Marked for Eldzhat Mamedov
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market5 Feb 2029
“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 The request is on a desk at Strogino, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match5 Feb 2029
Strogino refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 43 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.
Squad5 Feb 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Strogino this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom5 Feb 2029
The numbers do not look good at Strogino
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad5 Feb 2029
Words at Strogino training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hazeem Bakre 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 2029
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Strogino will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market22 Jan 2029
“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.
Market22 Jan 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Strogino they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Eldzhat Mamedov 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.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Words at Strogino training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Junior Kamwa 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.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Fedor Starostin has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Strogino 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.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Junior Kamwa 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
Upbeat
Market8 Jan 2029
“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 Strogino, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match8 Jan 2029
Strogino are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 43 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Squad8 Jan 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Fedor Starostin commits to Strogino for another 5 years.
Match6 Jan 2029
Still nobody has beaten Strogino
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Words at Strogino training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hazeem Bakre 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 Jan 2029
Ilja Molibog 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 Strogino this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces8 Jan 2029
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.
Match6 Jan 2029
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Karim Giraev. 2‑0 against SKA Khabarovsk 2, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Match6 Jan 2029
Strogino make home a hard place to visit
8 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market18 Dec 2028
Karim Giraev 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 Strogino can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings18 Dec 2028
No sign of nerves from Ilja Molibog at 21 — 7.67
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Ilja Molibog did not need any: 7.67, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Market18 Dec 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Strogino is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Hazeem Bakre 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.
Squad18 Dec 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Strogino this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings18 Dec 2028
The game went through Sergey Guzyuk — 6.76
Marked 6.76 on 11 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Squad18 Dec 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Eldzhat Mamedov, and the manager let it.
Squad18 Dec 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Daniil Turischev and Strogino agree another 3 years.
Match16 Dec 2028
It needed Karim Giraev to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Kvant, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match11 Dec 2028
Strogino up to position 3
35 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Karim Giraev 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.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Words at Strogino training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Junior Kamwa 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 terraces11 Dec 2028
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.
Match9 Dec 2028
It finished 2‑0, and it was Hazeem Bakre’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Strogino.
Squad11 Dec 2028
The manager makes an example of Junior Kamwa
“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.
Squad11 Dec 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Daniil Turischev commits to Strogino for another 3 years.
Boardroom11 Dec 2028
The numbers do not look good at Strogino
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Player ratings11 Dec 2028
5.49. Every footballer has these and most of them happen away from a full ground; his did not, and he will be aware of that all week.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market20 Nov 2028
“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 Strogino, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings20 Nov 2028
Up for the corner, and Vladislav Saushkin delivers — 7.76
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Vladislav Saushkin scored, was marked 7.76, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Market20 Nov 2028
Only the photograph left for Denis Dragan
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Denis Dragan will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Strogino the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad20 Nov 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Strogino this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Junior Kamwa 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.
Squad20 Nov 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nikita Korolev and Strogino agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Match18 Nov 2028
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Hazeem Bakre has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Strogino 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.
Market20 Nov 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Sergey Guzyuk’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market30 Oct 2028
“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 Strogino, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market30 Oct 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Andrei Savrasov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Strogino the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Eldzhat Mamedov 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.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Words at Strogino training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Junior Kamwa 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 terraces30 Oct 2028
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.
Match28 Oct 2028
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Sergey Guzyuk. 1‑0 against Rotor 2, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad30 Oct 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Emil Ganeev, and the manager let it.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Karim Giraev 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 Karim Giraev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Player ratings30 Oct 2028
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
Match4 Oct 2028
Krasnodar ended it 1‑2. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Match9 Oct 2028
Strogino are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 20 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market9 Oct 2028
“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.
Player ratings9 Oct 2028
A first appearance Taijo Dmitrijev will want to forget — 5.38
Everybody's debut is one of two stories and this was the other one. 5.38, and the only consolation available is that nobody's career has ever been decided by ninety minutes in a shirt he had just been given.
Squad9 Oct 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Strogino this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Junior Kamwa 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.
Match7 Oct 2028
It finished 2‑0, and it was Junior Kamwa’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Strogino.
Squad9 Oct 2028
“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.
Player ratings9 Oct 2028
Ninety minutes of Sergey Guzyuk at his very best
Marked 8.14. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Strogino.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market25 Sep 2028
“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.
Squad25 Sep 2028
There were 6 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.
Market25 Sep 2028
Denis Dragan has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Strogino they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Karim Giraev 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 Strogino this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Hazeem Bakre 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 terraces25 Sep 2028
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.
Squad25 Sep 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Karim Giraev, and the manager let it.
