The Chaika Courier
Market15 May 2028
Ali Suqrat asks to leave Chaika
“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.
Squad15 May 2028
Tempers go at Chaika
Stanislav Biblyk 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 May 2028
Words at Chaika training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. René Meléndez 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.
Boardroom15 May 2028
121% of the income goes out in wages at Chaika
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.
Loan watch15 May 2028
Ruslan Cherviakov counts the days
“I watch every Chaika game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Baltika runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Market15 May 2028
A long bet from Chaika on Ben Garbett
He is 19, and nobody at Chaika signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Market15 May 2028
Chaika buy the years ahead of Marius Mbainaissem
He is 19, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Market15 May 2028
Chaika buy the years ahead of Kaspars Gabovs
He is 18, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Squad15 May 2028
When it matters, Stanislav Biblyk plays
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.
In brief
- Squad Nikita Pavlov gets it from the manager
- Loan watch Arseny Filev's loan at Sokol nearly up