“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Eldar Guseinov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
MarketThe clock does Maxim Saveljev’s negotiating for him
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zenit 2 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zenit 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
Position 9 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zenit 2 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Eldar Guseinov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
3 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Zenit 2 could ask drops and the wages Ilja Rodionov can ask rise.
The table is being checked before the results are in, which is always the tell. Nobody at Zenit 2 says the word and every senior player in the building is thinking it.
“He needs to be playing at a level that matches him, and we are open to conversations.” Nobody says that by accident, and nobody at Zenit 2 misheard it.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Zenit 2 people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Add another name to the list: Krylya Sovetov have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Miro. The answer from Zenit 2 has not changed — yet.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Zenit 2, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Maxim Saveljev keeps the shirt for now, at Zenit 2's convenience rather than his own.
Market25 Feb 2036
The window shut and Eldar Guseinov is still in the building
Zenit 2 spent a month trying to move him and nobody rang back. He trains with a squad that has told him where he stands, and both sides start counting down to the next one.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Chelyabinsk is running low.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Chelyabinsk they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Krasnodar is saying, and nobody at Chelyabinsk is enjoying the guessing.
Dawid Barnowski 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.
No fees may be paid for anybody, whatever the squad needs. Every rumour about this club until it lifts is a rumour about a deal that cannot be done.
Squad18 Feb 2036
Words at Chelyabinsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Galkin 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.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Chelyabinsk pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
The clubs have shaken hands with Rubin; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Dinamo Moscow paid $1.6M and Zenit took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Oleg Mamonov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zenit the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $400.0K — a club that wants Dmitry Radikovskiy enough to be asked twice.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Baltika had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
The mood at Chelyabinsk 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.
Zoárd Nagy 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.
Chelyabinsk asked and Krylya Sovetov said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vadim Roldugin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
Krylya Sovetov have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Zenit 2 have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Ilja Rodionov 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chelyabinsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Boardroom28 Jan 2036
163% of the income goes out in wages at Chelyabinsk
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vadim Roldugin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Chelyabinsk have made the call to Krylya Sovetov. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Chelyabinsk have made the call to Krasnodar. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Chelyabinsk have made the call to Krasnodar. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zenit 2 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Zenit 2, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
The table is being checked before the results are in, which is always the tell. Nobody at Zenit 2 says the word and every senior player in the building is thinking it.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Zenit 2 will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
“I am not asking anybody to be better than they are. I am asking everybody to be as good as they are, every week.” Said out loud, in front of everybody, and the room at Zenit 2 was different afterwards.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Zenit 2, and both men came out saying it was fine.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Ilja Rodionov
MarketThe clock does Ilja Rodionov’s negotiating for him
17 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 9 goals between Zenit 2 and Cherepovets, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
1 error, one goal, and a night in front of the same three seconds. He will see it tonight, tomorrow and probably in February, and everybody who has played knows exactly which frame he keeps stopping on.
In brief
MarketThe clock does Ilja Rodionov’s negotiating for him
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Zenit 2 can tell you which week it ends in.
Successful dribbles: 10. 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.
A decision that decides nothing on the pitch and everything in the room. The manager has said, without saying it, whose voice he wants heard when his own is not there.
15 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Zenit 2 are no longer polite ones.
Match24 Nov 2035
Nobody could stop scoring
9 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Zenit 2 and Dinamo St Petersburg in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Zenit 2, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Successful dribbles: 9. 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.
Position 9 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zenit 2 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Zenit 2, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The least glamorous thing a foreign signing ever does and the one that decides most of them. A player who can hear the shout behind him is a different footballer from one who cannot.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Dmitriy Isakov signs something — a contract at Zenit 2 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Alexandr Chernikov 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 10 goals between Zenit 2 and Rotor, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
The table has started to be checked before the results are in, and that is always the tell. Nobody at Zenit 2 says the word out loud, and everybody in the building is thinking it.
7 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Zenit 2 could ask drops and the wages Ilja Rodionov can ask rise.
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.
