Marked for Dmitry Goncharuk
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market29 Mar 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 SKA Khabarovsk can pretend not to have heard.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Maxim Yurin 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.
Squad29 Mar 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 SKA Khabarovsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match22 Feb 2027
Every point is an argument now for SKA Khabarovsk
Position 18 and 26 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.
Market22 Feb 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.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Defensive actions: 24, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Roman Yemeljanov 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Kamran Aliev 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Vicente Prado
“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.
Match20 Feb 2027
It finished 1‑0, and it was Jacobo Alcalde’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to SKA Khabarovsk.
Boardroom22 Feb 2027
133% of the income goes out in wages at SKA Khabarovsk
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.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
A performance of 8.21 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match22 Feb 2027
Every point is an argument now for Sibir
Position 10 and 14 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.
Market22 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 Sibir, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Tempers go at Sibir
Alexandr Nosov 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.
Boardroom22 Feb 2027
Wages eat 182% of everything Sibir 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 Feb 2027
Words at Sibir training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilja Maximenkov 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dmitry Yakovlev, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market8 Feb 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Maxim Ulezko: 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.” SKA Khabarovsk 2 have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Vladislav Bragin 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.
The terraces8 Feb 2027
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.
Match6 Feb 2027
A 2‑0 win over Strogino, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Market8 Feb 2027
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. SKA Khabarovsk 2 will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad8 Feb 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.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.82 on the card, and the SKA Khabarovsk 2 support went home talking about one name.
Squad8 Feb 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 SKA Khabarovsk 2 will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market1 Feb 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 SKA Khabarovsk 2 can pretend not to have heard.
Match30 Jan 2027
6 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” SKA Khabarovsk 2 may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match30 Jan 2027
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 5 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad1 Feb 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 SKA Khabarovsk 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Andrey Putilov, and the manager let it.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Denis Pershin has had enough of the bench
“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 SKA Khabarovsk 2 will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Match30 Jan 2027
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Rodina M defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
A mark of 5.32 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market25 Jan 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.
Match23 Jan 2027
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.
Squad25 Jan 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.
Match23 Jan 2027
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Roman Yemeljanov 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 ratings25 Jan 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.
Squad25 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Andrey Putilov dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Match23 Jan 2027
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Arsenal Tula 2 will be the happier side with the point.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
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 SKA Khabarovsk 2, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad18 Jan 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.
Match16 Jan 2027
4 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.
Squad18 Jan 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 SKA Khabarovsk 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match16 Jan 2027
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad18 Jan 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.
Match16 Jan 2027
0‑1 to Dinamo Bryansk, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad18 Jan 2027
The team sheet said everything about Andrey Putilov
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 Andrey Putilov.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 12. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market4 Jan 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 SKA Khabarovsk 2 can pretend not to have heard.
Squad4 Jan 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 SKA Khabarovsk 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match2 Jan 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad4 Jan 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.
Squad4 Jan 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 SKA Khabarovsk 2 will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Squad4 Jan 2027
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
An afternoon Ovik Galayan will want back
Marked 5.38. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
Market4 Jan 2027
SKA Khabarovsk 2 have let the market know Dmitry Goncharuk can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Dec 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 SKA Khabarovsk 2 can pretend not to have heard.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Roman Yemeljanov 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Kirill Mordasov is 18, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“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.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market30 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 SKA Khabarovsk 2, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Roman Yemeljanov, 34, rolls back the years — 8.90
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.90 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Roman Yemeljanov 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 ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad30 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Vadim Vshivkov
“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
Crisis
Squad16 Nov 2026
Roman Yemeljanov 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 ratings16 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad16 Nov 2026
“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.
Match14 Nov 2026
Dinamo St Petersburg left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Andrey Putilov dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Squad16 Nov 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match7 Nov 2026
A 0‑3 beating by Spartak Tambov was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
The terraces9 Nov 2026
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 7 of the 24 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Squad9 Nov 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 SKA Khabarovsk 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Boardroom9 Nov 2026
Nobody left the SKA Khabarovsk 2 dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad9 Nov 2026
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Vladimir Tsapurin knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Squad9 Nov 2026
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
4.31 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
Match17 Oct 2026
No end in sight to SKA Khabarovsk 2's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at SKA Khabarovsk 2 has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Roman Yemeljanov 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Lev Ushakov is 18, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad19 Oct 2026
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. SKA Khabarovsk 2 told Vadim Vshivkov something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Andrey Putilov dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 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 SKA Khabarovsk 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces28 Sep 2026
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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Ovik Galayan
“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.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Marked 7.29. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Roman Yemeljanov dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Squad28 Sep 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
Crisis
Market31 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.
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 SKA Khabarovsk 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match29 Aug 2026
0‑1 to Ryazan, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Vladislav Zykh dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Ovik Galayan 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 Ovik Galayan trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 12. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
An afternoon Ovik Galayan will want back
Marked 5.27. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
A mark of 5.39 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.