Marked for Islam Mikhteev
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market4 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 The request is on a desk at Dinamo Makhachkala 2, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match2 Jan 2027
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Dinamo Makhachkala 2 has to find a result from somewhere.
The terraces4 Jan 2027
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 7 of the 23 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Squad4 Jan 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 Dinamo Makhachkala 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match2 Jan 2027
0‑2 to Kuban Holding, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Alexandr Sandrachuk will call it something else in private.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
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 Dinamo Makhachkala 2 will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Iljas Akhmedov, and the manager let it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Dec 2026
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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Magomed Ibragimov 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.
Match12 Dec 2026
0‑1 to Druzhba, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Makhachkala 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match21 Nov 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Islam Mikhteev, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market9 Nov 2026
“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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Makhachkala 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match7 Nov 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Market9 Nov 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The terraces2 Nov 2026
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 8 of the 23 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Magomed Ibragimov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match31 Oct 2026
0‑1 to Angusht, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad2 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Zainudin Zainudinov, and the manager let it.
Market2 Nov 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market12 Oct 2026
“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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Makhachkala 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match10 Oct 2026
A 1‑0 win over Legion, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Defensive actions: 18. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Islam Mikhteev, and the manager let it.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.71 on the card, and the Dinamo Makhachkala 2 support went home talking about one name.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad31 Aug 2026
Magomed Abdullabekov 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Market31 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Dinamo Makhachkala 2 have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad31 Aug 2026
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Zainudin Zainudinov knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Daniyal Aliev knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Daniyal Aliev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Aug 2026
Magomed Ibragimov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market3 Aug 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.