Marked for Osman Minatulaev
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad30 Nov 2026
A one-man rearguard from Ivan Lomaev
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Ilja Agapov in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ufa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.19, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match28 Nov 2026
It finished 2‑1, and it was Ilja Agapov’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Ufa.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
456% of the income goes out in wages at Ufa
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.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Marked 8.88 — 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.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
A performance of 8.09 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad30 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Osman Minatulaev, and the manager let it.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 35. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad2 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Ufa may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
456% of the income goes out in wages at Ufa
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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ivan Lomaev, and the manager let it.
Squad2 Nov 2026
20 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Ufa
Dmitry Veber 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
Market7 Sep 2026
Ivan Lomaev 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 Ufa can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Ufa
Ivan Lomaev 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.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Wages eat 546% of everything Ufa 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.
Match5 Sep 2026
Shinnik take the points off Ufa
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Denis Kutin
“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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Ufa have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
Squad7 Sep 2026
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Ivan Lomaev knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Shots: 8, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market17 Aug 2026
The bid was some way short and Orenburg did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Damián Puebla 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad17 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gedeon Guzina, and the manager let it.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
A performance of 8.40 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
5.50 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
5.56 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A wage question at Orenburg
Damián Puebla has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad10 Aug 2026
Ivan Lomaev in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ufa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match8 Aug 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Osman Minatulaev. 2‑1 against KAMAZ, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
A performance of 8.27 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad10 Aug 2026
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Alexandr Belenov knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Konstantin Troyanov, and the manager let it.
Market10 Aug 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Ufa, another week without a signature from Ivan Khomukha.
Market10 Aug 2026
The clock runs on Denis Kutin's contract
24 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A first senior shirt for Emil Maiorov
Every debut is a small story about the future: Emil Maiorov, 19 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ivan Lomaev and Ufa agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Ufa
Ivan Lomaev 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 ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Ufa, another week without a signature from Filip Mrzljak.
Market3 Aug 2026
Nobody at Ufa has picked up the phone to Dilan Ortíz
49 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“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.
Market3 Aug 2026
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Alexandr Lukjanov has his answer from Ufa; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Match1 Aug 2026
Point won or two lost for Ufa?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Chaika? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Shots: 8, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.