Alexandr Chernikov 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.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 14 actions, 6.63, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Roman Yevdokimov has come out of that comparison in the side, and Zenit 2 have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Rotor in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
12 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Zenit 2 and Chaika, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
Yenisey next, and one man in the Zenit 2 dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
11 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Position 9 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.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Dmitriy Isakov did not need any: 7.75, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Roman Yevdokimov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zenit 2 the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 92. Druzhba had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Zenit 2 have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
1‑14 to Rostov 2, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
10 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings8 Oct 2035
Roman Yevdokimov, 18, plays like he has been here for years — 7.65
A mark of 7.65 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 18-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
15 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Zenit 2 and Rostov 2 in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad8 Oct 2035
Dmitriy Isakov is the division's best young player this month
At 19 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. Zenit 2 will try very hard not to make too much of it.
Every touch weighed, every quote parsed, every mistake replayed. Some players grow into that; some are quietly finished by it; nobody knows which until afterwards.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 9 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Player ratings1 Oct 2035
Dmitriy Isakov, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 9.07
A mark of 9.07 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.64 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Zenit 2 and Dinamo Makhachkala 2, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Eldar Guseinov had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 8 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Player ratings24 Sep 2035
Dmitriy Isakov, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 8.12
A mark of 8.12 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zenit 2 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zenit 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Chelyabinsk scored in the 90th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Chelyabinsk will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chelyabinsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Amur Balkizov. 1‑0 against Sokol, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Interim Coach on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
In brief
The dugoutSebastian Klich has become a man the manager trusts
Alexandr Chernikov 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.
“I am not asking anybody to be better than they are. I am asking everybody to be as good as they are, every week.” Said out loud, in front of everybody, and the room at Zenit 2 was different afterwards.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Sokol waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Zenit 2 is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Ilja Rodionov 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.
Zenit 2 spent the window trying to move Eldar Guseinov on and nobody came. He trains with a squad that has already told him he is not part of it, and both sides now wait for the next one.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Chelyabinsk will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 6 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Chelyabinsk have done the hard part with Krasnodar, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Chelyabinsk had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Krasnodar, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Zoárd Nagy 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.
14 combined actions and 6.73. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
This is money that keeps the lights on rather than money that buys a centre-half, and the difference is the whole story. A club funded by its owner rather than by its football has exactly one conversation left ahead of it.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 12 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Arsenal Tula waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Zenit 2 is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The name of Ilja Rodionov has come up in conversations Zenit 2 were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 6 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Zenit 2 and Dinamo St Petersburg, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
At 21 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Zenit 2 will try not to make too much of it.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Two goals and a mark of 8.44 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings27 Aug 2035
Andrei Kabanov, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.79
A mark of 7.79 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.
Minute 95, against Rotor, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Chelyabinsk will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
1 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
0 on the scoresheet on his first appearance and a mark of 7.34 beside it. Most debuts are got through; this one was enjoyed, by him and by everybody watching it.
Player ratings20 Aug 2035
A first appearance Miguel Mendes will want to forget — 5.14
Everybody's debut is one of two stories and this was the other one. 5.14, 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.
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.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Chelyabinsk can tell you which week it ends in.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chelyabinsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Chelyabinsk asked and Krasnodar said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Eldar Guseinov provided it, and the 8.47 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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.
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.
The phone has started ringing about Igor Ignashevich again, and this time the name on the line is Rodina M. Zenit 2 are listening politely and promising nothing.
14 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Zenit 2 and Yenisey in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 67 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Chelyabinsk asked and Krylya Sovetov said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
He is doing his job and he is not settling. Chelyabinsk were supposed to be a step up in his own reckoning, and his own reckoning has been adjusted since he arrived.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vadim Roldugin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
A loan enquiry to Krylya Sovetov: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Zenit 2 will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Orenburg waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Zenit 2 is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
3‑6 to Chaika, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Two goals and a mark of 9.02 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
9 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Zenit 2 and Chaika in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 10 combined actions and a mark of 7.40, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Beaten 6 times, with 3 saves for company. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines on their record whoever actually caused them, which is the quiet injustice of the job.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
The club looked outside for a month, found nothing it preferred, and handed the job to the man who had been doing it anyway. He knows the building; now he has to prove he knows the rest.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Chelyabinsk will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Krasnodar is saying, and nobody at Chelyabinsk is enjoying the guessing.
Dawid Barnowski 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 gap in the accounts was filled from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be grateful and to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings arrive together.
No fees may be paid for anybody, whatever the squad needs. Every rumour about this club until it lifts is a rumour about a deal that cannot be done.
