Marked for Morgan Mabunda
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad10 May 2027
A fracture rules Ilja Stefanovich out for 42 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Leningradets will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market10 May 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 Leningradets can pretend not to have heard.
Market10 May 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Leningradets they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Leningradets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Magomedkhabib Abdusalamov 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.
Squad10 May 2027
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Leningradets know it.
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.
The dugout10 May 2027
Artur Maxetsov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Leningradets 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.
Market10 May 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Leningradets know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The terraces10 May 2027
Supporters make their feelings known about Ilja Stefanovich
The speculation has reached the stands, and the stands have answered. Leningradets would like this settled before it becomes the only thing anybody asks about.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad3 May 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 49 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market3 May 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Leningradets they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Leningradets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Magomedkhabib Abdusalamov 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.
Squad3 May 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Leningradets can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Loan watch3 May 2027
“I did not go to Salyut to sit and watch. I want to come back to Leningradets and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.
Squad3 May 2027
Morgan Mabunda 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 Leningradets know now that the thought has arrived.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad12 Apr 2027
A fracture rules Ilja Stefanovich out for 71 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Leningradets will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market12 Apr 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Leningradets they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Alexey Kuznetsov 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
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Magomedkhabib Abdusalamov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad12 Apr 2027
A muscle injury sidelines Morgan Mabunda for 14 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Leningradets will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad29 Mar 2027
85 days out for Ilja Stefanovich after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Leningradets will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
This is not rotation. Sergey Nikolaev has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Leningradets is pretending otherwise.
Market29 Mar 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Leningradets is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom29 Mar 2027
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Leningradets now.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Leningradets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Anatoliy Makarov 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 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 Leningradets, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Artem Gutsa has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Leningradets 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.
Market29 Mar 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Anatoliy Makarov signs something — a contract at Leningradets or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad29 Mar 2027
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Leningradets has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad15 Mar 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 99 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market15 Mar 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.
Market15 Mar 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Leningradets is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Sergey Nikolaev 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Anatoliy Makarov 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.
The dugout15 Mar 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 Artur Maxetsov is on it.
Squad15 Mar 2027
The formation has left Morgan Mabunda behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Leningradets will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matvey Pershin, and the manager let it.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
Vitaly Gorulev 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 Leningradets, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad8 Mar 2027
106 days out for Ilja Stefanovich after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Leningradets will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market8 Mar 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Leningradets people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market8 Mar 2027
The offer from Zenit Penza for Vitaly Gorulev was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Market8 Mar 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Leningradets is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Danila Yemeljanov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words at Leningradets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Anatoliy Makarov 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Leningradets know it.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
Vitaly Gorulev has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Leningradets 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.
Market8 Mar 2027
Experience through the door at Leningradets
Morgan Mabunda arrives at 33 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Aug 2026
The offer from Ismaily for Lebogang Billiat was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Market3 Aug 2026
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at SuperSport United heard it as anything else.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
The offer went to Mamelodi Sundowns this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Kermit Tau 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.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Slovan Bratislava have kept their man, and SuperSport United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Williams Jali 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.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Mamelodi Sundowns 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.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Orlando Pirates 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Morgan Mabunda has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at SuperSport United.