Match23 Sep 2028
It finished 1‑0, and it was Sergey Guzyuk’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Strogino.
Player ratings25 Sep 2028
7.72, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Strogino had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market28 Aug 2028
Ilja Molibog 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 Strogino can pretend not to have heard.
Market28 Aug 2028
Strogino say no — this time
The offer from Cherepovets for Daniil Vaulin 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.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Eldzhat Mamedov is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 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.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Eldzhat Mamedov 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.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Words at Strogino training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Junior Kamwa 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 terraces28 Aug 2028
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.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Hazeem Bakre 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.
Player ratings28 Aug 2028
Ninety minutes of Mikhail Kozin at his very best
Marked 8.04. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Strogino.
Match26 Aug 2028
A 2‑2 draw with Orel leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match16 Aug 2028
Strogino through in the cup
A 1‑0 win over Salyut, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Market21 Aug 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Strogino can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings21 Aug 2028
No sign of nerves from Andrei Savrasov at 18 — 7.69
The hardest thing about being 18 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Andrei Savrasov did not need any: 7.69, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Mikhail Kozin is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 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.
Market21 Aug 2028
Add another name to the list: Cherepovets have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Daniil Vaulin. The answer from Strogino has not changed — yet.
Boardroom21 Aug 2028
Strogino counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Strogino now.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Hazeem Bakre 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 terraces21 Aug 2028
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.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Ilja Molibog 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market10 Jul 2028
“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.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Ilja Molibog is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Fedor Starostin 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.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Hazeem Bakre 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.
Market10 Jul 2028
The phone has started ringing about Andrei Savrasov again, and this time the name on the line is Zenit Penza. Strogino are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad10 Jul 2028
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Jun 2028
“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 Strogino, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market26 Jun 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad26 Jun 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Strogino this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom26 Jun 2028
Strogino counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Strogino now.
Market26 Jun 2028
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Strogino will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Ivan Alferov 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
Market19 Jun 2028
“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 Jun 2028
The phone has started ringing about Daniil Vaulin again, and this time the name on the line is Tver. Strogino are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Eldzhat Mamedov 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.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Words at Strogino training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hazeem Bakre 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.
Market19 Jun 2028
Tver are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Strogino will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Ivan Alferov 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
Squad5 Jun 2028
Eldzhat Mamedov damages knee ligaments — 15 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 15 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.
Market5 Jun 2028
“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 Jun 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Strogino
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market5 Jun 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Strogino they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Eldzhat Mamedov 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 Jun 2028
Words at Strogino training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Junior Kamwa 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
Squad29 May 2028
Eldzhat Mamedov damages knee ligaments — 22 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 22 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.
Market29 May 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Strogino can pretend not to have heard.
Market29 May 2028
Only the photograph left for Denis Dragan
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Denis Dragan will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Strogino the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad29 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Strogino this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 May 2028
Hazeem Bakre 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.
Boardroom29 May 2028
Strogino counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Strogino now.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 May 2028
Eldzhat Mamedov damages knee ligaments — 29 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 29 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.
Market22 May 2028
“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 Strogino, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad22 May 2028
Eldzhat Mamedov 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 May 2028
Eldzhat Mamedov damages knee ligaments — 36 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 36 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.
Market15 May 2028
“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 Strogino, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad15 May 2028
Karim Giraev 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 Strogino this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 May 2028
Eldzhat Mamedov damages knee ligaments — 43 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 43 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.
Market8 May 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Strogino can pretend not to have heard.
Market8 May 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Andrei Savrasov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Strogino the goodbyes have quietly begun.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 May 2028
Eldzhat Mamedov damages knee ligaments — 50 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 50 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.
Market1 May 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Strogino can pretend not to have heard.
Market1 May 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Strogino is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad1 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Strogino this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 May 2028
Hazeem Bakre 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.
Squad1 May 2028
Too much change too quickly at Strogino
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market10 Apr 2028
“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 Strogino, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market10 Apr 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Strogino is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words at Strogino training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bogdan Rogochiy 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
Steady
Market13 Mar 2028
“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.
Market13 Mar 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Andrei Savrasov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Strogino the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Bogdan Rogochiy 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.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Words at Strogino training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Junior Kamwa 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.
Loan watch13 Mar 2028
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Strogino, and 0 appearances in 38 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Ivan Alferov 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
Steady
Market14 Feb 2028
“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 Strogino, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market14 Feb 2028
Add another name to the list: Irkutsk have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Daniil Vaulin. The answer from Strogino has not changed — yet.
Squad14 Feb 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Mikhail Kozin commits to Strogino for another 3 years.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words at Strogino training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bogdan Rogochiy 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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Ilja Molibog 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 Strogino this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch14 Feb 2028
“I watch every Strogino game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Kuban Holding runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 Jan 2028
“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.
