Marked for Matvey Torop
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Nov 2029
Andrey Makarenko damages knee ligaments — 57 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 57 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market5 Nov 2029
Only the photograph left for Artem Zakirov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Artem Zakirov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Flora the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad5 Nov 2029
Tempers go at Flora
Nikolay Ivanov 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 Nov 2029
Words at Flora training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrej Bačanin 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 dugout5 Nov 2029
Kaur Kivila back under a manager who knows him
The new man at Flora has worked with Kaur Kivila before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
Squad5 Nov 2029
Too much change too quickly at Flora
5 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Oct 2029
Tempers go at Flora
Nikolay Ivanov 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 dugout8 Oct 2029
Kaur Kivila back under a manager who knows him
The new man at Flora has worked with Kaur Kivila before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
Squad8 Oct 2029
A row about effort at Flora
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Roman Yuzepchuk was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad8 Oct 2029
Too much change too quickly at Flora
9 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout8 Oct 2029
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Flora told Bubacarr Tambedou something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout8 Oct 2029
Roko Vukušić 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 Flora, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Sep 2029
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Market10 Sep 2029
“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.
Transfer targets10 Sep 2029
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad10 Sep 2029
Tempers go at Flora
Nikolay Ivanov 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.
Squad10 Sep 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Vitaly Dunay (Karpenko) commits to Flora for another 4 years.
Transfer targets10 Sep 2029
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.
The dugout10 Sep 2029
Kaur Kivila back under a manager who knows him
The new man at Flora has worked with Kaur Kivila before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
Squad10 Sep 2029
Egor Kress 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.
Squad10 Sep 2029
Flora are still strangers to each other
11 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad13 Aug 2029
The knee: João Villela out for 26 days
26 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Flora lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market13 Aug 2029
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Flora people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The dugout13 Aug 2029
“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.
Market13 Aug 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Flora is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad13 Aug 2029
Words exchanged at Flora
Yosuke Morishige 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.
Squad13 Aug 2029
Words at Flora training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikolay Ivanov 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.
Transfer targets13 Aug 2029
Flora asked and Rubin 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 dugout13 Aug 2029
Roko Vukušić back under a manager who knows him
The new man at Flora has worked with Roko Vukušić before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
Squad13 Aug 2029
Too much change too quickly at Flora
8 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market16 Jul 2029
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Viimsi waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Flora is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market16 Jul 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Flora is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Tempers go at Flora
Nikolay Ivanov 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 targets16 Jul 2029
Flora offered $340.0K; FCI Levadia said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Transfer targets16 Jul 2029
Flora asked and Tammeka said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market16 Jul 2029
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Vladislav Kreida has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Flora.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Egor Kress 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.
The dugout16 Jul 2029
Roko Vukušić back under a manager who knows him
The new man at Flora has worked with Roko Vukušić before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Flora are still strangers to each other
7 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market18 Jun 2029
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Nõmme United waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Flora is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Match13 Jun 2029
Flora out of the cup
Tallinna Kalev ended it 1‑2. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Market18 Jun 2029
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Player ratings18 Jun 2029
Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Transfer targets18 Jun 2029
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Flora have done the hard part with Nomme Kalju, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Match16 Jun 2029
4 matches without a win for Flora
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Flora are no longer polite ones.
Squad18 Jun 2029
Tempers go at Flora
Nikolay Ivanov 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 targets18 Jun 2029
FCI Levadia wanted more than $340.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad18 Jun 2029
A move Noah Medalli would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Noah Medalli is living that version at Flora, and it tends to show in the first month.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market10 Jul 2028
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Dinamo Kirov had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Market10 Jul 2028
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Chaika have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market10 Jul 2028
“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 Chaika, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market10 Jul 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Chaika is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Tempers go at Chaika
Pavel Maslov 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.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Dmitry Ivannikov 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.
Transfer targets10 Jul 2028
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.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Chaika are still strangers to each other
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Squad10 Jul 2028
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Chaika will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market26 Jun 2028
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Spartak Nalchik waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Chaika is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Squad26 Jun 2028
A falling-out at Chaika
Pavel Maslov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Dmitry Ivannikov 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.
Market26 Jun 2028
The phone has started ringing about Leon Borković again, and this time the name on the line is Ural. Chaika are listening politely and promising nothing.
Market26 Jun 2028
Matvey Torop is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Chaika has been clear about where Matvey Torop stands, which is more than many ever get.
Boardroom26 Jun 2028
Chaika counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Chaika now.
The dugout26 Jun 2028
Danil Karpov gets picked when it counts
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 Danil Karpov is on it.
The dugout26 Jun 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.
Market26 Jun 2028
Ivan Ivanov linked with a move away
The name of Ivan Ivanov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Chaika say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market12 Jun 2028
Only the photograph left for Lukáš Vaněk
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lukáš Vaněk will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Chaika the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad12 Jun 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nikita Posmashny and Chaika agree another 5 years.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Tempers go at Chaika
Pavel Maslov 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.
Squad12 Jun 2028
A row about effort at Chaika
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vitaly Dunay (Karpenko) was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout12 Jun 2028
The manager makes an example of Marcos Pintos
“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.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Chaika are still strangers to each other
6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market8 May 2028
Only the photograph left for Vadim Gapeev
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vadim Gapeev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Chaika the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad8 May 2028
Pavel Maslov 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 Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 May 2028
Nikolay Ischenko 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.
