Marcelo Alves 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.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Kirill Zaika commits to Sochi 2 for another 2 years.
Squad8 May 2028
Vladislav Dys 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.
“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 Sochi 2 will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Market8 May 2028
Marcelo Alves returns from a loan that gave him nothing
3 appearances and 0 goals is not a season, it is a year somebody has lost. Whether that is his fault, the borrowing club's or the people who arranged it is the argument the next few weeks will have.
In brief
The dugoutNikita Volkov knocks on the manager's door
5 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.82 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sochi 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Words at Sochi 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Dys is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
He 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.
8 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Sochi 2 told Mikhail Slepov something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Two goals and a mark of 8.07 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
4 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vladislav Dys was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Yegor Totskiy signs something — a contract at Sochi 2 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.02 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Robert Gamalyan trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.
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.
Vladislav Dys 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sochi 2, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Roman Shmelev is 20, and for one weekend he was the best of everybody his age in the division. Nobody should build a career on it and everybody quietly does.
They sit in position 19 and they will be waiting. Away form is where a season shows its true character, and this side has a point to make about its own.
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Danil Anosov’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
He is 20 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.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sochi 2 can pretend not to have heard.
Makar Chirkov 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.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Vladislav Dys 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.
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.
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Sochi 2 have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
The dugout6 Mar 2028
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.” Rodion Platonov kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
“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.
Player ratings28 Feb 2028
A brace, and Yegor Totskiy takes the afternoon — 8.42
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Yegor Totskiy provided it, and the 8.42 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Sochi 2 will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Words at Sochi 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Roman Tkachev 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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Rodion Platonov could afford to be generous.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Sochi 2 pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
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 name of Roman Shmelev has come up in conversations Sochi 2 were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Robert Gamalyan is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vladislav Dys was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Roman Tkachev.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Words at Sochi 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Dys 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 midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 12 actions, 6.74, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
“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 Sochi 2 will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Amkar had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Two goals and a mark of 8.23 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Makar Chirkov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
It finished 2‑1, and it was Yegor Totskiy’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Sochi 2.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Words at Sochi 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Roman Tkachev 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.
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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Sochi 2 has been clear about where Roman Shmelev stands, which is more than many ever get.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vladislav Dys was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
“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 Sochi 2 will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Successful dribbles: 13. 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.
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.
At 24 he has taken a place rather than been given one, and somebody else has to find something to say about it. Sochi 2 have a decision that made itself.
“If we are going to be beaten, let it not be because somebody in here could not be bothered.” He stood up and said it in front of everybody, which is a thing a squad remembers about a man for years.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ilja Syrovatskiy commits to Sochi 2 for another 3 years.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Words at Sochi 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Dys 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.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Robert Gamalyan has come out of that comparison in the side, and Sochi 2 have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Avangard defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alexandr Mkrtychyan trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Yegor Totskiy. 1‑0 against Dinamo Makhachkala 2, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Marked 7.36. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
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.” Rodion Platonov kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
In brief
The dugoutRoman Tkachev knocks on the manager’s door
Words at Sochi 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Dys 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Rodion Platonov after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Successful dribbles: 13. 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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Yegor Totskiy signs something — a contract at Sochi 2 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vladislav Dys was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Half the programme played, position 8, 32 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 dugout13 Dec 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Rodion Platonov, on a 3‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
“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 Sochi 2 will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sochi 2 have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
9 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at Sochi 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Dys 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.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Daniil Silev is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
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.
8 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Rodion Platonov after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Yegor Totskiy signs something — a contract at Sochi 2 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“Nobody outside is coming to save us.” It was short, it was not comfortable, and by all accounts the Sochi 2 squad were quieter afterwards than they had been all season.
In brief
Player ratingsThe pass was always on for Danil Anosov
SquadQuestions about Mikhail Slepov on the training pitch
Oleg Kozhemyakin 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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words at Sochi 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Makar Chirkov 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 particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Makar Chirkov 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 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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Rodion Platonov after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
“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 Sochi 2, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Words at Sochi 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Dys 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 midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 10 actions, 7.20, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
It needed Stanislav Topinka to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Dinamo Stavropol, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Yegor Totskiy signs something — a contract at Sochi 2 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
1‑7 against Rubin Yalta, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
The terraces20 Sep 2027
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 3 of the 15 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
At 20 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.
8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Sochi 2 and Rubin Yalta in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Vladislav Dys 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.
