Marked for Ivan Alferov
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad26 Jul 2027
8 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.
Market26 Jul 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Ural 2 people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Player ratings26 Jul 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.22, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Match24 Jul 2027
The wait goes on for Ural 2
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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words exchanged at Ural 2
Bertrand Fourrier 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.
Match24 Jul 2027
2‑3 to KDV Tomsk, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The terraces26 Jul 2027
He is 19 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
“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.
Market26 Jul 2027
The Vitaly Nem conversation is coming
Everyone has stopped pretending: Kvant will make the call about Vitaly Nem this week. Ural 2 have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market14 Jun 2027
Aris come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Ural 2 did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Yury Maleev is a better footballer than he was
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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Artem Kulikov 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
Steady
Match7 Jun 2027
Every point is an argument now for Ural 2
Position 12 and 17 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.
Market7 Jun 2027
Ivan Kuznetsov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ural 2 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market7 Jun 2027
Add another name to the list: Aris have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Bertrand Fourrier. The answer from Ural 2 has not changed — yet.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at Ural 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artem Kulikov 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Tempers go at Ural 2
Bertrand Fourrier 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 Jun 2027
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout31 May 2027
Leonid Belov: 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.” Ural 2 have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad31 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ural 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout31 May 2027
Ivan Alferov 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 Ural 2, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match12 Apr 2027
Ural 2 sink to position 12
17 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market12 Apr 2027
“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.
Market12 Apr 2027
Ivan Kuznetsov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ural 2 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Artem Kulikov 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Tempers go at Ural 2
Vitaly Nem was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Leonid Belov
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Ural 2
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Artem Kulikov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words exchanged at Ural 2
Yury Maleev 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.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
Ivan Alferov knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ivan Alferov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market1 Mar 2027
So close: Vitaly Nem’s move dies late
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Kvant moved on, Vitaly Nem reports back to Ural 2, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Market1 Mar 2027
The name of Yury Maleev has come up in conversations Ural 2 were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Ural 2
Artem Kulikov 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Ural 2
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alexandr Scherbakov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Savely Zolkin
“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 dugout1 Mar 2027
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market22 Feb 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Metallurg waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Ural 2 is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market22 Feb 2027
The name of Vitaly Bondarev has come up in conversations Ural 2 were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Vitaly Bondarev 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Yury Maleev in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ural 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
Yury Maleev 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.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match15 Feb 2027
Ural 2 sink to position 12
17 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market15 Feb 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Ural 2 have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market15 Feb 2027
Only the photograph left for Ivan Kuznetsov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ivan Kuznetsov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ural 2 the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Vitaly Bondarev 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ural 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
Ivan Alferov 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.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
Daniil Yeremin dropped after a run of poor form
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.
Market15 Feb 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Vitaly Bondarev’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
Leonid Belov 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 Ural 2, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match23 Nov 2026
Every point is an argument now for Ural 2
Position 13 and 9 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.
Match21 Nov 2026
At last: Ural 2 win one
10 matches without a win, and then this, against Amkar. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Ural 2
Vitaly Nem 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.
Match21 Nov 2026
Ural 2 get the job done against Amkar
A 2‑1 win over Amkar, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The terraces23 Nov 2026
He is 20 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Ivan Alferov
“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 Nov 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Leonid Smolov on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Market23 Nov 2026
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Nikita Kazantsev has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Ural 2.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match14 Nov 2026
The wait goes on for Ural 2
10 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Ural 2
Vitaly Nem 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Ural 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitaly Bondarev 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.
Market16 Nov 2026
Ivan Alferov is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Ural 2 has been clear about where Ivan Alferov stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
The form table has caught Leonid Belov
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nikita Kazantsev, and the manager let it.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Half-satisfied: Leonid Smolov on the draw
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Looking ahead16 Nov 2026
Ural 2 take on the side everybody is chasing
Amkar arrive as leaders. A side at the top is beaten roughly once a month, and the club that does it gets a week it remembers for a year.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Leonid Belov 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Sep 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Ural 2
Artem Kulikov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match19 Sep 2026
A point taken on 95 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ivan Alferov, and the manager let it.
Match19 Sep 2026
It needed Timur Pavlov to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Dinamo Barnaul, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Mikhail Oparin 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 dugout21 Sep 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 2‑2 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Daniil Yeremin
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match5 Sep 2026
At 2 goals adrift this was a formality, and the formality lasted right up until it did not. Ural 2 found something the first half had given no notice of, and Akron 2 could not hold what they had.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 32. 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.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.30, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market7 Sep 2026
Ivan Alferov 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 Ural 2 can pretend not to have heard.
Match5 Sep 2026
Ural 2 are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Match5 Sep 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Vlad Sazonov. 3‑2 against Akron 2, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The terraces7 Sep 2026
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Ural 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artem Kulikov 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 dugout7 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Daniil Yeremin
“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.