Marked for Maxim Malafeev
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom11 Jun 2029
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad11 Jun 2029
Tempers go at Rostov
Saúl Guarirapa 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.
Squad11 Jun 2029
Wendel 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.
Squad11 Jun 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Maxim Malafeev and Rostov agree another 3 years.
Market11 Jun 2029
“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.
Market11 Jun 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Victor Melekhin signs something — a contract at Rostov or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom4 Jun 2029
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Rostov
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Words exchanged at Rostov
Victor Melekhin 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 dugout4 Jun 2029
“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.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Marat Kovalkov 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.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Rostov are still strangers to each other
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Squad4 Jun 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Maxim Malafeev commits to Rostov for another 3 years.
The dugout4 Jun 2029
Ivan Komarov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Rostov 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.
Market4 Jun 2029
“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.
Market4 Jun 2029
The name of Ivan Komarov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Rostov say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom10 Jul 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Zvezda
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market10 Jul 2028
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Zvezda have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market10 Jul 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zvezda can pretend not to have heard.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Words exchanged at Zvezda
Andrey Zaitsev 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.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Yaroslav Voronkov 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.
Boardroom10 Jul 2028
Wages eat 99% of everything Zvezda 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.
Transfer targets10 Jul 2028
A loan enquiry to Spartak Tambov: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets10 Jul 2028
A loan move for Kirill Volkov is in the works
Zvezda have made the call to Volgar. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout10 Jul 2028
Artem Tsvetkov 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 Zvezda, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom3 Jul 2028
Danila Matveev has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Zvezda can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Boardroom3 Jul 2028
The Zvezda board call everybody in
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Market3 Jul 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 Zvezda, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad3 Jul 2028
A falling-out at Zvezda
Andrey Zaitsev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom3 Jul 2028
The owner puts $32.0K into Zvezda
This is money that keeps the lights on rather than money that buys a centre-half, and the difference is the whole story. A club funded by its owner rather than by its football has exactly one conversation left ahead of it.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Yaroslav Voronkov 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.
Transfer targets3 Jul 2028
A loan enquiry to Khimik: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Squad3 Jul 2028
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Aikhan Bakhysh-Zade 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.
Boardroom3 Jul 2028
Zvezda sign 3 boys into the academy
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom5 Jun 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.
Boardroom5 Jun 2028
The Zvezda board call everybody in
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Squad5 Jun 2028
A falling-out at Zvezda
Andrey Zaitsev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom5 Jun 2028
The owner puts $18.5K into Zvezda
This is money that keeps the lights on rather than money that buys a centre-half, and the difference is the whole story. A club funded by its owner rather than by its football has exactly one conversation left ahead of it.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Islam Vagabov 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 dugout5 Jun 2028
Andrey Zenyuk without the man who signed him
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Andrey Zenyuk was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
The dugout5 Jun 2028
Maxim Kopitets 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.
Market5 Jun 2028
The name of Yaroslav Voronkov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Zvezda say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout5 Jun 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom8 May 2028
Danila Matveev has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Zvezda can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Squad8 May 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Andrey Zaitsev and Zvezda agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 May 2028
A falling-out at Zvezda
Andrey Zaitsev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom8 May 2028
The owner puts $3.2K into Zvezda
This is money that keeps the lights on rather than money that buys a centre-half, and the difference is the whole story. A club funded by its owner rather than by its football has exactly one conversation left ahead of it.
Squad8 May 2028
Yaroslav Voronkov 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 dugout8 May 2028
The manager's exit leaves Andrey Zaitsev exposed
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Andrey Zaitsev is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
The dugout8 May 2028
“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 May 2028
Leon Aiba 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.
Market8 May 2028
The name of Yaroslav Voronkov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Zvezda say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market10 Apr 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 Zvezda, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
“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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
A falling-out at Zvezda
Leon Aiba and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Yaroslav Voronkov 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 dugout10 Apr 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ibrohim Najimov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market10 Apr 2028
The name of Yaroslav Voronkov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Zvezda say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
Maxim Malafeev has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Zvezda 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.
Market10 Apr 2028
“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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Questions about Damir Zhelegotov on the training pitch
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad13 Mar 2028
A falling-out at Zvezda
Andrey Zaitsev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad13 Mar 2028
A row about effort at Zvezda
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Islam Vagabov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout13 Mar 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.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
“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.
Market13 Mar 2028
The name of Yaroslav Voronkov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Zvezda say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout13 Mar 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market15 Nov 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Tempers go at Zvezda
Leon Aiba 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.
Boardroom15 Nov 2027
Zvezda counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Zvezda now.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
This is not rotation. Damir Zhelegotov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Zvezda is pretending otherwise.
Squad15 Nov 2027
A row about effort at Zvezda
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yaroslav Voronkov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad15 Nov 2027
“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 Zvezda know it.
The dugout15 Nov 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.
Market15 Nov 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Maxim Malafeev has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Zvezda.
Squad15 Nov 2027
“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
Uneasy
Squad11 Oct 2027
Anton Ponomarev damages knee ligaments — 22 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 22 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Igor Smirnov 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
A falling-out at Zvezda
Arsen Nyshanaliev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
The manager makes an example of Maxim Kopitets
“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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
33 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Zvezda, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market11 Oct 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Zvezda know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
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.
Market11 Oct 2027
Zvezda have made Danila Rulev available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.