Marked for Matvey Zhustjev
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match16 Aug 2028
Irtysh out of the cup
Veles ended it 0‑1. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Market21 Aug 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The dugout21 Aug 2028
This is not rotation. Matvey Zhustjev has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Irtysh is pretending otherwise.
Market21 Aug 2028
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Irtysh have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Boardroom21 Aug 2028
No signings allowed at Irtysh
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.
Squad21 Aug 2028
200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
Squad21 Aug 2028
A row about effort at Irtysh
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aznaur Geryugov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom21 Aug 2028
The Irtysh debt reaches $4.6M
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.
Player ratings21 Aug 2028
Marked 7.28 on 9 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
In brief
-
The dugout
The manager’s verdict
-
The dugout
Yury Bavin has become a man the manager trusts
-
The dugout
Ilja Krylov asks for a word with the manager
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market24 Jul 2028
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Cherepovets waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Irtysh is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market24 Jul 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market24 Jul 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Irtysh is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match22 Jul 2028
The wait goes on for Irtysh
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.
Match22 Jul 2028
Still nobody has beaten Irtysh
The unbeaten run reaches 7. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Words exchanged at Irtysh
Alexandr Smirnov 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 terraces24 Jul 2028
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Lucas Neverdal 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.
The dugout24 Jul 2028
This is not rotation. Matvey Zhustjev has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Irtysh is pretending otherwise.
Boardroom24 Jul 2028
No signings allowed at Irtysh
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Jun 2028
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Irtysh have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Words exchanged at Irtysh
Alexandr Smirnov 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 dugout26 Jun 2028
This is not rotation. Matvey Zhustjev has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Irtysh is pretending otherwise.
Boardroom26 Jun 2028
Irtysh cannot sign anybody
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.
Boardroom26 Jun 2028
Irtysh are $4.2M in the red
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.
The dugout26 Jun 2028
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Jun 2028
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Amkar waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Irtysh is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market19 Jun 2028
“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 Irtysh, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad19 Jun 2028
A falling-out at Irtysh
Alexandr Smirnov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
This is not rotation. Jakub Welter has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Irtysh is pretending otherwise.
Squad19 Jun 2028
A row about effort at Irtysh
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aznaur Geryugov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
Nikita Zhustjev has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Irtysh 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.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Artem Kulakov, and the manager let it.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Irtysh, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Boardroom19 Jun 2028
Open for business: Irtysh enter the window
The registration window is open and the phone has started. Between now and the deadline this club will be linked with forty players and sign three, which is the usual ratio.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 May 2028
At 35, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
The dugout29 May 2028
This is not rotation. Matvey Zhustjev has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Irtysh is pretending otherwise.
Boardroom29 May 2028
No signings allowed at Irtysh
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.
The dugout29 May 2028
Alexey Gusev gets it from the manager
“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.
Squad29 May 2028
Aznaur Geryugov 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.
Boardroom29 May 2028
The Irtysh debt reaches $4.0M
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout22 May 2028
This is not rotation. Jakub Welter has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Irtysh is pretending otherwise.
Squad22 May 2028
Aznaur Geryugov 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.
The dugout22 May 2028
Alexey Gusev knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Irtysh, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout22 May 2028
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.
Match22 May 2028
Irtysh have something to play for
Position 6 on 41 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
Market22 May 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Nikita Zhustjev’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom15 May 2028
The scrutiny sharpens at Irtysh
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Irtysh is running low.
The dugout15 May 2028
This is not rotation. Mikołaj Wierniuk has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Irtysh is pretending otherwise.
Squad15 May 2028
“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 Irtysh know it.
Boardroom15 May 2028
Wages swallow 115% of the Irtysh income
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 dugout15 May 2028
When it matters, Yury Bavin plays
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.
The dugout15 May 2028
The manager makes an example of Artyom Davidov
“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.
Market15 May 2028
The name of Mikołaj Wierniuk keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Irtysh say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout15 May 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Irtysh, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad15 May 2028
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Irtysh has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 May 2028
Words exchanged at Irtysh
Alexandr Smirnov 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 dugout1 May 2028
This is not rotation. Matvey Zhustjev has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Irtysh is pretending otherwise.
Boardroom1 May 2028
Irtysh cannot sign anybody
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.
