtysh
Alexandr Smirnov 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Arsen Arakelyan arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Arsen Arakelyan has, at Irtysh, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Transfer targets1 Mar 2027
The clock did what Nart would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Squad1 Mar 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; Irtysh are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad1 Mar 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Arsen Arakelyan and Irtysh agree another 3 years.
Market1 Mar 2027
He is 18, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad7 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Irtysh
Pavol Bellás 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.
Looking ahead7 Sep 2026
Top-of-the-table clash for Irtysh
Kuban next, and the two sides the division is watching meet each other. Whoever wins will be told nothing is decided in the same breath as being congratulated.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Artemy Maleev slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Artemy Maleev is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Aznaur Geryugov named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Aznaur Geryugov is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout7 Sep 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.
Market7 Sep 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Irtysh
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valery Polyakin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
Aznaur Geryugov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Irtysh 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.
Looking ahead7 Sep 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Alexandr Smirnov’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Irtysh needing him to play as if none of it matters.