The Baltika 2 Gazette
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Kirill Nikolaev, 21, steals the show — 7.78
Marked 7.78 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Evgeny Kim signs a new deal
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Evgeny Kim commits to Baltika 2 for another 4 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Baltika 2
Kirill Davidenko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces3 Aug 2026
The crowd has taken to Kirill Nikolaev
At 21 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.
Match1 Aug 2026
Baltika 2 see off Chertanovo
Three points for Baltika 2, 2‑0 the final word against Chertanovo in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Arseny Popushoy runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market3 Aug 2026
Talks stall between Baltika 2 and Evgeny Kim
“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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
25 new faces, and Baltika 2 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 dugout3 Aug 2026
Roman Romanov has his say
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Roman Romanov on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
In brief
- Squad Aymane Mourid falls out with a teammate over standards
- Player ratings Off the bench and decisive: Maxim Kulik
- The dugout Andrey Tsitsilin does not fit this one