Squad1 May 2028
Words at Irtysh training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexandr Goryachkin 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.
Boardroom1 May 2028
Irtysh are $4.0M in the red
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.
The dugout1 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nikita Zhustjev, and the manager let it.
Squad1 May 2028
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Alexandre Batisse is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
The dugout1 May 2028
The manager's exit leaves Yury Bavin exposed
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Yury Bavin is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
The dugout1 May 2028
Ilja Krylov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Irtysh 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom17 Apr 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Irtysh
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
This is not rotation. Mikołaj Wierniuk has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Irtysh is pretending otherwise.
Squad17 Apr 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Irtysh this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Apr 2028
A row about effort at Irtysh
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aznaur Geryugov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom17 Apr 2028
Wages swallow 120% of the Irtysh income
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 dugout17 Apr 2028
When it matters, Yury Bavin plays
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.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Elvin Talibov, and the manager let it.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
Lucas Neverdal knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Irtysh, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad17 Apr 2028
“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 Irtysh will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout10 Apr 2028
The manager makes an example of Alexey Gusev
“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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words at Irtysh training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aznaur Geryugov 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 dugout10 Apr 2028
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 Roman Yanushkovskiy is on it.
Market10 Apr 2028
The name of Alexandr Goryachkin keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Irtysh say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
Elvin Talibov asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad10 Apr 2028
“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 Irtysh will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom3 Apr 2028
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Roman Gribov has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Words at Irtysh training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Roman Yanushkovskiy 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 dugout3 Apr 2028
This is not rotation. Matvey Zhustjev has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Irtysh is pretending otherwise.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
The manager makes an example of Nikita Zhustjev
“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.
Boardroom3 Apr 2028
Nobody arrives at Irtysh until somebody leaves
The club is not barred from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every name linked with Irtysh this window arrives with a name leaving in the same sentence.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Irtysh will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
Alexey Gusev asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
Vitaly Ustinov loses the manager who believed in him
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Vitaly Ustinov's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Alexey Gusev moves up the pecking order
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Irtysh than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom20 Mar 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Irtysh
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
This is not rotation. Mikołaj Wierniuk has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Irtysh is pretending otherwise.
Squad20 Mar 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Irtysh this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom20 Mar 2028
Wages eat 129% of everything Irtysh 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.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Words at Irtysh training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexandr Goryachkin 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 dugout20 Mar 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mikołaj Wierniuk, and the manager let it.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
Yury Bavin has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Irtysh 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.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Irtysh, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market20 Mar 2028
The name of Mikołaj Wierniuk keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Irtysh say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom6 Mar 2028
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.
Squad6 Mar 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Roman Yanushkovskiy commits to Irtysh for another 2 years.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Words exchanged at Irtysh
Alexandr Smirnov 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.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Everybody at Irtysh saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 36 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
The dugout6 Mar 2028
This is not rotation. Matvey Zhustjev has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Irtysh is pretending otherwise.
The dugout6 Mar 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lucas Neverdal, and the manager let it.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Aznaur Geryugov 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.
The dugout6 Mar 2028
Yury Bavin loses the manager who believed in him
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Yury Bavin's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
Boardroom6 Mar 2028
Nobody arrives at Irtysh until somebody leaves
The club is not barred from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every name linked with Irtysh this window arrives with a name leaving in the same sentence.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market14 Feb 2028
“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 Irtysh, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match12 Feb 2028
Nobody wants to play Irtysh right now
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad14 Feb 2028
A row about effort at Irtysh
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Roman Yanushkovskiy was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match12 Feb 2028
Three points for Irtysh, 1‑0 the final word against Arsenal Tula 2 in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Appearance number 200 for Yury Bavin
200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
Player ratings14 Feb 2028
Nobody on the pitch touched Yury Bavin
7.50, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Irtysh had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout14 Feb 2028
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
The dugout14 Feb 2028
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 Roman Yanushkovskiy is on it.
The dugout14 Feb 2028
The manager makes an example of Elvin Talibov
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Roman Gribov has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Irtysh can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market7 Feb 2028
Jakub Welter 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 Irtysh can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
The numbers do not look good at Irtysh
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.
The terraces7 Feb 2028
He is 23 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.
Match5 Feb 2028
Three points for Irtysh, 2‑0 the final word against Dinamo Bryansk in a contest settled by the finer margins.
