Marked for Denis Grigorjev
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad25 Aug 2036
A knee injury of the worst kind for Ivan Goryainov
20 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sochi lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad25 Aug 2036
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 61 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market25 Aug 2036
Jens den Otter has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sochi they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad25 Aug 2036
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sochi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets25 Aug 2036
The offer went to Akhmat Grozny this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Squad25 Aug 2036
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Daniil Promoshkin has just signed for Sochi, and for once the answer mattered.
Transfer targets25 Aug 2036
Alania wanted more than $17.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Transfer targets25 Aug 2036
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Krasnodar have kept their man, and Sochi go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match23 Aug 2036
Sochi come up short against Rubin
Rubin left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Aug 2036
27 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sochi lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad18 Aug 2036
68 days out for Andrea Cerbone after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Sochi will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match16 Aug 2036
3‑0, and Léo Latour took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Sochi tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Market18 Aug 2036
“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 Sochi, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings18 Aug 2036
Both of them Léo Latour's — 8.03
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.03, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market18 Aug 2036
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sochi they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market18 Aug 2036
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad18 Aug 2036
Tempers go at Sochi
Ivan Churikov 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.
Match16 Aug 2036
The drought breaks for Sochi
6 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Baltika were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Jul 2036
16 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sochi lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad21 Jul 2036
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 11 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad21 Jul 2036
Luka Vidić breaks a bone — 26 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 26 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Boardroom21 Jul 2036
Pressure builds in the Sochi boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market21 Jul 2036
“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 Sochi, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market21 Jul 2036
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sochi is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Transfer targets21 Jul 2036
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Ural is saying, and nobody at Sochi is enjoying the guessing.
Boardroom21 Jul 2036
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Denis Grigorjev has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad21 Jul 2036
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sochi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 May 2036
The words a physio says slowly. 93 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.
Boardroom5 May 2036
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Interim Coach has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market5 May 2036
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sochi can pretend not to have heard.
Market5 May 2036
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sochi they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad5 May 2036
Tempers go at Sochi
Georgy Tikhomirov 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 May 2036
A row about effort at Sochi
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivan Churikov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad5 May 2036
Oleg Lyubchenko makes the wrong kind of headline
Dealt with internally, which is the phrase a club uses when it would rather nobody asked twice. He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday.
The dugout5 May 2036
Ivan Churikov without the man who signed him
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Ivan Churikov was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
The dugout5 May 2036
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 Arseny Abdulkhalikov is on it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Apr 2036
The words a physio says slowly. 100 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.
Boardroom28 Apr 2036
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Sochi
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
The dugout28 Apr 2036
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sochi have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market28 Apr 2036
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sochi is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad28 Apr 2036
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sochi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Apr 2036
Words at Sochi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Léo Latour 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 dugout28 Apr 2036
Igor Diveev 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.
Market28 Apr 2036
Sochi and Vitaly Nem are talking past each other
“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 dugout28 Apr 2036
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 Zakhar Dyatlov is on it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Apr 2036
121 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sochi lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market7 Apr 2036
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sochi can pretend not to have heard.
Market7 Apr 2036
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sochi is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad7 Apr 2036
Tempers go at Sochi
Ivan Churikov 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.
Squad7 Apr 2036
A row about effort at Sochi
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Léo Latour was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad7 Apr 2036
The young player of the month award goes to a 19-year-old at Sochi who has looked like the finished article for four weekends running. The next four are the ones that decide whether he is.
Market7 Apr 2036
“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 dugout7 Apr 2036
Nobody at Sochi 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.
The dugout7 Apr 2036
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market17 Mar 2036
Nikita Romas hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sochi can pretend not to have heard.
Market17 Mar 2036
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sochi they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad17 Mar 2036
Words exchanged at Sochi
Georgy Tikhomirov 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.
Squad17 Mar 2036
Daan van den Brande 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.
Squad17 Mar 2036
Too much change too quickly at Sochi
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.