Boardroom6 Aug 2035
108% of the income goes out in wages at Chelyabinsk
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Zenit 2 will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
1‑9 to Druzhba, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
“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 Zenit 2 know it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zenit 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 10 goals between Zenit 2 and Druzhba, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 34 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Eldar Guseinov had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
10 goals in one match, Eldar Guseinov on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Zenit 2 and Rostov 2.
Whether it was the goalkeeper or the ten in front of him is the argument that will fill every conversation in town this week. 5 saves does not settle it either way.
Marked 8.42. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Zenit 2.
Player ratings30 Jul 2035
Eldar Guseinov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.37. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 51 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Zenit 2 have lost him in all but the paperwork.
A new face in his position and a shirt he thought he owned suddenly up for discussion. Zenit 2 have promised nothing, which is what clubs promise at this stage.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Chelyabinsk will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Everything agreed with CSKA Moscow, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Dawid Barnowski 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 embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Zenit 2 have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The offer from Baltika for Ivan Belikov 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.
Add another name to the list: CSKA Moscow have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Mikołaj Biegański. The answer from Zenit 2 has not changed — yet.
Alexandr Chernikov 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Zenit 2, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zenit 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Zenit 2 will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Zenit 2 has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Zenit 2 will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
The phone has started ringing about Eldar Guseinov again, and this time the name on the line is Universitatea Craiova. Zenit 2 are listening politely and promising nothing.
Ivan Belikov 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.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Zenit 2 will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
4 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Zenit 2 could ask drops and the wages Igor Ignashevich can ask rise.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Eldar Guseinov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zenit 2 can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zenit 2 is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Zenit 2 know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Eldar Guseinov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Yenisey had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Position 3, 30 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Eldar Guseinov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zenit 2 is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Santiago Pierotti trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zenit 2 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Zenit 2 have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
The words a physio says slowly. 97 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Rodina waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Zenit 2 is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Nikolay Kamaev had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
The offer from Universitatea Craiova for Ivan Belikov 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nikita Gerasimov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zenit 2 the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Eldar Guseinov has moved up it.
“I will know when it is time. I am not there yet.” Santiago Pierotti is 33, with 401 appearances behind him, and Zenit 2 will have to plan for whichever answer comes.
Nobody at Zenit 2 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.
In brief
The dugoutDaniil Zyuzin knocks on the manager's door
BoardroomZenit 2 put money where the players can see it
104 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Zenit 2 lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Eldar Guseinov had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
The offer from Dinamo Moscow for Santiago Pierotti 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.
Nikolay Kamaev 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.
113 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Zenit 2 lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zenit 2 is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Timofey Komissarov 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Zenit 2, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
4 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Zenit 2 could ask drops and the wages Ilja Rodionov can ask rise.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nikita Gerasimov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zenit 2 the goodbyes have quietly begun.
One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Santiago Pierotti has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zenit 2 is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Dinamo Makhachkala 2? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Baltika 2 in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
4 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.
Position 4, 27 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zenit 2 is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Artem Zmeev 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.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Zenit 2 will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Marked 8.01 — 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.
Minute 86, against Alania, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Zenit 2 will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
6 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zenit 2 is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zenit 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Shifted about, taken off before the hour, asked to do somebody else's running — Ilja Rodionov has had enough of being useful and would like to be picked. Zenit 2 know, and have known for weeks.
“I am not asking anybody to be better than they are. I am asking everybody to be as good as they are, every week.” Said out loud, in front of everybody, and the room at Zenit 2 was different afterwards.
Chances created: 4. Nothing on the scoresheet and everything in the match: the pass before the pass, over and over, until the defence stopped guessing right.
Nikolay Kamaev 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Zenit 2, and both men came out saying it was fine.
4 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Zenit 2 could ask drops and the wages Nikolay Kamaev can ask rise.
“Nobody outside is coming to save us.” It was short, it was not comfortable, and by all accounts the Zenit 2 squad were quieter afterwards than they had been all season.
The suspension is over, which is the half of a ban nobody prints. He has watched from the stand for long enough to have opinions about the shape, and the manager now has a decision he did not have last week.
In brief
Player ratingsArtem Zmeev on a tightrope all afternoon
Timofey Komissarov 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.