The dugout7 Feb 2028
This is not rotation. Matvey Zhustjev has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Irtysh is pretending otherwise.
The dugout7 Feb 2028
The manager makes an example of Yury Bavin
“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.
Market7 Feb 2028
Add another name to the list: Zarya Lugansk have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Dmitry Medvedev. The answer from Irtysh has not changed — yet.
Player ratings7 Feb 2028
Marked 7.17 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom3 Jan 2028
Roman Gribov has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Irtysh can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Match1 Jan 2028
The wait goes on for Irtysh
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.
Match1 Jan 2028
3 matches without a goal for Irtysh
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad3 Jan 2028
A row about effort at Irtysh
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Roman Yanushkovskiy was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout3 Jan 2028
This is not rotation. Matvey Zhustjev has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Irtysh is pretending otherwise.
The dugout3 Jan 2028
Alexey Gusev gets it from the manager
“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.
Player ratings3 Jan 2028
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout3 Jan 2028
Yury Bavin without the man who signed him
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Yury Bavin was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
The dugout3 Jan 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Roman Gribov was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Irtysh dressing room was either.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom27 Dec 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Irtysh
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Market27 Dec 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
This is not rotation. Mikołaj Wierniuk has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Irtysh is pretending otherwise.
Squad27 Dec 2027
At 36, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
Boardroom27 Dec 2027
138% of the income goes out in wages at Irtysh
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.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Aznaur Geryugov 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.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
“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 dugout27 Dec 2027
Yury Bavin has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Irtysh 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad6 Dec 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Irtysh this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
This is not rotation. Matvey Zhustjev has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Irtysh is pretending otherwise.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Alexandr Goryachkin 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.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mikołaj Wierniuk, and the manager let it.
Squad6 Dec 2027
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Mikołaj Wierniuk 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.
Player ratings6 Dec 2027
Marked 7.51 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Irtysh had the best player on the pitch.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Match4 Dec 2027
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
Alexey Gusev is still paying for one afternoon at Irtysh
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match20 Nov 2027
3‑0, and Lucas Neverdal took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Irtysh tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings22 Nov 2027
A brace, and Lucas Neverdal takes the afternoon — 8.46
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Lucas Neverdal provided it, and the 8.46 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings22 Nov 2027
Aznaur Geryugov, 35, rolls back the years — 8.00
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.00 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market22 Nov 2027
“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 Irtysh, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad22 Nov 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Irtysh this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Roman Yanushkovskiy 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.
The terraces22 Nov 2027
At 23 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.
Match22 Nov 2027
Irtysh at the halfway mark
Half the programme played, position 6, 23 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match6 Nov 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
“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.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Tempers go at Irtysh
Matvey Zhustjev 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 dugout8 Nov 2027
Alexey Gusev is still being punished for one mistake
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 dugout8 Nov 2027
Mikołaj Wierniuk has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Irtysh 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.
Player ratings8 Nov 2027
Marked 4.90, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
Squad8 Nov 2027
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Irtysh would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Market8 Nov 2027
Irtysh have made Mikołaj Wierniuk available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Oct 2027
29 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Irtysh lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match13 Oct 2027
The cup run ends for Irtysh
0‑1 against Krylya Sovetov, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Match16 Oct 2027
No end in sight to Irtysh's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Irtysh has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad18 Oct 2027
A falling-out at Irtysh
Alexandr Smirnov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom18 Oct 2027
The numbers do not look good at Irtysh
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.
The terraces18 Oct 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Lucas Neverdal 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.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.44 on the card, and the Irtysh support went home talking about one name.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
There was one mistake and it ended in the net. Defenders are judged on the worst thing they did rather than on the eighty-nine minutes either side of it, which is unfair and is also the job.
Match16 Oct 2027
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad19 Jul 2027
Alexandr Smirnov damages knee ligaments — 120 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 120 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.
Match17 Jul 2027
No mercy from Irtysh
Znamya Truda will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Irtysh were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.29, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
The deal with Sokol is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Market19 Jul 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Irtysh they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words exchanged at Irtysh
Alexandr Smirnov 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.
Boardroom19 Jul 2027
5 academy graduates step up at Irtysh
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.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom21 Jun 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Irtysh
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Irtysh is running low.