The dugout17 Mar 2036
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 Alexandr Lazarev is on it.
The dugout17 Mar 2036
“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 dugout17 Mar 2036
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Marat Kulaev, and the manager let it.
Market17 Mar 2036
3 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Sochi could get for him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market10 Mar 2036
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sochi can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets10 Mar 2036
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at CSKA Moscow is saying, and nobody at Sochi is enjoying the guessing.
The dugout10 Mar 2036
“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.
Market10 Mar 2036
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sochi is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad10 Mar 2036
A row about effort at Sochi
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivan Churikov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets10 Mar 2036
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Krylya Sovetov have kept their man, and Sochi go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad10 Mar 2036
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sochi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout10 Mar 2036
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vitaly Nem, and the manager let it.
Market10 Mar 2036
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market4 Feb 2036
“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.
Boardroom4 Feb 2036
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Sochi
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Boardroom4 Feb 2036
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Danil Avramenko has agreed terms with Nizhniy Novgorod for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad4 Feb 2036
A falling-out at Sochi
Dominik Yankov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market4 Feb 2036
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sochi they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Transfer targets4 Feb 2036
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.
Loan watch4 Feb 2036
“I watch every Sochi game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Spartak Moscow runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad4 Feb 2036
Words at Sochi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Léo Latour 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.
Market4 Feb 2036
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market28 Jan 2036
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sochi can pretend not to have heard.
Market28 Jan 2036
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets28 Jan 2036
The deal with Zenit is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Squad28 Jan 2036
A falling-out at Sochi
Georgy Tikhomirov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market28 Jan 2036
Add another name to the list: Tyumen have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Timofey Kashitsyn. The answer from Sochi has not changed — yet.
Squad28 Jan 2036
Words at Sochi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivan Churikov 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 targets28 Jan 2036
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. CSKA Moscow have kept their man, and Sochi go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Player ratings28 Jan 2036
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match26 Jan 2036
Sochi caught on 89 minutes
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Akhmat scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Dec 2035
16 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad24 Dec 2035
Words exchanged at Sochi
Ivan Churikov 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.
Player ratings24 Dec 2035
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout24 Dec 2035
“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.
Squad24 Dec 2035
A row about effort at Sochi
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Ghiasyan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout24 Dec 2035
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Sochi told Stanislav Bukatov something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout24 Dec 2035
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Interim Coach after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The dugout24 Dec 2035
Léo Latour 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.
Market24 Dec 2035
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match15 Dec 2035
Sochi taken apart
0‑3 to Zenit, 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.
Market17 Dec 2035
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sochi can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout17 Dec 2035
Duncan Lindhout: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sochi have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad17 Dec 2035
Tempers go at Sochi
Georgy Tikhomirov 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.
Squad17 Dec 2035
A row about effort at Sochi
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivan Churikov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom17 Dec 2035
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Boardroom17 Dec 2035
Doors closed at Sochi
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout17 Dec 2035
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad17 Dec 2035
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Sochi are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market3 Sep 2035
“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 Ordabasy, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad3 Sep 2035
Aibol Shomko breaks a bone — 17 days out
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.
Transfer targets3 Sep 2035
$460.0K settles it between the clubs for Levan Qazaishvili
Aktobe have accepted the money. What Ordabasy do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Squad3 Sep 2035
A falling-out at Ordabasy
Uroš Milovanović and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets3 Sep 2035
The offer went to Shakhter this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Squad3 Sep 2035
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Erkebūlan Seidakhmet commits to Ordabasy for another 2 years.
Transfer targets3 Sep 2035
Ordabasy asked and Tobol said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad3 Sep 2035
A row about effort at Ordabasy
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Denis Grigorjev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout3 Sep 2035
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market27 Aug 2035
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Ordabasy have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Squad27 Aug 2035
Aibol Shomko breaks a bone — 24 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 24 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad27 Aug 2035
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ordabasy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets27 Aug 2035
Shakhter wanted more than $33.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Transfer targets27 Aug 2035
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.
