The Metallurg Courier
Squad16 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Metallurg
Alexandr Kobzev 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Maxim Vedeneev 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.
Looking ahead16 Nov 2026
Metallurg and Ryazan meet at the summit
The fixture the rest of the division is looking forward to more than either of the sides in it. Both know a win changes the season and a defeat does not end it, which is what makes it hard to play.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
No hiding place for Odin Høiland
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Odin Høiland, and the manager let it.
Loan watch16 Nov 2026
Alexandr Burykin has seen enough of Zarya Lugansk
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Metallurg, and 3 appearances in 14 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
A promise honoured for Bogdan Sheiko
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Metallurg told Bogdan Sheiko something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Looking ahead16 Nov 2026
A reunion for Denis Semin
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Ryazan in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Kirill Dontsov 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.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
When it matters, Nikita Yavorskiy plays
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.
In brief
- Market The Dmitry Pakhomov talk will not go away
- Squad The penny has dropped for Krzysztof Szewczyk
- Squad The training reports on Nikita Panov are not good