KAMAZ next, and the two sides the division is watching meet each other. Whoever wins will be told nothing is decided in the same breath as being congratulated.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Eldar Guseinov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
SquadIlja Rodionov makes the division’s eleven — 7.02
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Zenit 2, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I am not asking anybody to be better than they are. I am asking everybody to be as good as they are, every week.” Said out loud, in front of everybody, and the room at Zenit 2 was different afterwards.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nikolay Kamaev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zenit 2 the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Zenit 2 and Rotor, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Chances created: 11. Nothing on the scoresheet and everything in the match: the pass before the pass, over and over, until the defence stopped guessing right.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Zenit 2, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
The terracesThe spotlight tightens on Ivan Belikov
Nikolay Kamaev 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.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Arsenal Tula will make the call about Nikolay Kamaev this week. Zenit 2 have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Maxim Saveljev. 2‑0 against Druzhba, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Ilja Rodionov’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Zenit 2 needing him to play as if none of it matters.
In brief
MarketThe clock does Nikolay Kamaev’s negotiating for him
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Lokomotiv Moscow waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Zenit 2 is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Maxim Saveljev provided it, and the 9.00 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
50 for the club now, each one filed in somebody’s memory with a date and a scoreline. Numbers like this are what supporters argue about in twenty years.
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Maxim Saveljev in the middle of it, and Baltika 2 unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
Marked 8.08 — 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.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Nikolay Kamaev 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.
Four weeks in which nobody in the division did his job better. The award goes on a shelf and the player goes back into the side, which is the order Zenit 2 prefer.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Maxim Saveljev is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Successful dribbles: 8. 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.
Chances created: 5. Not on the scoresheet and not remotely anonymous — a passing performance that pulled a defence apart without leaving a mark on the column that gets read.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Nikolay Kamaev had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
The name of Eldar Guseinov has come up in conversations Zenit 2 were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zenit 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Timofey Komissarov. 3‑2 against Kuban, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 8.34 — 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.
Dinamo Makhachkala 2 next, and the two sides the division is watching meet each other. Whoever wins will be told nothing is decided in the same breath as being congratulated.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
10 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Zenit 2 and Alania in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
A goalkeeper’s error has no defender behind it to tidy it away. He knew before the ball crossed the line, the crowd knew a second later, and there is nothing anybody can say tonight.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Torpedo Moscow had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
8.06. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Zenit 2 will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Eldar Guseinov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“Nobody outside is coming to save us.” It was short, it was not comfortable, and by all accounts the Zenit 2 squad were quieter afterwards than they had been all season.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Zenit 2 people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Nikolay Kamaev 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Maxim Saveljev. 2‑0 against KAMAZ, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 8.07 — 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.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Igor Ignashevich has come out of that comparison in the side, and Zenit 2 have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Eldar Guseinov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Zenit 2 people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The offer from Gomel for Timofey Komissarov 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.
Successful dribbles: 15. 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.
“I am not asking anybody to be better than they are. I am asking everybody to be as good as they are, every week.” Said out loud, in front of everybody, and the room at Zenit 2 was different afterwards.
7 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Zenit 2 could ask drops and the wages Nikolay Kamaev can ask rise.
The suspension has been sat out and he is available again. Whoever has been playing in his place has had a fortnight to make an argument, and the manager now has to decide whether it was a good one.
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Torpedo Moscow waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Zenit 2 is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Ivan Belikov 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Nikita Gerasimov 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.
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Rotor tried to reorganise, Zenit 2 did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
Player ratings24 Jul 2034
Ilja Rodionov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.20. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zenit 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
Marked 4.66. 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.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Zenit 2 have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Zenit 2 will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Zenit 2 could ask drops and the wages Nikolay Titkov can ask rise.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Zenit 2, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Eldar Guseinov had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
The offer from CSKA Moscow for Timofey Komissarov 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.
“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; Zenit 2 are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Nikolay Kamaev has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Arsenal Tula waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Zenit 2 is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The offer from Rodina for Eldar Guseinov 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.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Arsenal Tula had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
The phone has started ringing about Eldar Guseinov again, and this time the name on the line is Rodina. Zenit 2 are listening politely and promising nothing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zenit 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Zenit 2, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zenit 2 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zenit 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Zenit 2 had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zenit 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Eldar Guseinov is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.