Squad27 Aug 2035
Words at Ordabasy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Denis Grigorjev 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.
Squad27 Aug 2035
“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; Ordabasy are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Transfer targets27 Aug 2035
A loan enquiry to Kairat: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets27 Aug 2035
A loan move for Renné Rivas is in the works
Ordabasy have made the call to Kairat. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match11 Aug 2035
No end in sight to Ordabasy's wait for a win
10 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Ordabasy has to find a result from somewhere.
Match13 Aug 2035
The season ends: position 9 for Ordabasy
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 16 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Squad13 Aug 2035
Words exchanged at Ordabasy
Uroš Milovanović 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.
Transfer targets13 Aug 2035
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.
Squad13 Aug 2035
Denis Grigorjev 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.
Match11 Aug 2035
Irtysh left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad13 Aug 2035
23 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
The dugout13 Aug 2035
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Abdulaziz Al-Asbahi, and the manager let it.
The dugout13 Aug 2035
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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Interim Coach to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match4 Aug 2035
The wait goes on for Ordabasy
9 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.
Market6 Aug 2035
“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 Ordabasy, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market6 Aug 2035
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Ordabasy have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Squad6 Aug 2035
341 appearances across 15 seasons in one shirt. Careers like that are not built on purpose any more, and Ordabasy know exactly what they have.
Squad6 Aug 2035
A falling-out at Ordabasy
Uroš Milovanović and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets6 Aug 2035
$33.0K on the table at Shakhter. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Transfer targets6 Aug 2035
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.
Squad6 Aug 2035
A row about effort at Ordabasy
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Denis Grigorjev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout6 Aug 2035
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bekkhan Shaizada, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market23 Jul 2035
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Ordabasy have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Match21 Jul 2035
No end in sight to Ordabasy's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Ordabasy has to find a result from somewhere.
Market23 Jul 2035
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ordabasy can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout23 Jul 2035
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Ordabasy may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market23 Jul 2035
Ordabasy say no — this time
The offer from Aktobe for Yegor Smirnov was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Match21 Jul 2035
The goals have deserted Ordabasy
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Ordabasy can tell you which week it ends in.
Transfer targets23 Jul 2035
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kairat have kept their man, and Ordabasy go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad23 Jul 2035
Words at Ordabasy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Denis Grigorjev 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.
Squad23 Jul 2035
51 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match16 Jul 2035
Ordabasy are in real trouble now
Position 10, 14 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.
Match14 Jul 2035
No end in sight to Ordabasy's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Ordabasy has to find a result from somewhere.
Market16 Jul 2035
Yegor Smirnov hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ordabasy can pretend not to have heard.
Market16 Jul 2035
Irtysh come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Ordabasy did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets16 Jul 2035
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Kairat is saying, and nobody at Ordabasy is enjoying the guessing.
Squad16 Jul 2035
Words exchanged at Ordabasy
Uroš Milovanović 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.
Match14 Jul 2035
The goals have deserted Ordabasy
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Ordabasy can tell you which week it ends in.
Transfer targets16 Jul 2035
Ordabasy asked and Asante Kotoko said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad16 Jul 2035
Denis Grigorjev 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad9 Jul 2035
9 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.
Market9 Jul 2035
“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.
Match7 Jul 2035
5 matches without a win for Ordabasy
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Ordabasy are no longer polite ones.
Market9 Jul 2035
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Hayk Khachatryan will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ordabasy the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets9 Jul 2035
Everything agreed with Kairat, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad9 Jul 2035
A falling-out at Ordabasy
Uroš Milovanović and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets9 Jul 2035
Ordabasy asked and Kairat said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad9 Jul 2035
At 35, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
Match7 Jul 2035
Astana left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
In brief
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The dugout
Denis Grigorjev gets it from the manager
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Squad
A row about effort at Ordabasy
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad2 Jul 2035
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 12 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match30 Jun 2035
Chastening afternoon for Ordabasy
A 0‑5 beating by Kairat was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Transfer targets2 Jul 2035
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Ordabasy have done the hard part with Deportivo Cali, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Match30 Jun 2035
No end in sight to Ordabasy's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Ordabasy has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad2 Jul 2035
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ordabasy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets2 Jul 2035
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kairat have kept their man, and Ordabasy go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad2 Jul 2035
Denis Grigorjev 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 dugout2 Jul 2035
“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.
