Marked for Bogdan Boldyrev
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad29 Nov 2027
A row about effort at Sibir
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alexandr Nosov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom29 Nov 2027
Wages swallow 169% of the Sibir 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.
Match27 Nov 2027
Veles take the points off Sibir
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Artyom Kotov after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Kirill Krasnokhod, 19, is the weekend’s best young player
Measured against every other kid in the division and first among them. The senior award is where Sibir would like this to lead.
Squad29 Nov 2027
One yellow too many, and a match watched from the stand. The most avoidable absence in football, and Sibir will feel it on Saturday.
Looking ahead29 Nov 2027
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Bogdan Boldyrev’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Sibir needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Market29 Nov 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Sibir know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout29 Nov 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market15 Nov 2027
Only the photograph left for Artur Yangaev
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Artur Yangaev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sibir the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad15 Nov 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 Sibir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words at Sibir training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilja Maximenkov 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
23 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
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 dugout15 Nov 2027
Maxim Karaev 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
A Sibir teenager takes the young player award
Kirill Krasnokhod is 19, and for one weekend he was the best of everybody his age in the division. Nobody should build a career on it and everybody quietly does.
Looking ahead15 Nov 2027
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Alexandr Nosov’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Sibir needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Market15 Nov 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Sibir know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings1 Nov 2027
Vladimir Laptev pops up at the right end — 7.47
7.47, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Tempers go at Sibir
Ivan Churikov 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.
Boardroom1 Nov 2027
142% of the income goes out in wages at Sibir
Every club in football 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 somebody has tried it.
Match30 Oct 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Vladimir Laptev. 1‑0 against Dinamo Moscow 2, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words at Sibir training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilja Maximenkov 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 ratings1 Nov 2027
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.67 on the card, and the Sibir support went home talking about one name.
Player ratings1 Nov 2027
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 16 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
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.” Artyom Kotov kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Player ratings1 Nov 2027
14 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match18 Aug 2027
Sibir out of the cup
Luki-Energiya ended it 1‑2. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Market23 Aug 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Sibir people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market23 Aug 2027
Oleg Nikolaev 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 Sibir can pretend not to have heard.
Match21 Aug 2027
The wait goes on for Sibir
4 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.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. 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.
The dugout23 Aug 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Tempers go at Sibir
Dmitry Redkovich 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 targets23 Aug 2027
Nizhniy Novgorod 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.
Market23 Aug 2027
Irkutsk are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Sibir will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom7 Jun 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Sibir had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
This is not rotation. Nikita Matskharashvili has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Sibir is pretending otherwise.
Market7 Jun 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sibir is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad7 Jun 2027
A falling-out at Sibir
Alexandr Nosov 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
Words at Sibir training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilja Maximenkov 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 dugout7 Jun 2027
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Petr Kosarevskiy was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
Sibir have to sell first
The manager has a list and the board has a condition attached to it. That is not a crisis — half of football works this way — but it decides which of the two of them gets his way in August.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
Georgy Zotov 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 Sibir, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom24 May 2027
Pressure builds in the Sibir boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad24 May 2027
Words exchanged at Sibir
Ivan Churikov 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.
Boardroom24 May 2027
Sibir counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Sibir now.
Squad24 May 2027
A row about effort at Sibir
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ilja Maximenkov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout24 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.
Market24 May 2027
The name of Nikita Matskharashvili keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Sibir say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout10 May 2027
This is not rotation. Nikita Matskharashvili has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Sibir is pretending otherwise.
Market10 May 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Oleg Kozachenko will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sibir the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad10 May 2027
Words exchanged at Sibir
Dmitry Redkovich 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 dugout10 May 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.
Market10 May 2027
The name of Petr Kosarevskiy keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Sibir say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout10 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad19 Apr 2027
Tempers go at Sibir
Alexandr Nosov 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 dugout19 Apr 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.
Boardroom19 Apr 2027
Wages eat 122% of everything Sibir 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.
Market19 Apr 2027
The name of Maxim Chikanchi keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Sibir say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
Danila Meksh has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Sibir 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.
Squad19 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 Sibir will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout12 Apr 2027
This is not rotation. Nikita Matskharashvili has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Sibir is pretending otherwise.
Market12 Apr 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sibir they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad12 Apr 2027
A falling-out at Sibir
Ivan Churikov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Sibir training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilja Maximenkov 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 dugout12 Apr 2027
Georgy Zotov 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.
Market12 Apr 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Petr Kosarevskiy signs something — a contract at Sibir or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout15 Mar 2027
This is not rotation. Nikita Matskharashvili has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Sibir is pretending otherwise.
Market15 Mar 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sibir they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Sibir
Dmitry Yakovlev 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Sibir training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilja Maximenkov 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 dugout15 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Anton Krotov
“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.
Market15 Mar 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Petr Kosarevskiy signs something — a contract at Sibir or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
Bogdan Boldyrev has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Sibir 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 dugout15 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 Sibir, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market15 Mar 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Dmitry Redkovich may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market15 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 Sibir can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
This is not rotation. Nikita Matskharashvili has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Sibir is pretending otherwise.
Market15 Feb 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sibir they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A falling-out at Sibir
Ivan Churikov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market15 Feb 2027
Add another name to the list: Orel have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Sergey Zapalatskiy. The answer from Sibir has not changed — yet.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Bogdan Boldyrev
“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.
Market15 Feb 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Petr Kosarevskiy signs something — a contract at Sibir or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout15 Feb 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 dugout15 Feb 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Sergey Zapalatskiy trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Sibir
Ivan Churikov 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.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
468% of the income goes out in wages at Sibir
Every club in football 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 somebody has tried it.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Sibir
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ilja Maximenkov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Anton Krotov 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 dugout28 Dec 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 dugout28 Dec 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Sibir
Dmitry Redkovich 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 dugout14 Dec 2026
Anton Krotov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Sibir 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.
Market14 Dec 2026
The name of Ivan Churikov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Sibir say nothing, which says plenty.
Match14 Dec 2026
Continental football is in reach for Sibir
24 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.
Squad14 Dec 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 Sibir will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Anton Makurin 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 Anton Makurin trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match19 Aug 2026
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Dmitry Nikitin obliged against Zenit Penza. 3‑1 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Sibir.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
A brace, and Dmitry Nikitin takes the afternoon — 8.88
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Dmitry Nikitin provided it, and the 8.88 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Bogdan Boldyrev, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.15
A mark of 8.15 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Market24 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.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
A defender's goal wins it for Sibir — 7.54
1 for Alexandr Yeliseev, marked 7.54, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Sibir
Alexandr Nosov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces24 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.