Marked for Valery Arkhipenko
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces12 Jun 2028
Anger at Torpedo Vladimir 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.
Boardroom12 Jun 2028
Pressure builds in the Torpedo Vladimir boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market12 Jun 2028
Danil Sobolev 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 Torpedo Vladimir can pretend not to have heard.
Squad12 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 Torpedo Vladimir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Words at Torpedo Vladimir training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Makar Pestov 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.
Squad12 Jun 2028
“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 Torpedo Vladimir know it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
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 Torpedo Vladimir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 May 2028
Words at Torpedo Vladimir training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Makar Pestov 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.
Squad1 May 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
Crisis
Match24 Apr 2028
Position 14, 22 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.
Boardroom24 Apr 2028
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.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Yegor Vedernikov 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
Crisis
Market13 Mar 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Torpedo Vladimir is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Yegor Vedernikov 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
Makar Pestov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market13 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 Torpedo Vladimir, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings13 Dec 2027
No sign of nerves from Mido Hossem at 21 — 7.67
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Mido Hossem did not need any: 7.67, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Stanislav Utkin 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 terraces13 Dec 2027
The crowd has taken to Mido Hossem
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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Words at Torpedo Vladimir training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexandr Vyaznikov 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.
Match11 Dec 2027
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match6 Dec 2027
Position 14, 16 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.
Boardroom6 Dec 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.
Market6 Dec 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 Torpedo Vladimir can pretend not to have heard.
Squad6 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 Torpedo Vladimir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom6 Dec 2027
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Torpedo Vladimir now.
Match4 Dec 2027
0‑1 to Saturn, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad6 Dec 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad6 Dec 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Artem Gerasimov and Torpedo Vladimir agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad6 Dec 2027
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Torpedo Vladimir are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom29 Nov 2027
Pressure builds in the Torpedo Vladimir boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
The terraces29 Nov 2027
The mood at Torpedo Vladimir has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Market29 Nov 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 Torpedo Vladimir can pretend not to have heard.
Squad29 Nov 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 Torpedo Vladimir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces29 Nov 2027
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.
Match27 Nov 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Alexandr Komissarov. 1‑0 against Kolomna, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Boardroom29 Nov 2027
Wages eat 121% of everything Torpedo Vladimir earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad29 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Danil Sobolev, and the manager let it.
Player ratings29 Nov 2027
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.61 on the card, and the Torpedo Vladimir support went home talking about one name.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad15 Nov 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Konstantin Popov
21 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Torpedo Vladimir lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market15 Nov 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 Torpedo Vladimir, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Yefim Kolobov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings15 Nov 2027
Danil Sobolev ran the middle of the pitch — 6.46
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 13 combined actions and a mark of 6.46, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Match13 Nov 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad15 Nov 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match23 Oct 2027
The run now stands at 12, and the questions being asked around Torpedo Vladimir are no longer polite ones.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Artem Gerasimov damages knee ligaments — 45 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 45 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.
Market25 Oct 2027
Ivan Nesterov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Torpedo Vladimir they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad25 Oct 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 Torpedo Vladimir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Words at Torpedo Vladimir training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Konstantin Popov 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 ratings25 Oct 2027
Marked 6.51 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.
Squad25 Oct 2027
The manager makes an example of Danil Sobolev
“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 watch25 Oct 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 Torpedo Vladimir, and 2 appearances in 18 say he has earned the hearing.
Match23 Oct 2027
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Tver? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Oct 2027
Artem Gerasimov damages knee ligaments — 59 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 59 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.
Match9 Oct 2027
The run now stands at 11, and the questions being asked around Torpedo Vladimir are no longer polite ones.
Match11 Oct 2027
Every point is an argument now for Torpedo Vladimir
Position 15 and 8 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.
Market11 Oct 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 Torpedo Vladimir can pretend not to have heard.
Squad11 Oct 2027
21 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Konstantin Popov 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
Crisis
Squad6 Sep 2027
Artem Gerasimov damages knee ligaments — 94 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 94 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.
Market6 Sep 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.
Match4 Sep 2027
6 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Stanislav Utkin 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.
Match4 Sep 2027
Cherepovets left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
128% of the income goes out in wages at Torpedo Vladimir
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Squad6 Sep 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Radislav Veselovskiy, and the manager let it.
Squad6 Sep 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Lucas Radebe and Torpedo Vladimir agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market6 Sep 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Yegor Vedernikov signs something — a contract at Torpedo Vladimir or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match18 Aug 2027
0‑1 against Znamya Truda, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Market23 Aug 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.
Match21 Aug 2027
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.
Squad23 Aug 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 Torpedo Vladimir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match21 Aug 2027
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad23 Aug 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.
Loan watch23 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 Torpedo Vladimir, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Ivan Nesterov 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
The plan did not have a place for Yefim Kolobov
Nobody at Torpedo Vladimir 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market9 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 Torpedo Vladimir can pretend not to have heard.
Squad9 Aug 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Yefim Kolobov 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Konstantin Popov 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.
Boardroom9 Aug 2027
92% of the income goes out in wages at Torpedo Vladimir
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Match7 Aug 2027
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Chertanovo? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Stanislav Utkin trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market9 Aug 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Torpedo Vladimir, another week without a signature from Artem Gerasimov.
Market9 Aug 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Yegor Vedernikov signs something — a contract at Torpedo Vladimir or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market7 Jun 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 Torpedo Vladimir can pretend not to have heard.
Squad7 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 Torpedo Vladimir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Yefim Kolobov 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.