Marked for Alexandr Andreev
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 45. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The terraces19 Jul 2027
Supporters organise against the Rodina M board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Market19 Jul 2027
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Irtysh had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Market19 Jul 2027
“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 The request is on a desk at Rodina M, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
The clubs have shaken hands with Rostov; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
This is not rotation. Timur Sharapov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Rodina M is pretending otherwise.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
“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.
Market19 Jul 2027
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Ivan Makarov reports back to Rodina M with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at SKA Khabarovsk is saying, and nobody at Rodina M is enjoying the guessing.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market5 Jul 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Irtysh waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Rodina M is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Market5 Jul 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.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
Crisis meeting at Rodina M
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
This is not rotation. Alexandr Andreev has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Rodina M is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Rodina M have done the hard part with Rostov, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad5 Jul 2027
The step up is real for Kirill Krol
At 21 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.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
The offer went to Kaluga 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
A falling-out at Rodina M
Alexandr Yevstratov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Jun 2027
Daniyal Aliev breaks a bone — 19 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 19 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market28 Jun 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market28 Jun 2027
“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 Rodina M, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
This is not rotation. Nikita Postnikov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Rodina M is pretending otherwise.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Alexandr Andreev is 18, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
The deal with Volga 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.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
Rodina M have gone to Kvant with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Squad28 Jun 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 Rodina M this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
Rodina M offered $33.0K; Rodina said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Jun 2027
Daniyal Aliev breaks a bone — 41 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 41 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Vadim Davydov has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market7 Jun 2027
“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 Rodina M, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 Jun 2027
A season's verdict on Arkhip Kazantsev: the best of his age
Rodina M have a 20-year-old the division has just voted its finest young footballer. The club's next problem is that everybody else now knows it too.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
This is not rotation. Alexandr Andreev has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Rodina M is pretending otherwise.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Ivan Makarov is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
A falling-out at Rodina M
Nikita Postnikov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market7 Jun 2027
Signings arrive with a picture of the club in their head, and this one’s picture was bigger than the building. He will play well and he will be gone, in that order, and everybody knows it.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
Daniyal Aliev loses the manager who believed in him
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Daniyal Aliev's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad31 May 2027
48 days out for Daniyal Aliev after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Rodina M will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The dugout31 May 2027
This is not rotation. Nikita Postnikov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Rodina M is pretending otherwise.
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 Rodina M this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 May 2027
A row about effort at Rodina M
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ilja Gorbachev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout31 May 2027
“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 dugout31 May 2027
Andrey Terekhov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Rodina M 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
Squad17 May 2027
Daniyal Aliev breaks a bone — 62 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 62 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market17 May 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rodina M can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout17 May 2027
This is not rotation. Ilja Gorbachev has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Rodina M is pretending otherwise.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at Rodina M training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilja Gorbachev 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.
Squad17 May 2027
A falling-out at Rodina M
Nikita Dubrovskiy and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout17 May 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alexandr Yevstratov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 May 2027
69 days out for Daniyal Aliev after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Rodina M will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market10 May 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rodina M can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout10 May 2027
This is not rotation. Alexandr Andreev has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Rodina M is pretending otherwise.
Squad10 May 2027
A falling-out at Rodina M
Alexandr Yevstratov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 May 2027
A row about effort at Rodina M
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ilja Gorbachev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout10 May 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alexandr Yevstratov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 May 2027
76 days out for Daniyal Aliev after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Rodina M will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Boardroom3 May 2027
Vadim Davydov has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Rodina M can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market3 May 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rodina M can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout3 May 2027
This is not rotation. Nikita Postnikov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Rodina M is pretending otherwise.
Squad3 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 Rodina M this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout3 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kirill Krol, and the manager let it.
The dugout3 May 2027
Artem Kriulskiy asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout3 May 2027
Andrey Terekhov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Rodina M 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.
