Marked for Yegor Tarin
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match24 Oct 2026
No end in sight to Rotor 2's wait for a win
13 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Rotor 2 has to find a result from somewhere.
Match26 Oct 2026
Rotor 2 sink to position 14
5 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market26 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 Rotor 2 can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Gleb Shilnikov pops up at the right end — 7.67
7.67, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Ivan Litvenok 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match17 Oct 2026
No end in sight to Rotor 2's wait for a win
12 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Rotor 2 has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 32. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match17 Oct 2026
The goals have deserted Rotor 2
8 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Rotor 2 can tell you which week it ends in.
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 Rotor 2 can pretend not to have heard.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Nikita Plotnikov 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Yegor Tarin
“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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Yegor Tarin 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
One booking too many, and Nikita Plotnikov sits out. Rotor 2 lose him for the sort of avoidable reason that makes a manager's week longer.
Match17 Oct 2026
Point won or two lost for Rotor 2?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Metallurg? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match10 Oct 2026
No end in sight to Rotor 2's wait for a win
11 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Rotor 2 has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 31. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market12 Oct 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 Rotor 2, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match10 Oct 2026
The goals have deserted Rotor 2
7 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Rotor 2 can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Rotor 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikita Plotnikov 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.
Squad12 Oct 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.
Market12 Oct 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.
Squad12 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 Rotor 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match3 Oct 2026
10 matches without a win for Rotor 2
The run now stands at 10, and the questions being asked around Rotor 2 are no longer polite ones.
Market5 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 Rotor 2 can pretend not to have heard.
Match3 Oct 2026
The goals have deserted Rotor 2
6 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Rotor 2 can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Maxim Khramtsov 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.
Squad5 Oct 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.
Match3 Oct 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Rotor 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivan Litvenok 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.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
The kick that got away from Maxim Maltsev
Twelve yards, a goalkeeper guessing, and it still did not go in. He will take the next one, and every soul in the ground will hold their breath.
Market5 Oct 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match26 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Rotor 2's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Rotor 2 has to find a result from somewhere.
Match28 Sep 2026
Rotor 2 sink to position 15
3 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market28 Sep 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 Rotor 2, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match26 Sep 2026
5 matches without a goal for Rotor 2
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.
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 Rotor 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Rotor 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikita Plotnikov 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.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad28 Sep 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 ratings28 Sep 2026
Marked 7.18 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Rotor 2 had the best player on the pitch.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Sep 2026
Chastening afternoon for Rotor 2
A 0‑3 beating by Dinamo St Petersburg was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 17 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match19 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Rotor 2's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Rotor 2 has to find a result from somewhere.
The terraces21 Sep 2026
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 6 of the 18 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market21 Sep 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 Rotor 2, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market21 Sep 2026
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Vladimir Sugrobov reports back to Rotor 2 with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Match19 Sep 2026
4 matches without a goal for Rotor 2
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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Sergey Prokofjev 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.
In brief
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Squad
Nikita Plotnikov falls out with a teammate over standards
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Squad
The manager makes an example of Yegor Tarin
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Boardroom
Nobody left the Rotor 2 dressing room in a hurry
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match15 Aug 2026
Rotor 2 cannot find the net
3 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.
Squad17 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 Rotor 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Marked 7.19. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Squad17 Aug 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Batyr Umirov 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 Rotor 2, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Rotor 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Leon Amirkhanyan 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.