“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 The request is on a desk at Rubin 2, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings25 Oct 2027
Dmitry Prokhorov, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.60
A mark of 7.60 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
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 7.57 for the rest of it.
Lenar Fattakhov 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.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Uroš Drezgić 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Enri Mukba has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Uroš Drezgić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Uroš Drezgić trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Rubin 2 may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Uroš Drezgić 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.
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
“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.
“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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Alexandr Zotov signs something — a contract at Rubin 2 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“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 Rubin 2, and it is not being withdrawn.
Position 3, 14 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.
Lenar Fattakhov 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.
He is 22 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.
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.
5 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.
Lenar Fattakhov 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 Sep 2027
Uroš Drezgić 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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Valentin Yevseyev after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
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.
Nobody at Rubin 2 is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
“If we are going to be beaten, let it not be because somebody in here could not be bothered.” He stood up and said it in front of everybody, which is a thing a squad remembers about a man for years.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Rubin 2 people have started saying his name in the past tense.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rubin 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words at Rubin 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Uroš Drezgić 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.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 89. Chelyabinsk 2 had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
“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 Rubin 2 will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Valentin Yevseyev after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
In brief
Player ratingsThe chances came and went for Enri Mukba
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Dmitry Prokhorov did not need any: 7.97, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Uroš Drezgić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Valentin Yevseyev after the 2‑2 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Rubin 2 has been clear about where Amir Khairulin stands, which is more than many ever get.
In brief
Player ratingsThe one thing Ugochukwu Iwu could not do
Uroš Drezgić 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.
10 combined actions and 6.47. 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.
Marked 8.06. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Rubin 2.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Valentin Yevseyev left the room before anybody could ask which.
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.
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 hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Dmitry Prokhorov did not need any: 7.78, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ugochukwu Iwu. 3‑2 against Nosta, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Rubin 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Uroš Drezgić 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.
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.
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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Valentin Yevseyev on a 3‑2 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alexey Kenyaikin trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
7.96, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words at Rubin 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Uroš Drezgić 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Dmitry Prokhorov has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Rubin 2 has been clear about where Uroš Drezgić stands, which is more than many ever get.
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Rubin 2 have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
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 phone has started ringing about Ugochukwu Iwu again, and this time the name on the line is Neman. Rubin 2 are listening politely and promising nothing.
Uroš Drezgić 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Uroš Drezgić, and the manager let it.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words at Rubin 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniil Kiryagin 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 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Alexandr Zotov signs something — a contract at Rubin 2 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rubin 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Rubin 2, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yegor Chumarin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Uroš Drezgić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Alexey Kenyaikin's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
“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 Rubin 2 will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Konstantin Nizhegorodov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rubin 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniil Kiryagin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout10 May 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Alexey Kenyaikin's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Alexey Kenyaikin 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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yegor Chumarin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Uroš Drezgić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Alexandr Zotov 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.
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.
Lenar Fattakhov 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words at Rubin 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Uroš Drezgić 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Rubin 2, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Position 11 and 24 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.
Nobody at Rubin 2 is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
The offer from Neftekhimik for Dmitry Kabutov 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniil Kiryagin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Alexey Kenyaikin's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Rubin 2, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Dmitry Prokhorov did not need any: 7.70, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
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.
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 point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Valentin Yevseyev after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
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.
A mark of 7.78 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rubin 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Uroš Drezgić 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.
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.
100 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Valentin Yevseyev kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
7 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.
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Rubin 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Uroš Drezgić 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Valentin Yevseyev after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Dmitry Prokhorov signs something — a contract at Rubin 2 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Alexey Kenyaikin 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 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.
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.
Lenar Fattakhov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Valentin Yevseyev chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Dinamo Barnaul? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Rubin 2, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Rubin 2 know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nobody at Rubin 2 is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
“If we are going to be beaten, let it not be because somebody in here could not be bothered.” He stood up and said it in front of everybody, which is a thing a squad remembers about a man for years.
Two goals and a mark of 8.31 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Alexey Kenyaikin 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 18 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Alexandr Zotov. 3‑2 against Krylya Sovetov 2, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
He is 23 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.
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Krylya Sovetov 2 tried to reorganise, Rubin 2 did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
Squad28 Sep 2026
19 new faces, and Rubin 2 are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Valentin Yevseyev on a 3‑2 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Words at Rubin 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniil Kiryagin 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 young player of the month award goes to a 20-year-old at Rubin 2 who has looked like the finished article for four weekends running. The next four are the ones that decide whether he is.
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Adel Teshkin
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Adel Teshkin has come out of that comparison in the side, and Rubin 2 have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alexey Kenyaikin trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Up for the corner, and Adel Teshkin delivers — 7.74
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Adel Teshkin scored, was marked 7.74, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
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.
19 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Valentin Yevseyev, on a 3‑2 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
Lenar Fattakhov 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniil Kiryagin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
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.
At 20 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Dmitry Prokhorov provided it, and the 8.51 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
7.67, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
The offer from Nizhniy Novgorod for Alexandr Zotov 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.
At 23 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yegor Chumarin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑0, Valentin Yevseyev could afford to be generous.
In brief
SquadA Rubin 2 teenager takes the young player award
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Dmitry Prokhorov did not need any: 7.76, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
7.84, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Lenar Fattakhov 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Adel Teshkin has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.