Market3 May 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Alexandr Andreev’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Apr 2027
A fracture rules Daniyal Aliev out for 99 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Rodina M will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market12 Apr 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rodina M can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
This is not rotation. Alexandr Andreev has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Rodina M is pretending otherwise.
Squad12 Apr 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 Rodina M this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Andrey Terekhov
“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 dugout12 Apr 2027
Arkhip Kazantsev has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Rodina M 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Rodina M
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gennady Sazonov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
Arkhip Kazantsev 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.
Market12 Apr 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Timur Sharapov’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Apr 2027
107 days out for Daniyal Aliev after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Rodina M will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Boardroom5 Apr 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Vadim Davydov has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market5 Apr 2027
“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 Rodina M, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
This is not rotation. Nikita Postnikov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Rodina M is pretending otherwise.
Squad5 Apr 2027
The step up is real for Sergey Sary
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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
A falling-out at Rodina M
Nikita Postnikov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Rodina M
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ilja Gorbachev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
The manager's exit leaves Daniyal Aliev exposed
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Daniyal Aliev is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
Timur Sharapov 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 Timur Sharapov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Vadim Davydov has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market8 Mar 2027
“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 Rodina M, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
This is not rotation. Alexandr Andreev has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Rodina M is pretending otherwise.
Squad8 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Rodina M
Alexandr Yevstratov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets8 Mar 2027
Rodina M offered $110.0K; Orenburg said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words at Rodina M training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilja Gorbachev 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Nikita Postnikov
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Nikita Postnikov has come out of that comparison in the side, and Rodina M have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Rodina M, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
Andrey Terekhov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Rodina M 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
Crisis
Boardroom8 Feb 2027
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Market8 Feb 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rodina M can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Arkhip Kazantsev, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.84
A mark of 7.84 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
This is not rotation. Alexandr Andreev has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Rodina M is pretending otherwise.
Match6 Feb 2027
The drought breaks for Rodina M
7 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Salyut were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
The terraces8 Feb 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Arkhip Kazantsev 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.
Match6 Feb 2027
A 1‑0 win over Salyut, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Rodina M
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ilja Gorbachev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ilja Gorbachev, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad11 Jan 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Ruslan Kukushbaev
26 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Rodina M lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match9 Jan 2027
Chastening afternoon for Rodina M
A 0‑3 beating by Metallurg was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Market11 Jan 2027
“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 Rodina M, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match11 Jan 2027
Rodina M are in real trouble now
Position 13, 13 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.
Match9 Jan 2027
No end in sight to Rodina M's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Rodina M has to find a result from somewhere.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
This is not rotation. Alexandr Andreev has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Rodina M is pretending otherwise.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Rodina M
Nikita Postnikov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
“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.
In brief
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Boardroom
Nobody left the Rodina M dressing room in a hurry
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The dugout
Vadim Davydov: “No excuses”
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Squad
Words at Rodina M training over how hard people work
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad4 Jan 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Ruslan Kukushbaev
33 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Rodina M lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The terraces4 Jan 2027
Anger at Rodina M spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Market4 Jan 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rodina M can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
No sign of nerves from Alexandr Andreev at 18 — 7.66
The hardest thing about being 18 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Alexandr Andreev did not need any: 7.66, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Match2 Jan 2027
The wait goes on for Rodina M
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.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Alexandr Andreev and Rodina M agree another 3 years.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Ivan Makarov is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Rodina M
Nikita Postnikov 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad28 Dec 2026
Ruslan Kukushbaev damages knee ligaments — 40 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 40 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.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 28. 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.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
This is not rotation. Ilja Gorbachev has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Rodina M is pretending otherwise.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Nikita Postnikov 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.
Match26 Dec 2026
The goals have deserted Rodina M
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Rodina M can tell you which week it ends in.
Match26 Dec 2026
0‑1 to Dinamo St Petersburg, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Rodina M
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ilja Gorbachev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ilja Gorbachev, and the manager let it.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
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 Vadim Davydov to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market14 Dec 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rodina M can pretend not to have heard.
