Two goals and a mark of 8.89 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Alania have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. David Tepsikoev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Alania the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Nizhniy Novgorod is saying, and nobody at Alania is enjoying the guessing.
$66.0K on the table at Chernomorets. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
“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 The request is on a desk at Alania, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer from Akron for Victor Nafikov 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.
Alania had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Volgar, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Makhach Abdulkhamidov 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.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Words at Alania training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Batraz Gurtsiev 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. David Tepsikoev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Alania the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Spartak Kostroma have kept their man, and Alania go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Words at Alania training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artur Kuskov 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.
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout24 Jul 2028
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑4 defeat, delivered by Pavel Kalinichev to a room that had heard them before.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Alania people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. David Tepsikoev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Alania the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“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 Alania, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at SKA Khabarovsk is saying, and nobody at Alania is enjoying the guessing.
Victor Nafikov 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.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Words at Alania training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Batraz Gurtsiev 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.
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 David Tepsikoev is on it.
In brief
The dugoutArtur Kozyrev knocks on the manager’s door
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Alania people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“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 Alania, and it is not being withdrawn.
Everything agreed with Neftekhimik, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Batraz Gurtsiev 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.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Words at Alania training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Allon Butaev 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.
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.
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
Alania have made the call to Dinamo Kirov. 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 Alania they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Makhach Abdulkhamidov 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 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.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“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 Alania will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
“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 Alania, and it is not being withdrawn.
Batraz Gurtsiev 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.
Squad22 May 2028
Words at Alania training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Allon Butaev 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.
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.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and David Tepsikoev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“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 Alania will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. David Tepsikoev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Alania the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Batraz Gurtsiev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 May 2028
Words at Alania training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Allon Butaev 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.
“I watch every Alania game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Chelyabinsk runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is David Byazrov's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
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 David Tepsikoev is on it.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Alania would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Alania can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alania this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
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.
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Victor Nafikov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“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 Alania will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
28 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Alania lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Pavel Kalinichev has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. David Tepsikoev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Alania the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Makhach Abdulkhamidov 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.
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.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Words at Alania training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Batraz Gurtsiev 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.
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Alan Bagaev's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
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.
Victor Nafikov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Artur Kuskov 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Artur Kozyrev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Makhach Abdulkhamidov signs something — a contract at Alania or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Alania have made Valentin Mitin available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Questions about Artur Kuskov on the training pitch
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Pavel Kalinichev has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Alania is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Makhach Abdulkhamidov 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.
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.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Words at Alania training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Batraz Gurtsiev 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.
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is David Byazrov's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Alania, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Alania than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
In brief
The dugoutDavid Tepsikoev has become a man the manager trusts
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.
“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 Alania, and it is not being withdrawn.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Alania will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Words at Alania training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Batraz Gurtsiev 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.
The offer from Znamya Truda for Arsen Revazov 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.
Makhach Abdulkhamidov 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Batraz Gurtsiev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Alania asked and Rotor said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
Alania have made the call to Spartak Moscow. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Alania, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. David Tepsikoev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Alania the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Alania can pretend not to have heard.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Allon Butaev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I watch every Alania game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Chelyabinsk runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
In brief
The dugoutAlan Bagaev without the man who signed him
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Rodina M waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Alania is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alania this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Every club 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 it has been tried.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Alania has been clear about where Allon Butaev stands, which is more than many ever get.
Add another name to the list: Kolomna have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Hussain Ali Al-Khalsan. The answer from Alania has not changed — yet.
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. David Tepsikoev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Alania the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Words at Alania training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Batraz Gurtsiev 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.
Kevin Tran-Nguyen 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.
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 David Tepsikoev is on it.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Pavel Kalinichev has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Alania have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The shortfall was covered from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be relieved and entitled to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings usually arrive together.
Every club 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 it has been tried.
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Alania has been clear about where David Tepsikoev stands, which is more than many ever get.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Diyar Antar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alania this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Allon Butaev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Alania 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 Alania this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“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 Alania, and 9 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
Nobody has barred the club from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every incoming name comes with an outgoing one attached.
Nobody at Alania will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Artur Kozyrev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. David Tepsikoev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Alania the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Batraz Gurtsiev 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Allon Butaev 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.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The manager has a list and the board has a condition attached to it. That is not a crisis — half of football works this way — but it decides which of the two of them gets his way in August.
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 David Tepsikoev is on it.
SKA Khabarovsk next, and one man in the Alania dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Alania will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Alania can pretend not to have heard.
9 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Sibir were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Victor Nafikov 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Batraz Gurtsiev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 19 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
In brief
Player ratingsBatraz Gurtsiev was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Alania can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Arsen Revazov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Alania the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Words at Alania training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Allon Butaev 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.
Both clubs in the mire, one fixture between them, and a ground that will be louder and more frightened than at any point in the season. Alania know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Alania 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 Alania this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words at Alania training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Batraz Gurtsiev 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.
A point taken on 90 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
Victor Nafikov 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 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.
Every club 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 it has been tried.
