17 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Baltika lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nathan Gassama was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Baltika told Marquinhos something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“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 The request is on a desk at Baltika, and it is not being withdrawn.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Ruslan Angutaev provided it, and the 9.23 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Baltika offered $12.2M; Foolad said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Baltika may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom13 Sep 2027
Baltika close the window on a squad of their own making
21 in and 20 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $14.2M — a club that wants Isaac Solet enough to be asked twice.
Baltika had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Neftchi, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Irakly Manelov 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Yegor Lyubakov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Baltika 2 the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Arnur Sagalbaev, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.73
A mark of 7.73 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.
Timofey Schelkunov 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.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Baltika 2, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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 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 Baltika 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Andrey Mendel has his answer from Baltika 2; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Eldzhat Mamedov signs something — a contract at Baltika 2 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“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 Baltika 2 will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Eldzhat Mamedov 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Baltika 2 know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Ruslan Angutaev 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.
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.
Zenit 2 made Baltika 2 work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Nikita Bokov 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Kirill Balabanov on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
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.
Arnur Sagalbaev, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.20
A mark of 8.20 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Maxim Shnaptsev 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Ilja Kirsh 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Timofey Schelkunov 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.
“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.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Kirill Balabanov kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Baltika 2 has been clear about where Yegor Lyubakov stands, which is more than many ever get.
7 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.
Ruslan Angutaev 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 Nikita Bokov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Artem Afanasjev has his answer from Baltika 2; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Arnur Sagalbaev, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.04
A mark of 8.04 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Eldzhat Mamedov 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Arnur Sagalbaev. 1‑0 against Irkutsk, 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.” Kirill Balabanov on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Baltika 2 have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
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.
Chances created: 6. Nothing on the scoresheet and everything in the match: the pass before the pass, over and over, until the defence stopped guessing right.
“Nobody outside is coming to save us.” It was short, it was not comfortable, and by all accounts the Baltika 2 squad were quieter afterwards than they had been all season.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Vladislav Pospelov did not need any: 8.13, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
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.
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.
David Cherkasov 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Kirill Balabanov on a 3‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
At 19 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.