Match14 Dec 2026
Rodina M sink to position 13
13 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
This is not rotation. Alexandr Andreev has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Rodina M is pretending otherwise.
Squad14 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rodina M this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match12 Dec 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Ilja Gorbachev 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ivan Makarov and Rodina M agree another 3 years.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match5 Dec 2026
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 4‑1 against Strogino, and it could have been more.
Market7 Dec 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rodina M can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.33 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Marked 8.49 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Rodina M
Alexandr Yevstratov 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 terraces7 Dec 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 17-year-old it feels ownership of. Alexandr Andreev 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 dugout7 Dec 2026
“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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Rodina M training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilja Gorbachev 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.
Market7 Dec 2026
Ilja Gorbachev is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Rodina M has been clear about where Ilja Gorbachev stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 37. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Marked 8.01 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Rodina M may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match28 Nov 2026
No end in sight to Rodina M's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Rodina M has to find a result from somewhere.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
This is not rotation. Ilja Gorbachev has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Rodina M is pretending otherwise.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Nikita Postnikov 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 terraces30 Nov 2026
At 20 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 dugout30 Nov 2026
“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.
Match28 Nov 2026
It needed Ruslan Kukushbaev to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Rotor 2, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match16 Nov 2026
Every point is an argument now for Rodina M
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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Rodina M
Nikita Postnikov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Rodina M
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ilja Gorbachev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Artem Kriulskiy asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
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 Arkhip Kazantsev is on it.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Alexandr Andreev is not doing himself any favours
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market9 Nov 2026
“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 Rodina M, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Rodina M
Nikita Postnikov 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 terraces9 Nov 2026
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.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
A mark of 7.18, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
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 dugout9 Nov 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Vadim Davydov after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Timur Sharapov 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 Timur Sharapov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad9 Nov 2026
One booking too many, and Daniyal Aliev sits out. Rodina M lose him for the sort of avoidable reason that makes a manager's week longer.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Andrey Terekhov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Rodina M 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
Crisis
Match17 Oct 2026
No end in sight to Rodina M's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Rodina M has to find a result from somewhere.
Match17 Oct 2026
Alexandr Andreev had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Salyut were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Match19 Oct 2026
Rodina M are in real trouble now
Position 14, 4 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.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
No sign of nerves from Arkhip Kazantsev at 19 — 8.18
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Arkhip Kazantsev did not need any: 8.18, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Rodina M
Alexandr Yevstratov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match17 Oct 2026
A bad afternoon for Rodina M against Salyut
2‑3 to Salyut, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Match17 Oct 2026
Rodina M are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
The terraces19 Oct 2026
He is 17 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 dugout19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alexandr Yevstratov, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Rodina M's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Rodina M has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad28 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rodina M this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match26 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daniyal Aliev, and the manager let it.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
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 0‑2 Vadim Davydov left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad28 Sep 2026
5 new faces, and Rodina M 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.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
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.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Marked 4.26. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Alexandr Andreev and Rodina M agree another 3 years.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The offer went to KDV Tomsk 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rodina M this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Gennady Sazonov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Bogdan Zubkov has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Dmitriy Shubin has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Nikita Mironov has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Match8 Aug 2026
Znamya Truda left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. 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
Triumph
Match1 Aug 2026
3‑0, and Akim Belokhonov took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Rodina M tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
No sign of nerves from Arkhip Kazantsev at 19 — 8.27
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Arkhip Kazantsev did not need any: 8.27, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
$42.0K on the table at Dinamo St Petersburg. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nikita Postnikov and Rodina M agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Nikita Postnikov 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 terraces3 Aug 2026
He is 17 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.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Rodina M have made the call to Luki-Energiya. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 3‑0, already talking about the next one.
Market3 Aug 2026
“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.