Marked for Aldar Taskirov
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 Jan 2028
27 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Rubin 2 lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market31 Jan 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 The request is on a desk at Rubin 2, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Words exchanged at Rubin 2
Konstantin Savichev 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 dugout31 Jan 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 dugout31 Jan 2028
Nobody at Rubin 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.
The dugout31 Jan 2028
Ilja Ivanov 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 Rubin 2, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market31 Jan 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Dmitry Prokhorov signs something — a contract at Rubin 2 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad31 Jan 2028
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Yegor Kuznetsov keeps the shirt for now, at Rubin 2's convenience rather than his own.
Market31 Jan 2028
“He is at an age where he has to be playing at the top level. We will listen to anybody.” The representative of Nikolay Zabolotny is not being subtle.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
A brace, and Dmitry Prokhorov takes the afternoon — 9.15
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Dmitry Prokhorov provided it, and the 9.15 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market9 Aug 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market9 Aug 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 Rubin 2 can pretend not to have heard.
Squad9 Aug 2027
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad9 Aug 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 Rubin 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Market9 Aug 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Alexey Gritsaenko has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Rubin 2.
Match7 Aug 2027
Three points for Rubin 2, 2‑0 the final word against Nosta in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.16, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 May 2027
He is 20, he is averaging 7.05, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Squad31 May 2027
Lenar Fattakhov 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.
Squad31 May 2027
Konstantin Savichev 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout29 Mar 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Rubin 2
Lenar Fattakhov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Rubin 2
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Konstantin Savichev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Ilja Ivanov 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.
The dugout29 Mar 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 Rubin 2, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market29 Mar 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Rubin 2 know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.