Squad2 Jul 2035
“The easiest signature of my career.” Teddy Averlant and Ordabasy agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match20 Jun 2035
The cup run ends for Ordabasy
1‑2 against Shakhter, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Market25 Jun 2035
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Ordabasy have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market25 Jun 2035
“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 Ordabasy, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets25 Jun 2035
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Ordabasy have done the hard part with Kairat, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad25 Jun 2035
Uroš Milovanović 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 targets25 Jun 2035
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.
Squad25 Jun 2035
Words at Ordabasy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Denis Grigorjev 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.
Squad25 Jun 2035
“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; Ordabasy are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad25 Jun 2035
Everybody at Ordabasy saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 35 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings11 Jun 2035
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.12 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Match9 Jun 2035
The drought breaks for Ordabasy
9 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Atyrau were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Squad11 Jun 2035
A falling-out at Ordabasy
Uroš Milovanović and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Jun 2035
Words at Ordabasy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Denis Grigorjev 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.
Match9 Jun 2035
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Alisher Shukurov. 2‑1 against Atyrau, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The terraces11 Jun 2035
At 22 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.
The dugout11 Jun 2035
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Interim Coach could afford to be generous.
The dugout11 Jun 2035
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.
Player ratings11 Jun 2035
Successful dribbles: 13. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match2 Jun 2035
The wait goes on for Ordabasy
9 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.
Market4 Jun 2035
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ordabasy can pretend not to have heard.
Squad4 Jun 2035
“The easiest signature of my career.” Uroš Milovanović and Ordabasy agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Match2 Jun 2035
Ordabasy cannot find the net
4 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.
Squad4 Jun 2035
Words at Ordabasy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Denis Grigorjev 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 dugout4 Jun 2035
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Älikhan Israilov, and the manager let it.
Looking ahead4 Jun 2035
Everything rides on Atyrau
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. Ordabasy know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
Squad4 Jun 2035
Alexey Nikitenkov 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.
Player ratings4 Jun 2035
El'khan Astanov did the work nobody counts — 7.00
9 combined actions and 7.00. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match14 May 2035
Ordabasy sink to position 10
7 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad14 May 2035
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match12 May 2035
No end in sight to Ordabasy's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Ordabasy has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad14 May 2035
A falling-out at Ordabasy
Uroš Milovanović and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 May 2035
A row about effort at Ordabasy
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Denis Grigorjev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match12 May 2035
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad14 May 2035
100 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
The dugout14 May 2035
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout14 May 2035
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
Uneasy
The dugout30 Apr 2035
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Ordabasy may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings30 Apr 2035
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.99 for the rest of it.
Match28 Apr 2035
4 matches without a win for Ordabasy
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Ordabasy are no longer polite ones.
Squad30 Apr 2035
Words exchanged at Ordabasy
Vitalii Laturnus 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.
Squad30 Apr 2035
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Ordabasy can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad30 Apr 2035
A last season at home is what Teddy Averlant is after
It is sentimental, it is completely genuine, and it is the beginning of a departure nobody has announced. The club can be gracious about it or it can pretend not to have heard.
Squad30 Apr 2035
Denis Grigorjev 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.
Match28 Apr 2035
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout30 Apr 2035
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Soslan Karginov, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad23 Apr 2035
Words exchanged at Ordabasy
Uroš Milovanović 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 Apr 2035
A row about effort at Ordabasy
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Denis Grigorjev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match21 Apr 2035
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout23 Apr 2035
“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 dugout23 Apr 2035
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad23 Apr 2035
Every signing waits for it and every press conference asks about it until it comes. It has come, Ordabasy have their man off the mark, and the second one is always easier.
