Marked for Emil Ganeev
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom21 Jun 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Strogino
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Strogino is running low.
Market21 Jun 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 The request is on a desk at Strogino, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
$530.0K settles it between the clubs for Danila Gaivoronskiy
Zenit have accepted the money. What Strogino do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
The deal with Khimik 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.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
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Squad21 Jun 2027
Emil Ganeev is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Victor Kiselev 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 targets21 Jun 2027
Strogino asked and Ufa said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Vadim Pastushkov 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom3 May 2027
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.
Market3 May 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 The request is on a desk at Strogino, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout3 May 2027
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Squad3 May 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 Strogino this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Strogino training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexey Muldarov 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.
Market3 May 2027
Alexey Muldarov is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Strogino has been clear about where Alexey Muldarov stands, which is more than many ever get.
Squad3 May 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Emil Ganeev and Strogino agree another 3 years.
The dugout3 May 2027
Victor Kiselev without the man who signed him
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Victor Kiselev was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
The dugout3 May 2027
Valery Ozerov 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 Strogino, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom5 Apr 2027
Ivan Bulgakov has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Strogino can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
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Squad5 Apr 2027
A falling-out at Strogino
Saif Nasser and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Strogino training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexey Muldarov 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 dugout5 Apr 2027
Victor Kiselev 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 Strogino, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad5 Apr 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 Strogino will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match1 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑3 by Rodina M, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market3 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Strogino can pretend not to have heard.
Squad3 Aug 2026
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Alexey Muldarov commits to Strogino for another 4 years.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Strogino have gone to Luki-Energiya with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Vladislav Saushkin 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 targets3 Aug 2026
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.
Boardroom3 Aug 2026
Nobody left the Strogino dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
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 0‑3 Ivan Bulgakov left the room before anybody could ask which.