Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
0‑7 against Sevastopol, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Chaika M they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The terraces20 Sep 2027
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 3 of the 9 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Chaika M and Sevastopol, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Marked 6.96 on 10 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Hovhannes Hakobyan 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.
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.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Chaika M will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Jan Eicher has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Chaika M could ask drops and the wages Ruslan Slavin can ask rise.
2‑7 against Zarya Lugansk, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
10 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
A brace, and Ruslan Slavin takes the afternoon — 8.33
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Ruslan Slavin provided it, and the 8.33 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 9 goals between Chaika M and Zarya Lugansk, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Matvey Torop 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.
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.
42 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.
0‑6 to Spartak Nalchik, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
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.
Match21 Aug 2027
Nobody could stop scoring
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Chaika M and Spartak Nalchik in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Matvey Torop 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
The Chaika M dressing room has split into 5 groups
Squads form friendships and that is healthy; this is not that. 5 separate groups, 4 players belonging to none of them, and a set of tables at lunch that have stopped rearranging themselves. It very rarely fixes itself.
In brief
BoardroomNobody left the Chaika M dressing room in a hurry
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Chaika M they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
8 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
The terraces16 Aug 2027
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 3 of the 9 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 16 goals between Chaika M and Druzhba, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Ivan Sorochinskiy knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 24 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nikolai Novikov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Chaika M the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chaika M can pretend not to have heard.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 8 goals between Chaika M and Legion, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Matvey Torop 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.
37 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.
1‑10 to Kuban Holding, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
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 terraces19 Jul 2027
The stands have turned
“Enough is enough. We have watched this for months.” 4 of the 7 senior players walked off to it, and the message was not aimed at any one of them.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 11 goals between Chaika M and Kuban Holding, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Goalkeepers do not get to make mistakes; they get to make goals. He made one, he knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Chaika M have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Ruslan Slavin 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Arseny Filev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ivan Sorochinskiy signs something — a contract at Chaika M or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
The terracesThe Arseny Filev rumours reach the terraces
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Chaika M have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Matvey Torop 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Maxim Kriushichev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Nikita Pavlov had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
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 phone has started ringing about Vadim Gapeev again, and this time the name on the line is Avangard. Chaika M are listening politely and promising nothing.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ruslan Slavin will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Chaika M the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Arseny Filev has his answer from Chaika M; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Chaika M, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
“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 M, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Chaika M they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
36 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.
Matvey Torop 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Chaika M has been clear about where Ivan Sorochinskiy stands, which is more than many ever get.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Gleb Isayev after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Chaika M they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Chaika M, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I am not asking anybody to be better than they are. I am asking everybody to be as good as they are, every week.” Said out loud, in front of everybody, and the room at Chaika M was different afterwards.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chaika M can pretend not to have heard.
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.
“Nobody outside is coming to save us.” It was short, it was not comfortable, and by all accounts the Chaika M squad were quieter afterwards than they had been all season.
33 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.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Chaika M are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Chaika M pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
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.
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.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Chaika M have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 37 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
32 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.
20 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Beaten 0‑9 by Angusht, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match3 Apr 2027
Nobody could stop scoring
9 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Chaika M and Angusht in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Both clubs in the mire, one fixture between them, and a ground that will be louder and more frightened than at any point in the season. Chaika M know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nikolai Novikov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Chaika M the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
30 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 10 goals between Chaika M and Astrakhan, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Matvey Torop 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.
A goalkeeper’s error has no defender behind it to tidy it away. He knew before the ball crossed the line, the crowd knew a second later, and there is nothing anybody can say tonight.
29 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.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 17 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Ivan Sorochinskiy knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 16 goals between Chaika M and Dinamo Stavropol, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
28 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.
28 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.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 16 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
0‑11 to Sochi 2, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 11 goals between Chaika M and Sochi 2, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Ivan Sorochinskiy knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
26 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.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 14 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 22 goals between Chaika M and Sevastopol, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
25 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.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 13 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Match6 Feb 2027
Nobody could stop scoring
14 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Chaika M and Pobeda in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Ruslan Slavin 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.
24 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.
12 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
0‑8 to Zarya Lugansk, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Chaika M they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match30 Jan 2027
Nobody could stop scoring
8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Chaika M and Zarya Lugansk in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
23 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.
0‑15 to Spartak Nalchik, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Position 20 and 0 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.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Nikolai Novikov knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 15 goals between Chaika M and Spartak Nalchik, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
22 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.
22 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.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 10 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Match16 Jan 2027
Nobody could stop scoring
11 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Chaika M and Druzhba in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
21 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.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 9 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
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.
Match9 Jan 2027
Nobody could stop scoring
11 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Chaika M and Rostov 2 in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
2 error, one goal, and a night in front of the same three seconds. He will see it tonight, tomorrow and probably in February, and everybody who has played knows exactly which frame he keeps stopping on.
20 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.
20 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.
0‑9 against Dinamo Makhachkala 2, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 9 goals between Chaika M and Dinamo Makhachkala 2, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Goalkeepers do not get to make mistakes; they get to make goals. He made one, he knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑9, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 19 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 7 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑5, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 18 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 6 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Match19 Dec 2026
Nobody could stop scoring
11 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Chaika M and Kuban Holding in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Goalkeepers do not get to make mistakes; they get to make goals. He made one, he knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Gleb Isayev after 0‑11, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Ruslan Slavin 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 18 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
17 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.
17 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.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑5, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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.
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 6 signed and 9 gone
That is the business done at Baltika 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.
Tenton Yenne and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Baltika training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Evgeny Latyshonok 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.
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.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.