“I watch every Alania game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Sokol runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
5 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Nobody has barred the club from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every incoming name comes with an outgoing one attached.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Alania, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Alania they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
5 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Batraz Gurtsiev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alania this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Position 7, 9 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Alania will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Alania people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“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 Alania, and it is not being withdrawn.
Victor Nafikov 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 name of Sarmat Ogoev has come up in conversations Alania were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Batraz Gurtsiev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every club 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 it has been tried.
“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 Alania, and 1 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
0‑3 against SKA Khabarovsk, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Angusht waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Alania is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“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 Alania, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Alania have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Leningradets keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
The name of David Tepsikoev has come up in conversations Alania were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Alania is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
13 combined actions and 6.86. 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.
In brief
SquadWords at Alania training over how hard people work
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Victor Nafikov
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Alania people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Two goals and a mark of 8.20 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Alania is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Batraz Gurtsiev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Spartak Moscow have kept their man, and Alania go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Alania people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Alania have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Batraz Gurtsiev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Leningradets have kept their man, and Alania go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Makhach Abdulkhamidov 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.
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.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Alania have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Alania can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Alania 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 Alania this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at Alania training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Batraz Gurtsiev 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.
Marked 6.67 on 10 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
A point taken on 87 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Alania have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Alania they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The name of David Tepsikoev has come up in conversations Alania were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Victor Nafikov 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.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
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.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Alania can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Alania people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The offer from Uralets-TS for David Tepsikoev 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alania this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Simon Tisch-Rottensteiner was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Alania people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
The offer from Torpedo Miass for Timur Chetoev 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.
The shortfall was covered from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be relieved and entitled to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings usually arrive together.
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.
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Batraz Gurtsiev had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Chertanovo waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Alania is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Alania can pretend not to have heard.
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.
The phone has started ringing about Georgy Karkuzaev again, and this time the name on the line is Zvezda. Alania are listening politely and promising nothing.
Arsen Kanteev 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Torpedo Miass waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Alania is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Saturn have accepted the money. What Alania do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
The name of Batraz Gurtsiev has come up in conversations Alania were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
At 18 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Alania can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Alania they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and David Tepsikoev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Alania can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Alania had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Alania they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Arsen Revazov 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 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.
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Alan Bagaev is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
In brief
The dugoutArsen Revazov knocks on the manager’s door
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Alania is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Batraz Gurtsiev 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 injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sarmat Ogoev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Alania the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Alania training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Simon Tisch-Rottensteiner 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alania this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ivan Matyushenko signs something — a contract at Alania or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The table is being checked before the results are in, which is always the tell. Nobody at Alania says the word and every senior player in the building is thinking it.
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Pavel Kalinichev has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. David Tepsikoev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Alania the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Batraz Gurtsiev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alania this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Arsen Kanteev was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sarmat Ogoev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Alania the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Alania training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Batraz Gurtsiev 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alania this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 David Tepsikoev is on it.
“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 Alania will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
In brief
The dugoutArtur Kozyrev knocks on the manager's door
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. David Tepsikoev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Alania the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Batraz Gurtsiev 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Anzor Amiraliev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Alan Bagaev was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
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.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Suren Apresyan 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Alania will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 Alania, and it is not being withdrawn.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. David Tepsikoev is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alania this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Alania now.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Alania training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Simon Tisch-Rottensteiner 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Alania will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sarmat Ogoev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Alania the goodbyes have quietly begun.
At 18 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Alania training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Batraz Gurtsiev 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alania this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody at Alania will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Alania, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Alania will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Alania have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. David Tepsikoev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Alania the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Batraz Gurtsiev 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Vyacheslav Pugachev has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Fedor Shuvalov has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Alania will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Uralets-TS waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Alania is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Alania can pretend not to have heard.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. PSK Pervorechenskoe moved on, Artem Zakirov reports back to Alania, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
Deadline passes with 1 signed and 5 gone
That is the business done at Alania until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Batraz Gurtsiev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 59 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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.
Batraz Gurtsiev 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.
Add another name to the list: Dinamo Barnaul have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Sarmat Ogoev. The answer from Alania has not changed — yet.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Uralets-TS will make the call about David Tepsikoev this week. Alania have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
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.
Nobody at Alania will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 73 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Alania people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“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.
“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 Alania, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
Simon Tisch-Rottensteiner 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.
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Alania will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Alania they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Simon Tisch-Rottensteiner was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alan Khugaev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Alania know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 87 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alania this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 David Tepsikoev is on it.
“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.
Batraz Gurtsiev 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Alania training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Anzor Amiraliev 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.
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 David Tepsikoev is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Artem Zakirov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until David Byazrov signs something — a contract at Alania or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
34 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Alania lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Batraz Gurtsiev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 David Tepsikoev is on 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 Alania will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Mashuk next, and one man in the Alania dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
8 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.
At 18 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Alania training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Batraz Gurtsiev 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.
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑3 Pavel Kalinichev left the room before anybody could ask which.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Denis Davydov’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Alania needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 17 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 35 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Alania is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
7 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Sarmat Ogoev 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 team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Volgar.
In brief
The dugoutDavid Tepsikoev has become a man the manager trusts