Market21 Jun 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Irtysh is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
“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; Irtysh are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alexandre Batisse, and the manager let it.
Squad21 Jun 2027
A row about effort at Irtysh
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aznaur Geryugov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
Krasnodar 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.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
CSKA Moscow 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.
Market21 Jun 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Aznaur Geryugov has his answer from Irtysh; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom24 May 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Irtysh
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market24 May 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Irtysh is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad24 May 2027
Words exchanged at Irtysh
Alexandr Smirnov 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.
Boardroom24 May 2027
Irtysh counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Irtysh now.
The dugout24 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jakub Welter, and the manager let it.
Market24 May 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Alexandr Goryachkin signs something — a contract at Irtysh or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom26 Apr 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Irtysh
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Irtysh is running low.
Market26 Apr 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Matvey Zhustjev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Irtysh the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad26 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Irtysh this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Irtysh training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aznaur Geryugov 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.
Boardroom26 Apr 2027
Belts tighten at Irtysh
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom29 Mar 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Irtysh
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Irtysh is running low.
Squad29 Mar 2027
18 days out for Artemy Maleev after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Irtysh will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market29 Mar 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Irtysh is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Irtysh
Alexandr Smirnov 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Everybody at Irtysh saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 34 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Squad29 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Irtysh
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aznaur Geryugov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom29 Mar 2027
Belts tighten at Irtysh
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Jakub Welter asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
Pressure builds in the Irtysh boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Artemy Maleev breaks a bone — 46 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 46 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
Window shuts: 0 in, 0 out at Irtysh
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 0 arrived, 0 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Market1 Mar 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Matvey Zhustjev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Irtysh the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets1 Mar 2027
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.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
“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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Irtysh
Elvin Talibov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
Irtysh counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Irtysh now.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
The manager's exit leaves Yury Bavin exposed
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Yury Bavin is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Irtysh
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad1 Feb 2027
74 days out for Artemy Maleev after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Irtysh will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
Everything agreed with Spartak Kostroma, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Market1 Feb 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Irtysh is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Irtysh can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Tempers go at Irtysh
Alexandr Smirnov 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.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
Irtysh asked and Sokol said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Irtysh training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Roman Yanushkovskiy 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 dugout1 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Jakub Welter
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces25 Jan 2027
Anger at Irtysh spills outside the ground
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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Artemy Maleev breaks a bone — 81 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 81 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market25 Jan 2027
“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 Irtysh, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad25 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Irtysh
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Roman Yanushkovskiy was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom25 Jan 2027
Wages swallow 128% of the Irtysh income
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 dugout25 Jan 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Roman Gribov has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Irtysh
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market4 Jan 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Irtysh is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Irtysh
Alexandr Smirnov 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Alexandr Goryachkin 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.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
The manager's exit leaves Yury Bavin exposed
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Yury Bavin is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“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 Irtysh will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Artem Kulakov's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
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 Nikita Zhustjev is on it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom7 Dec 2026
The scrutiny sharpens at Irtysh
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Irtysh is running low.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Market7 Dec 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Irtysh they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Nikita Zhustjev has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Irtysh 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.
Boardroom7 Dec 2026
$139.3K taken back off the Irtysh table
What was available in the summer has quietly gone. Upstairs nobody will call it a change of ambition; downstairs nobody will call it anything else.
Market7 Dec 2026
24 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Yury Bavin is doing the arithmetic
The table has started to be checked before the results are in, and that is always the tell. Nobody at Irtysh says the word out loud, and everybody in the building is thinking it.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Irtysh will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Irtysh may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market9 Nov 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Irtysh they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Irtysh
Alexandr Smirnov 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 dugout9 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Dmitry Vitulin
“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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Aznaur Geryugov 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Lucas Neverdal is the weekend's best young player
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Oct 2026
Artem Kulakov breaks a bone — 29 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 29 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market12 Oct 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Irtysh they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mikołaj Wierniuk, and the manager let it.
Squad12 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Irtysh
Elvin Talibov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Irtysh
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aznaur Geryugov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Nikita Zhustjev has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Irtysh 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.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Dmitry Vitulin knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Irtysh, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market12 Oct 2026
The name of Nikita Zhustjev keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Irtysh say nothing, which says plenty.
Market12 Oct 2026
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Matvey Zhustjev may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.