Marked for Stepan Mikhailin
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market4 Jan 2027
Ilja Bychkov hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dinamo Barnaul can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Dinamo Barnaul
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Ivan Zhitnikov 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.
Match2 Jan 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout4 Jan 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dmitry Bakay was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Loan watch4 Jan 2027
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Dinamo Barnaul, and 11 appearances in 21 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
“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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Dmitry Tsvetkov
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Dmitry Tsvetkov has come out of that comparison in the side, and Dinamo Barnaul have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
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.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Ivan Zhitnikov 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.
Market9 Nov 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Vyacheslav Milyukov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Dinamo Barnaul training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Bakay 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.
Loan watch9 Nov 2026
“I did not go to Rodina M to sit and watch. I want to come back to Dinamo Barnaul and fight for my place.” 7 appearances in 13 matches say the rest.
Market9 Nov 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Artem Yarkin’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Anton Shadura 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 Dinamo Barnaul, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“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 Dinamo Barnaul will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
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.
Match10 Oct 2026
No end in sight to Dinamo Barnaul's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Dinamo Barnaul has to find a result from somewhere.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Dinamo Barnaul may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Ivan Zhitnikov 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.
Loan watch12 Oct 2026
“I did not go to Rodina M to sit and watch. I want to come back to Dinamo Barnaul and fight for my place.” 3 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.
Market12 Oct 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Vladlen Kurdyumov has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dmitry Bakay was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Artem Sablin gets it from the manager
“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
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
No sign of nerves from Arkhip Kazantsev at 19 — 8.18
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Arkhip Kazantsev did not need any: 8.18, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
The medical room confirms 41 days on the sidelines for Evgeni Goncharov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Rodina M
Alexandr Yevstratov 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 terraces12 Oct 2026
At 19 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.
Market12 Oct 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Yakov Grishin has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market12 Oct 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Danila Filatov has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Match10 Oct 2026
Level with 95 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Rodina M had all but put away. Zenit Penza will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
Dinamo Barnaul close the window on a squad of their own making
9 in and 1 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Krasnodar have kept their man, and Dinamo Barnaul go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Dinamo Barnaul training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivan Zhitnikov 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 ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Market14 Sep 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Foma Molchanov has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
The clock did what Rodina M would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Loan watch14 Sep 2026
“I watch every Dinamo Barnaul game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Rodina M runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad14 Sep 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 Barnaul this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Grigory Drozdov was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Dinamo Barnaul dressing room was either.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market3 Aug 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ivan Zhitnikov commits to Dinamo Barnaul for another 2 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Mikhail Osipov 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: Kvant have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Anton Shadura. The answer from Dinamo Barnaul has not changed — yet.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Dinamo Barnaul training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivan Zhitnikov 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 ratings3 Aug 2026
Artem Yarkin beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Market3 Aug 2026
49 months and counting on Vasily Ilik
Still no offer on the table, and Vasily Ilik’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Marked 8.22 at 19, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nikita Postnikov and Rodina M agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Nikita Postnikov 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.
The terraces3 Aug 2026
He is 17 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.
Match1 Aug 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Alexandr Andreev. 2‑0 against Strogino, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
A loan enquiry to Chaika: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Rodina M have made the call to Dinamo Barnaul. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑0, already talking about the next one.