From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match31 Jul 2027
No end in sight to Luki-Energiya's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Luki-Energiya has to find a result from somewhere.
Market2 Aug 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Luki-Energiya have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Match31 Jul 2027
Beaten 0-1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad2 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Dmitry Melnik
“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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Andrey Shevtsov 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.
Market2 Aug 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Luki-Energiya know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market28 Jun 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Luki-Energiya is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market28 Jun 2027
Metallurg come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Luki-Energiya did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad28 Jun 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Vasily Lunev commits to Luki-Energiya for another 3 years.
Market28 Jun 2027
1 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Luki-Energiya could get for him.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Igor Shestakov 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.
Squad28 Jun 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market3 May 2027
“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.
Squad3 May 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Luki-Energiya have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market3 May 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Luki-Energiya is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Mar 2027
Baba Mohammed: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Luki-Energiya have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market15 Mar 2027
Stepan Glebov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Luki-Energiya they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad15 Mar 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Baba Mohammed has company in his position
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Baba Mohammed keeps the shirt for now, at Luki-Energiya's convenience rather than his own.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market8 Mar 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market8 Mar 2027
Matvey Shavel 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 Luki-Energiya can pretend not to have heard.
Market8 Mar 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Luki-Energiya they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Baba Mohammed and Luki-Energiya agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Dmitry Melnik 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 Luki-Energiya, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market8 Mar 2027
4 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Luki-Energiya could get for him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match7 Nov 2026
11 matches without a win for Luki-Energiya
The run now stands at 11, and the questions being asked around Luki-Energiya are no longer polite ones.
Squad9 Nov 2026
The medical room confirms 14 days on the sidelines for Ilja Salnikov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad9 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Ilja Salnikov 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.
Match7 Nov 2026
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Torpedo Vladimir came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
Market9 Nov 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match31 Oct 2026
10 matches without a win for Luki-Energiya
The run now stands at 10, and the questions being asked around Luki-Energiya are no longer polite ones.
Match2 Nov 2026
10 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
The terraces2 Nov 2026
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 5 of the 24 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Market2 Nov 2026
Ivan Ovsyankin has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Luki-Energiya they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match31 Oct 2026
Baltika 2 left with the points after a 0-1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
99% of the income goes out in wages at Luki-Energiya
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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Artem Yegorov
“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.
Market2 Nov 2026
“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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Maxim Sergeev 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.