The dugout23 Apr 2035
Nobody at Ordabasy 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.
Looking ahead23 Apr 2035
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Aktobe in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Player ratings23 Apr 2035
Not in the side at kick-off and the story of it by the end. Ordabasy were going nowhere until he came on, and half an hour was all he needed.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Apr 2035
Uroš Milovanović 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.
Squad2 Apr 2035
Denis Grigorjev 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.
Squad2 Apr 2035
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 34 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Squad2 Apr 2035
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Market2 Apr 2035
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Alexey Nikitenkov has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Ordabasy.
The dugout2 Apr 2035
“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 dugout2 Apr 2035
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 Abdulaziz Al-Asbahi is on it.
Looking ahead2 Apr 2035
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Erkebūlan Seidakhmet’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Ordabasy needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Boardroom2 Apr 2035
Ordabasy keep producing them
96 graduates from an academy now rated 9 out of 20. A club this size does not survive any other way, and every name on that list is known in the town.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Mar 2035
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ordabasy can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout12 Mar 2035
“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.
Match10 Mar 2035
The wait goes on for Ordabasy
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.
Squad12 Mar 2035
A falling-out at Ordabasy
Vitalii Laturnus and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom12 Mar 2035
9 academy players handed senior numbers at Ordabasy
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Squad12 Mar 2035
A row about effort at Ordabasy
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Denis Grigorjev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market12 Mar 2035
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Azat Islamkhan is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market12 Mar 2035
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Yeldos Abiken is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market12 Mar 2035
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Kairat Tagybergen is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Feb 2035
Ivan Veselkov hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ordabasy can pretend not to have heard.
Match26 Feb 2035
Ordabasy refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 34 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Boardroom26 Feb 2035
Deadline passes with 1 signed and 6 gone
That is the business done at Ordabasy 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.
Transfer targets26 Feb 2035
The deal with Aktobe is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Squad26 Feb 2035
Words at Ordabasy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Denis Grigorjev 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 dugout26 Feb 2035
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Älikhan Israilov, and the manager let it.
Squad26 Feb 2035
A falling-out at Ordabasy
Alexey Nikitenkov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout26 Feb 2035
Jasur Suyunov 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 Jasur Suyunov is on it.
Squad26 Feb 2035
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Uroš Milovanović keeps the shirt for now, at Ordabasy's convenience rather than his own.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Feb 2035
“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.
Market19 Feb 2035
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market19 Feb 2035
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Askhat Nurgaliev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ordabasy the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets19 Feb 2035
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Ordabasy have done the hard part with Kairat, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad19 Feb 2035
A falling-out at Ordabasy
Uroš Milovanović and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Feb 2035
Words at Ordabasy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Denis Grigorjev 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 targets19 Feb 2035
Ordabasy have made the call to Kairat. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets19 Feb 2035
Zhetysu have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The dugout19 Feb 2035
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 Uroš Milovanović is on it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market5 Feb 2035
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Shakhter waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Ordabasy is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market5 Feb 2035
“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 Ordabasy, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market5 Feb 2035
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Hayk Khachatryan will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ordabasy the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets5 Feb 2035
Everything agreed with Kairat, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad5 Feb 2035
Uroš Milovanović 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 targets5 Feb 2035
Ordabasy asked and Kairat said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad5 Feb 2035
“The easiest signature of my career.” Erkebūlan Seidakhmet and Ordabasy agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad5 Feb 2035
Words at Ordabasy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Denis Grigorjev 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.
Market5 Feb 2035
“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
Squad8 Jan 2035
296 appearances across 16 seasons in these colours. Careers like that are not built any more, and Ordabasy know what they have.
Market8 Jan 2035
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Hayk Khachatryan will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ordabasy the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad8 Jan 2035
A row about effort at Ordabasy
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Denis Grigorjev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Jan 2035
296 appearances across 16 seasons in one shirt. Careers like that are not built on purpose any more, and Ordabasy know exactly what they have.