The dugout8 May 2028
Artem Zhevnerenko 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.
The dugout8 May 2028
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.
Squad8 May 2028
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Chaika would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market10 Apr 2028
Vadim Gapeev has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Chaika they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad10 Apr 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Apr 2028
A move Nikita Gorbachev would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Nikita Gorbachev is living that version at Chaika, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad10 Apr 2028
A row about effort at Chaika
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivan Bober was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Chaika are still strangers to each other
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
Artem Zhevnerenko 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.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
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 dugout10 Apr 2028
Johannes Jepsen asks for a word with the manager
“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.
Market10 Apr 2028
Chaika shop where it costs nothing
Nikita Gorbachev signs, and the fee column stays empty. Deals like this look small in July and clever by March — or they are never mentioned again.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market13 Mar 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Chaika is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Pavel Maslov 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 Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Words at Chaika training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivan Bober 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.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Chaika are still strangers to each other
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
“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 dugout13 Mar 2028
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
Upbeat
Market6 Mar 2028
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Chaika have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market6 Mar 2028
Only the photograph left for Yury Petin
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Yury Petin will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Chaika the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad6 Mar 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Pavel Maslov and Chaika agree another 4 years.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Matvey Torop 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.
Squad6 Mar 2028
A falling-out at Chaika
Pavel Maslov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Loan watch6 Mar 2028
“I watch every Chaika game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Amkar runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad6 Mar 2028
A row about effort at Chaika
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikolay Ischenko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout6 Mar 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.
Boardroom6 Mar 2028
Chaika counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Chaika now.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match28 Feb 2028
The view from the top for Chaika
44 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
Market28 Feb 2028
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Chaika have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Boardroom28 Feb 2028
Deadline passes with 5 signed and 4 gone
That is the business done at Chaika 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.
Market28 Feb 2028
Only the photograph left for Leon Borković
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Leon Borković will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Chaika the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Words exchanged at Chaika
Pavel Maslov 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.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Ivan Bober 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.
Squad28 Feb 2028
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Chaika will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
The dugout28 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.
Market28 Feb 2028
The Ivan Ivanov talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Chaika know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market14 Feb 2028
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Dinamo Barnaul waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Chaika is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market14 Feb 2028
Orel come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Chaika did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Pavel Maslov 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 Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market14 Feb 2028
Add another name to the list: Kolomna have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Yury Petin. The answer from Chaika has not changed — yet.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Dmitry Ivannikov 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.
The dugout14 Feb 2028
Matvey Torop 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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Chaika are still strangers to each other
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Matvey Torop 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 Chaika will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
The dugout14 Feb 2028
Matvey Torop has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Chaika 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market31 Jan 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Match29 Jan 2028
The wait goes on for Chaika M
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.
Match29 Jan 2028
The goals have deserted Chaika M
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Chaika M can tell you which week it ends in.
Match29 Jan 2028
Chaika M leaking at the back
4 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Match29 Jan 2028
Shakhter Donetsk left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout31 Jan 2028
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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Egor Lapin to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout31 Jan 2028
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Chaika M told Maxim Kriushichev something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Squad31 Jan 2028
One yellow too many, and a match watched from the stand. The most avoidable absence in football, and Chaika M will feel it on Saturday.
Squad31 Jan 2028
“If we are going to be beaten, let it not be because somebody in here could not be bothered.” He stood up and said it in front of everybody, which is a thing a squad remembers about a man for years.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match15 Jan 2028
Chastening afternoon for Chaika M
A 0‑4 beating by Nart was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Market17 Jan 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Chaika M is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Maxim Kriushichev, and the manager let it.
Boardroom17 Jan 2028
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑4, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
A promise honoured at Chaika M
Something was said to Matvey Torop and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Squad17 Jan 2028
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Beaten 4 times: a bad day for Nikita Pavlov
5 saves does not settle the argument about whose fault it was, and the argument will run all week. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines whoever caused them.
Market17 Jan 2028
The name of Matvey Torop keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Chaika M say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match10 Jan 2028
Chaika M are in real trouble now
Position 20, 3 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad10 Jan 2028
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.
Squad10 Jan 2028
A falling-out at Chaika M
Matvey Torop and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match8 Jan 2028
1‑3 to Dinamo Makhachkala 2, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout10 Jan 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.
The dugout10 Jan 2028
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 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Egor Lapin to a room that had heard them before.
Market10 Jan 2028
7 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Chaika M could get for him.
Squad10 Jan 2028
“If we are going to be beaten, let it not be because somebody in here could not be bothered.” He stood up and said it in front of everybody, which is a thing a squad remembers about a man for years.
Squad10 Jan 2028
The suspension is over, which is the half of a ban nobody prints. He has watched from the stand for long enough to have opinions about the shape, and the manager now has a decision he did not have last week.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match18 Dec 2027
21 matches without a win for Chaika M
The run now stands at 21, and the questions being asked around Chaika M are no longer polite ones.
Match18 Dec 2027
Chaika M are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 21 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Squad20 Dec 2027
13 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match18 Dec 2027
Chastening afternoon for Chaika M
A 1‑4 beating by Rubin Yalta was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Market20 Dec 2027
Only the photograph left for Nikita Pavlov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nikita Pavlov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Chaika M the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad20 Dec 2027
A falling-out at Chaika M
Nikita Pavlov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom20 Dec 2027
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Market20 Dec 2027
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑4, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.