Marked for Valery Polyakin
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market13 Mar 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 Cherepovets can pretend not to have heard.
Squad13 Mar 2028
32 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad13 Mar 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 Cherepovets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market20 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 Cherepovets can pretend not to have heard.
Match18 Dec 2027
No end in sight to Cherepovets's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Cherepovets has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Gustavo Silva 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 ratings20 Dec 2027
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 19 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings20 Dec 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings20 Dec 2027
A mark of 7.61, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Squad20 Dec 2027
The team sheet said everything about Vladimir Maklasov
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Vladimir Maklasov.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Anton Balashov knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Cherepovets, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market20 Dec 2027
1 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Cherepovets money.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market15 Nov 2027
Elnur Khalygov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Cherepovets they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market15 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Gianluca Di Pietro 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
The manager makes an example of David Berezov
“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 ratings15 Nov 2027
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 16 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings15 Nov 2027
Defensive actions: 15. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Match13 Nov 2027
Point won or two lost for Cherepovets?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Irkutsk? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Squad15 Nov 2027
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Cherepovets would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Miron Belyaev 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
Match25 Sep 2027
No end in sight to Cherepovets's wait for a win
25 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Cherepovets has to find a result from somewhere.
Market27 Sep 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 Cherepovets, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad27 Sep 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Cherepovets may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad27 Sep 2027
59 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Gustavo Silva 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
“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 ratings27 Sep 2027
A mark of 7.46, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
Defensive actions: 15. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Match25 Sep 2027
Point won or two lost for Cherepovets?
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
Market20 Sep 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 Cherepovets can pretend not to have heard.
Market20 Sep 2027
Elnur Khalygov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Cherepovets they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad20 Sep 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
66 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
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 Cherepovets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Anton Balashov 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
Crisis
Match14 Aug 2027
19 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.
Match14 Aug 2027
Chastening afternoon for Cherepovets
A 0‑3 beating by Yenisey 2 was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Market16 Aug 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 Cherepovets, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Gustavo Silva 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 ratings16 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad16 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.
Boardroom16 Aug 2027
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
Marked 5.28, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
A mark of 5.37 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match17 Jul 2027
No end in sight to Cherepovets's wait for a win
15 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Cherepovets has to find a result from somewhere.
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 Cherepovets, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market19 Jul 2027
As if he never left: Yegor Tsyganov returns
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Yegor Tsyganov is a Cherepovets player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Market19 Jul 2027
The shirt still fits. Semyon Suslov is back at Cherepovets, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Market19 Jul 2027
The shirt still fits. Egor Eskov is back at Cherepovets, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Gustavo Silva 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 Jul 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.
Match17 Jul 2027
Kolomna left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market21 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.
Market21 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 Cherepovets can pretend not to have heard.
Squad21 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 Cherepovets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match17 May 2027
Cherepovets are in real trouble now
Position 15, 18 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.
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 Cherepovets can pretend not to have heard.
Squad17 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 Cherepovets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match22 Mar 2027
18 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market22 Mar 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 Cherepovets can pretend not to have heard.
Squad22 Mar 2027
The medical room confirms 57 days on the sidelines for Anton Balashov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match22 Feb 2027
Every point is an argument now for Cherepovets
Position 15 and 18 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
86 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Market22 Feb 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 Cherepovets, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Gustavo Silva 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 Feb 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Vladimir Maklasov and Cherepovets agree another 3 years.
Boardroom22 Feb 2027
Wages eat 124% of everything Cherepovets 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market15 Feb 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 Cherepovets, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Fabián Argañaraz 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Dmitry Serebryakov commits to Cherepovets for another 3 years.
Squad15 Feb 2027
David Berezov 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 David Berezov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad15 Feb 2027
The table has started to be checked before the results are in, and that is always the tell. Nobody at Cherepovets says the word out loud, and everybody in the building is thinking it.
Market15 Feb 2027
Cherepovets have let the market know Makar Iljushenok can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Sibir's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Sibir 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 Sibir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match26 Sep 2026
Leningradets left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.77, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad28 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Dmitry Yakovlev
“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 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
At 27 he is in the side on merit and somebody else is watching from the bench. Places at Sibir are won quietly and lost loudly.
Squad28 Sep 2026
A new face in his position, and Alexandr Nosov suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Sibir have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
Market28 Sep 2026
Sibir have let the market know Nikita Semenenko can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.