Match1 Jan 2035
Ordabasy up to position 3
34 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad1 Jan 2035
A falling-out at Ordabasy
Uroš Milovanović and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Jan 2035
Words at Ordabasy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Denis Grigorjev 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 dugout1 Jan 2035
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Älikhan Israilov, and the manager let it.
The dugout1 Jan 2035
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Squad1 Jan 2035
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Ordabasy would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
The dugout1 Jan 2035
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.
Market1 Jan 2035
“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
Market18 Dec 2034
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ordabasy can pretend not to have heard.
Squad18 Dec 2034
Uroš Milovanović 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.
Squad18 Dec 2034
Words at Ordabasy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Denis Grigorjev 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market11 Dec 2034
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ordabasy is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad11 Dec 2034
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ordabasy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Dec 2034
Words at Ordabasy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Denis Grigorjev 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.
Squad11 Dec 2034
“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; Ordabasy are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The dugout11 Dec 2034
Nobody at Ordabasy 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.
The dugout11 Dec 2034
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad27 Nov 2034
Denis Grigorjev 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.
Squad27 Nov 2034
A falling-out at Ordabasy
Alexey Nikitenkov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout27 Nov 2034
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 Uroš Milovanović is on it.
Market27 Nov 2034
7 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Ordabasy could get for him.
The dugout27 Nov 2034
Jasur Suyunov 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 Ordabasy, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market27 Nov 2034
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Abzal Nuserbayev leaves Ordabasy the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad20 Nov 2034
A knee injury of the worst kind for Kairat Suyumbayev
14 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ordabasy lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market20 Nov 2034
“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 Ordabasy, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad20 Nov 2034
Uroš Milovanović 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.
Squad20 Nov 2034
Denis Grigorjev 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 dugout20 Nov 2034
“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 dugout20 Nov 2034
Nobody at Ordabasy 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
Uneasy
Squad6 Nov 2034
28 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ordabasy lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match6 Nov 2034
Ordabasy are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 34 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market6 Nov 2034
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ordabasy can pretend not to have heard.
Squad6 Nov 2034
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Uroš Milovanović and Ordabasy agree another 2 years.
Squad6 Nov 2034
A falling-out at Ordabasy
Uroš Milovanović and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad6 Nov 2034
Words at Ordabasy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Denis Grigorjev 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 dugout6 Nov 2034
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 Dias Orynbasar is on it.
The dugout6 Nov 2034
José Henrique 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.
Market6 Nov 2034
Ordabasy have let the market know Islambek Dosmagambetov can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market16 Oct 2034
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Hayk Khachatryan will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ordabasy the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad16 Oct 2034
A falling-out at Ordabasy
Vitalii Laturnus and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Oct 2034
Words at Ordabasy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Denis Grigorjev 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 dugout16 Oct 2034
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 dugout16 Oct 2034
“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.
Loan watch16 Oct 2034
4 shut-outs in 20 games. A goalkeeper’s loan is judged on the afternoons when nothing happened at all, and Yegor Smirnov has been having a lot of them.
Market16 Oct 2034
“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 dugout16 Oct 2034
“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.
Squad16 Oct 2034
“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 Ordabasy will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match9 Oct 2034
Ordabasy refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 34 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Squad9 Oct 2034
Denis Grigorjev 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.
Squad9 Oct 2034
Words exchanged at Ordabasy
Alexey Nikitenkov 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.
Squad9 Oct 2034
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Ordabasy can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The dugout9 Oct 2034
“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 dugout9 Oct 2034
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.
Squad9 Oct 2034
A window away with the national side, and a shirt at Ordabasy that briefly doubles as an advertisement. A call-up flatters the player and the club that built him in the same breath.
Market9 Oct 2034
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Ordabasy, another week without a signature from José Henrique.
The dugout9 Oct 2034
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Ordabasy. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.