Marked for Timofey Kashitsyn
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Maxim Yurin, 19, steals the show — 8.14
Marked 8.14 at 19, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Spartak Nalchik may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Alan Khachirov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Timofey Kashitsyn was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces23 Nov 2026
He is 19 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.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Timofey Kashitsyn, and the manager let it.
Match21 Nov 2026
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Dinamo Makhachkala 2 scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
Match21 Nov 2026
A 1‑1 draw with Dinamo Makhachkala 2 leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
In brief
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The dugout
When it matters, Khakim Kadykoev plays
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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Looking ahead
Spartak Nalchik take on the side everybody is chasing
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market9 Nov 2026
“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 The request is on a desk at Spartak Nalchik, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad9 Nov 2026
The medical room confirms 59 days on the sidelines for Islam Pekov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Alan Khachirov 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.
Match7 Nov 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Alan Khachirov. 1‑0 against Legion, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Marked 7.66. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
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.” Evgeny Gubin kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
When it matters, Maxim Yurin plays
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Amin Zhangurazov, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market2 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.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
An order from above at Spartak Nalchik: somebody has to go
Balance sheets do not care about form or about who the manager was planning to build around. The board have decided a sale is required, and the only question left is which name ends up carrying it.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Timofey Kashitsyn was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
189% of the income goes out in wages at Spartak Nalchik
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.
Match31 Oct 2026
Kuban Holding left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Islam Pekov
“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.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Andemir Goguzokov is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad26 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 Spartak Nalchik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match24 Oct 2026
1‑2 to Kyzyltash, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Timofey Kashitsyn was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Khakim Kadykoev
“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.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Evgeny Gubin to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Shots: 5, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market19 Oct 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Spartak Nalchik can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
No sign of nerves from Timofey Kashitsyn at 20 — 7.77
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Timofey Kashitsyn did not need any: 7.77, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Inaroko Tutov is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Aslanbek Kumykov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market19 Oct 2026
No place for Islam Pekov in the plan
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Islam Pekov has his answer from Spartak Nalchik; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Evgeny Gubin, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Khusey Karkaev
“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.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Oct 2026
Anzor Keshtov is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Aslanbek Kumykov 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Timofey Kashitsyn was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad12 Oct 2026
5 new faces, and Spartak Nalchik are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Maxim Yurin has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Spartak Nalchik 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.
Market12 Oct 2026
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Khusey Karkaev has his answer from Spartak Nalchik; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Adam Cherkesov, and the manager let it.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Islam Pekov 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 Spartak Nalchik, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.62 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Evgeny Kovalevskiy did not need any: 7.63, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Alan Khachirov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces28 Sep 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Timofey Kashitsyn 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.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Roman Litwiak
“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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Evgeny Gubin could afford to be generous.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Sep 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 Spartak Nalchik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Spartak Nalchik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Timofey Kashitsyn 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 dugout21 Sep 2026
Half-satisfied: Evgeny Gubin on the draw
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Spartak Nalchik will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Match19 Sep 2026
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Angusht? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Inaroko Tutov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Spartak Nalchik 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.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Defensive actions: 10, 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 ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 9. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Spartak Nalchik can pretend not to have heard.
Market31 Aug 2026
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Spartak Nalchik have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Marked 8.10 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Everything agreed with Kuban, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
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 Spartak Nalchik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match29 Aug 2026
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.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
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.
Match29 Aug 2026
A 2‑2 draw with Astrakhan leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match19 Aug 2026
A 1‑0 win over Tver, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Match22 Aug 2026
4‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
A brace, and Timofey Kashitsyn takes the afternoon — 8.46
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Timofey Kashitsyn provided it, and the 8.46 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Adam Cherkesov, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.81
A mark of 7.81 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Market24 Aug 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 ratings24 Aug 2026
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.51 for the rest of it.
Market24 Aug 2026
Rodina M come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Spartak Nalchik did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Everything agreed with Kuban, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Aslanbek Kumykov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 Aug 2026
Alan Khachirov 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.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Spartak Nalchik asked and Dinamo Moscow 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 dugout17 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Islam Pekov, and the manager let it.
Squad17 Aug 2026
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Spartak Nalchik are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Marked 7.31 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Spartak Nalchik had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“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.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
4.78 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Sochi 2 defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.