A goalkeeper’s error has no defender behind it to tidy it away. He knew before the ball crossed the line, the crowd knew a second later, and there is nothing anybody can say tonight.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑7, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Daniil Silev's mistake
Yegor Totskiy 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.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
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 respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
The 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.
In brief
The dugoutRoman Tkachev knocks on the manager's door
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Words at Sochi 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ruslan Bart 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.
At 21 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.
“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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
5 new faces, and Sochi 2 are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Rodion Platonov on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Spartak Nalchik left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Ruslan Bart 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alexandr Mkrtychyan, and the manager let it.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
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 2‑3 Rodion Platonov left the room before anybody could ask which.
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 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.
Ruslan Bart 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 Danil Anosov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Danil Anosov 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.
“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 Sochi 2, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sochi 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.” Makar Chirkov has his answer from Sochi 2; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Ruslan Bart is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The mood at Sochi 2 has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sochi 2 have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sochi 2 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 Sochi 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at Sochi 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ruslan Bart 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.
7.43, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Sochi 2 had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Rodion Platonov was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Sochi 2 dressing room was either.
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.
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 run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Sochi 2 are no longer polite ones.
Squad3 May 2027
Vladislav Dys 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.
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout3 May 2027
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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Rodion Platonov to a room that had heard them before.
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.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Sochi 2 than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
At 19 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.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Roman Tkachev'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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sochi 2, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
They sit in position 19 and they will be waiting. Away form is where a season shows its true character, and this side has a point to make about its own.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vladislav Dys was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 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.
Words at Sochi 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Dys 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.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
At 35 he has taken a place rather than been given one, and somebody else has to find something to say about it. Sochi 2 have a decision that made itself.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Roman Tkachev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The young player of the month award goes to a 19-year-old at Sochi 2 who has looked like the finished article for four weekends running. The next four are the ones that decide whether he is.
A mark of 7.62, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Squad8 Mar 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Roman Shmelev
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Roman Shmelev has come out of that comparison in the side, and Sochi 2 have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Rodion Platonov after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Astrakhan? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sochi 2 can pretend not to have heard.
“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 dugout25 Jan 2027
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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Rodion Platonov to a room that had heard them before.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Roman Chenchikov signs something — a contract at Sochi 2 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nobody at Sochi 2 is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
“I am not asking anybody to be better than they are. I am asking everybody to be as good as they are, every week.” Said out loud, in front of everybody, and the room at Sochi 2 was different afterwards.
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Sochi 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Dys 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 pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daniil Silev, and the manager let it.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
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 1‑3 Rodion Platonov left the room before anybody could ask which.
Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Roman Tkachev'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.
1 error, one goal, and a night in front of the same three seconds. He will see it tonight, tomorrow and probably in February, and everybody who has played knows exactly which frame he keeps stopping on.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Yegor Totskiy signs something — a contract at Sochi 2 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nobody at Sochi 2 is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Yegor Totskiy and Sochi 2 agree another 3 years.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Vladislav Dys 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 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Roman Tkachev
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Roman Tkachev has come out of that comparison in the side, and Sochi 2 have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Robert Gamalyan's mistake
Words at Sochi 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Roman Tkachev 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 particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Mikhail Slepov 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Yegor Totskiy. 1‑0 against PSK Pervorechenskoe, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Rodion Platonov could afford to be generous.
Nobody at Sochi 2 is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
“If we are going to be beaten, let it not be because somebody in here could not be bothered.” He stood up and said it in front of everybody, which is a thing a squad remembers about a man for years.
Roman Tkachev 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Yegor Totskiy signs something — a contract at Sochi 2 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
7 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Sochi 2 could ask drops and the wages Yegor Totskiy can ask rise.
In brief
SquadThe training reports on Roman Shmelev are not good
Yegor Totskiy 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
Roman Tkachev 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.
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.
Marked 7.69 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Sochi 2 had the best player on the pitch.
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.” Rodion Platonov kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Shifted about, taken off before the hour, asked to do somebody else's running — Roman Chenchikov has had enough of being useful and would like to be picked. Sochi 2 know, and have known for weeks.
0‑4 against Dinamo Stavropol, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 5 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Roman Tkachev 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 manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Squad28 Sep 2026
14 new faces, and Sochi 2 are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Rodion Platonov after 0‑4, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
6 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 Sochi 2 can pretend not to have heard.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Roman Tkachev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Words at Sochi 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Roman Tkachev 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 was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Sochi 2 has been clear about where Roman Tkachev stands, which is more than many ever get.