The Spartak Tambov Sentinel
Squad20 Aug 2029
Andrey Bondar' is the hero from the spot
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Andrey Bondar': 2 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Match15 Aug 2029
Spartak Tambov bow out of the cup
Cherepovets go through and Spartak Tambov go home, 0‑0 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Player ratings20 Aug 2029
Elia Canclini was unplayable
Successful dribbles: 25. 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.
Squad20 Aug 2029
Words exchanged at Spartak Tambov
Ivan Chesnakov 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.
Squad20 Aug 2029
A row about effort at Spartak Tambov
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxim Sergeev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings20 Aug 2029
From twelve yards, and Innokentiy Morozov misses
A penalty is the one moment in football with nowhere to hide, and he did not score it. The walk back was long and the week will be longer.
Player ratings20 Aug 2029
Daniil Gurchenko was the difference for Spartak Tambov
Marked 7.68. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Squad20 Aug 2029
5 new faces, and Spartak Tambov 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 dugout20 Aug 2029
Dmitry Kuptsov gets picked when it counts
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 Dmitry Kuptsov is on it.
In brief
- The dugout The view from the dugout
- Market Legion expected to open talks for Miroslav Zyuganov
- The dugout Ivan Chesnakov knocks on the manager's door