Marked for Fedor Pavlenko
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Mar 2027
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.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tamerlan Kuzmenko, and the manager let it.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Akron 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Roman Volochay 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Mar 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 Akron 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market1 Mar 2027
The phone has started ringing about Prokhor Sazonov again, and this time the name on the line is Saturn. Akron 2 are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Roman Volochay 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 dugout1 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Fedor Fenin moves up the pecking order
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Akron 2 than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
Market1 Mar 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Konstantin Tarnolitskiy signs something — a contract at Akron 2 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match19 Dec 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Artem Grigorjev
“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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Akron 2
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikita Platon was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
Maxim Boldyrev 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 Maxim Boldyrev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
The plan did not have a place for Yomar Rocha
Nobody at Akron 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.
Market21 Dec 2026
The name of Maxim Boldyrev keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Akron 2 say nothing, which says plenty.
Looking ahead21 Dec 2026
Home comforts ahead for Akron 2
KDV Tomsk, position 2, come to town on Saturday. Nobody will call it a big game and nobody at the club will be treating it as anything else.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The terraces30 Nov 2026
Supporters organise against the Akron 2 board
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.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
A brace, and Maxim Boldyrev takes the afternoon — 8.39
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Maxim Boldyrev provided it, and the 8.39 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Yomar Rocha in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Akron 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces30 Nov 2026
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.
Match28 Nov 2026
Akron 2 get the job done against Nosta
A 2‑0 win over Nosta, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad30 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Akron 2
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikita Platon was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Doors closed at Akron 2
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Fedor Goryachev could afford to be generous.
The dugout30 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Akron 2
Dmitry Teryaev 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
16 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Akron 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yomar Rocha 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.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“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.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
A defender's afternoon for Yomar Rocha
Defensive actions: 16. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Fedor Goryachev was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Akron 2 dressing room was either.
Match21 Nov 2026
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Khimik defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Nov 2026
4 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Match7 Nov 2026
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 4‑1 against Chelyabinsk 2, and it could have been more.
Market9 Nov 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 Akron 2 can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Maxim Kholodov, 21, steals the show — 10.00
Marked 10.00 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Match7 Nov 2026
The drought breaks for Akron 2
7 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Chelyabinsk 2 were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
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 Akron 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces9 Nov 2026
He is 21 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Akron 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikita Platon 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 dugout9 Nov 2026
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 4‑1, already talking about the next one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces2 Nov 2026
Anger at Akron 2 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.
Match31 Oct 2026
The wait goes on for Akron 2
7 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.
Market2 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.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Yomar Rocha 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 terraces2 Nov 2026
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.
Match2 Nov 2026
Halfway: Akron 2 sit in position 9
15 points at the turn. The first half of a season is a promise; the second is a bill, and the town is about to find out which of the two this one was.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
The afternoon belonged to Yomar Rocha
A mark of 7.81, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Sep 2026
Dmitry Teryaev 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Yomar Rocha 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.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Marked 7.31 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Akron 2 had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout21 Sep 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.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Fedor Goryachev was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Akron 2 dressing room was either.
Squad21 Sep 2026
One yellow too many, and a match watched from the stand. The most avoidable absence in football, and Akron 2 will feel it on Saturday.
Match19 Sep 2026
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Orenburg 2 came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A new face in his position, and Dmitry Teryaev suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Akron 2 have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Marked 8.06 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Akron 2
Dmitry Teryaev 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 terraces10 Aug 2026
He is 21 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.
Match8 Aug 2026
A 2‑0 win over Chelyabinsk 2, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Market10 Aug 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Akron 2, another week without a signature from Semyon Zelenov.
The dugout10 Aug 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.” Fedor Goryachev kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Shots: 12. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Akron 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yomar Rocha 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Fedor Fenin finally opens his account
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Akron 2 have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.