Market31 Jan 2028
Strogino say no — this time
The offer from Irkutsk for Daniil Vaulin 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.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Karim Giraev 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.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Words at Strogino training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Junior Kamwa 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.
Market31 Jan 2028
The name of Andrei Savrasov has come up in conversations Strogino were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad31 Jan 2028
“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
Market3 Jan 2028
Valery Ozerov 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 Strogino can pretend not to have heard.
Squad3 Jan 2028
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Strogino have had the benefit of it.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Bogdan Rogochiy 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.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Ramil Khuranov 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.
Squad3 Jan 2028
“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.
Player ratings3 Jan 2028
Defensive actions: 19, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Match1 Jan 2028
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Zenit Penza will be the happier side with the point.
Player ratings3 Jan 2028
Successful dribbles: 11. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings3 Jan 2028
Marked 5.64, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market27 Dec 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 Strogino, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Words at Strogino training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bogdan Rogochiy 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 Dec 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 Strogino this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces27 Dec 2027
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.
Match25 Dec 2027
A 2‑0 win over Salyut, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings27 Dec 2027
Marked 8.23 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad27 Dec 2027
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.
Loan watch27 Dec 2027
“I watch every Strogino game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Kuban Holding runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Sergey Guzyuk 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 Sergey Guzyuk trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market29 Nov 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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Yuriy Gorelov breaks a bone — 16 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 16 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad29 Nov 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Strogino may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match27 Nov 2027
No end in sight to Strogino's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Strogino has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Karim Giraev 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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Words at Strogino training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Junior Kamwa 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.
Player ratings29 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Loan watch29 Nov 2027
“I did not go to Kuban Holding to sit and watch. I want to come back to Strogino and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 23 matches say the rest.
Match27 Nov 2027
A 1‑1 draw with Orel leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match30 Oct 2027
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Rotor 2, and it could have been more.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Yuriy Gorelov breaks a bone — 44 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 44 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market1 Nov 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.
Player ratings1 Nov 2027
A brace, and Sergey Guzyuk takes the afternoon — 8.28
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Sergey Guzyuk provided it, and the 8.28 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Match1 Nov 2027
Strogino are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 26 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Karim Giraev 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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words at Strogino training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bogdan Rogochiy 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.
Match30 Oct 2027
Rotor 2 blown away early
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Rotor 2 tried to reorganise, Strogino did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
Squad1 Nov 2027
The manager makes an example of Valery Ozerov
“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
Market4 Oct 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.
Match2 Oct 2027
No end in sight to Strogino's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Strogino has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Bogdan Rogochiy 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.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Words at Strogino training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Junior Kamwa 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.
Loan watch4 Oct 2027
“I watch every Strogino game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Kuban Holding runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad4 Oct 2027
The manager makes an example of Karim Giraev
“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.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad4 Oct 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Karim Giraev
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Karim Giraev has come out of that comparison in the side, and Strogino have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Match2 Oct 2027
It needed Andrey Alexeenkov to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Zenit Penza, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The terraces27 Sep 2027
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 9 of the 25 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Match25 Sep 2027
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Junior Kamwa 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 Sep 2027
Ramil Khuranov 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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alexey Muldarov, and the manager let it.
Loan watch27 Sep 2027
“I did not go to Kuban Holding to sit and watch. I want to come back to Strogino and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 14 matches say the rest.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
5.08. Every footballer has these and most of them happen away from a full ground; his did not, and he will be aware of that all week.
Squad27 Sep 2027
“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.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 11. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad20 Sep 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Ilja Molibog is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Match18 Sep 2027
Still nobody has beaten Strogino
The unbeaten run reaches 7. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Words at Strogino training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bogdan Rogochiy 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.
Squad20 Sep 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 Strogino this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Sep 2027
The manager makes an example of Eldzhat Mamedov
“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.
Match18 Sep 2027
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market20 Sep 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Sergey Guzyuk signs something — a contract at Strogino or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
5.76 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market30 Aug 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 Strogino can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
Hazeem Bakre, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.72
A mark of 7.72 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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Bogdan Rogochiy 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 Aug 2027
Orel made Strogino work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Ramil Khuranov 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 Aug 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Hazeem Bakre 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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Junior Kamwa
“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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ilja Molibog commits to Strogino for another 3 years.
Loan watch30 Aug 2027
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Strogino, and 0 appearances in 10 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Jul 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 Strogino can pretend not to have heard.
Squad12 Jul 2027
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Strogino know it.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words at Strogino training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bogdan Rogochiy 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.