Marked for Angelo Tognarelli
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 41. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match13 Oct 2027
Volga through in the cup
A 1‑0 win over Chelyabinsk, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Market18 Oct 2027
Samir Bonasola has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Volga they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words exchanged at Volga
Konstantin Shiltsov 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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words at Volga training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kamil Ibragimov 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 terraces18 Oct 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Luka Bagatelia 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.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Marked 7.87 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Volga had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ivo Pedraja, and the manager let it.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Anatoly Kokorin after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match24 Jul 2027
Still nobody has beaten Volga
The unbeaten run reaches 14. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Market26 Jul 2027
Fakel come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Volga did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market26 Jul 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Volga can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, and a scan that said otherwise. He goes back to Rubin; Volga go back to the market; and both will insist there is no story here.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words exchanged at Volga
Konstantin Shiltsov 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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at Volga training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kamil Ibragimov 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.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Akron have kept their man, and Volga go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Player ratings26 Jul 2027
Artur Murza beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 17. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad26 Jul 2027
5 new faces, and Volga 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market28 Jun 2027
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Sokol is saying, and nobody at Volga is enjoying the guessing.
Market28 Jun 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Volga is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Volga have done the hard part with Baltika, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Metallurg have kept their man, and Volga go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Kamil Ibragimov 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Tempers go at Volga
Aleksandr Dovgal' 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 targets28 Jun 2027
Rubin have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Angelo Tognarelli, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Jun 2027
Liepaja come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Volga did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market7 Jun 2027
Only the photograph left for Luka Bagatelia
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Luka Bagatelia will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Volga the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad7 Jun 2027
A falling-out at Volga
Vladislav Yakovlev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Jun 2027
A row about effort at Volga
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kamil Ibragimov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Artur Murza, and the manager let it.
Loan watch7 Jun 2027
10 shut-outs in 22 games. A goalkeeper’s loan is judged on the afternoons when nothing happened at all, and Denis Yeremeev has been having a lot of them.
Squad7 Jun 2027
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Angelo Tognarelli is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Market7 Jun 2027
“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.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Astemir Khashkulov is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 May 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Volga they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad31 May 2027
Words exchanged at Volga
Alexandr Melikhov 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.
Squad31 May 2027
A row about effort at Volga
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Artur Murza was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout31 May 2027
“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 dugout31 May 2027
Artur Murza 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 Artur Murza trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad31 May 2027
“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 Volga will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Market31 May 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Evgeny Voronin signs something — a contract at Volga or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout31 May 2027
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Denis Rakhmanov has written the date down.
The dugout31 May 2027
The manager plants his flag on Danil Novikov
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Danil Novikov’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout17 May 2027
“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.
Market17 May 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Volga they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad17 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 Volga this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 May 2027
Kamil Ibragimov 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.
Boardroom17 May 2027
Wages swallow 125% of the Volga income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Squad17 May 2027
Edwar Bracho wants one last season at home
Every long career reaches the week the last one is thought about. He would like it to be where he started, and Volga know now that the thought has arrived.
Squad17 May 2027
Too much change too quickly at Volga
7 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.
The dugout17 May 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.
The dugout17 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ivo Pedraja, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Volga may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market26 Apr 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Volga is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad26 Apr 2027
A falling-out at Volga
Alexandr Melikhov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Volga
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kamil Ibragimov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Angelo Tognarelli, and the manager let it.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
Andrey Kostin 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 Andrey Kostin trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market26 Apr 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Alexandr Saplinov signs something — a contract at Volga or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Match26 Apr 2027
Continental football is in reach for Volga
48 points from position 5. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
Market26 Apr 2027
2 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Volga could get for him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market19 Apr 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Dmitry Rakhmanov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Volga the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad19 Apr 2027
A falling-out at Volga
Alexandr Melikhov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Artur Murza 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.
Boardroom19 Apr 2027
Wages eat 126% of everything Volga 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
11 new faces, and Volga 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.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
El Mehdi Maouhoub has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Volga 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.
The dugout19 Apr 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.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
Artur Murza 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.
Market19 Apr 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Andrey Kostin signs something — a contract at Volga or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market12 Apr 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Volga is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words exchanged at Volga
Alexandr Melikhov 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Volga
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kamil Ibragimov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Loan watch12 Apr 2027
10 shut-outs in 22 games. A goalkeeper’s loan is judged on the afternoons when nothing happened at all, and Denis Yeremeev has been having a lot of them.
The dugout12 Apr 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.
Market12 Apr 2027
“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.
The dugout12 Apr 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Danil Novikov has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.
Market12 Apr 2027
The name of Vladislav Yakovlev keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Volga say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market8 Feb 2027
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Zenit Penza had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Market8 Feb 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Zenit Penza waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Volga is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market8 Feb 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Volga can pretend not to have heard.
Market8 Feb 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 25. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Tempers go at Volga
Aleksa Đurasović 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Kirill Folmer 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Angelo Tognarelli and Volga agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.