Vladislav Kamilov 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 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.
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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Ufa, another week without a signature from Dickson Ibrahim.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Dickson Ibrahim trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody at Ufa 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.
3 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Ufa could ask drops and the wages Artem Ivanov can ask rise.
20 graduates, from a department now rated 7 out of 20. Nothing about the academy appears in a result, and nothing about the club’s future exists without it.
In brief
SquadQuestions about Georgy Tuaev on the training pitch
15 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Neftyanik lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 The request is on a desk at Neftyanik, and it is not being withdrawn.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Neftyanik will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Sergey Krotov 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vlad Chkalov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 19 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.
22 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Neftyanik lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Neftyanik scored in the 94th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Valdemar Klitsø scored, was marked 7.59, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Viktor Gusev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Neftyanik the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Two of the goals had his name somewhere on them, which is the afternoon a manager wants from anybody asked to both create and finish. 7.97, and 2 involvements.
Savely Gerasimov 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.
This is not rotation. Viktor Gusev has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Neftyanik is pretending otherwise.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Vlad Chkalov 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.
29 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Neftyanik lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Neftyanik can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Neftyanik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The shortfall was covered from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be relieved and entitled to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings usually arrive together.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Words at Neftyanik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Savely Gerasimov 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Djabrail Taramov has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
36 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Neftyanik lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“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 Neftyanik, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Neftyanik have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Sergey Krotov 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Savely Gerasimov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Ilya Abdulov after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
43 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Neftyanik lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.24 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Sergey Krotov 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vlad Chkalov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Past the limit the bank set, which is the line between a club being financed and a club being in trouble. $4.4M is now the number every conversation about this club will start with.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Ilya Abdulov on a 3‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
57 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Neftyanik lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Neftyanik can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Neftyanik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Words at Neftyanik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Savely Gerasimov 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 embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Neftyanik can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Half the programme played, position 11, 27 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
64 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Neftyanik lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Neftyanik will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
13 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
“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 Neftyanik, and it is not being withdrawn.
1 for Djabrail Taramov, marked 7.80, 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.
Sergey Krotov 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 shortfall was covered from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be relieved and entitled to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings usually arrive together.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Words at Neftyanik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vlad Chkalov 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Djabrail Taramov has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
The words a physio says slowly. 92 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Neftyanik will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Neftyanik can pretend not to have heard.
Sergey Krotov 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 shortfall was covered from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be relieved and entitled to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings usually arrive together.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Words at Neftyanik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Savely Gerasimov 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Fyodor Smirnov. 1‑0 against Kuban Holding, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Successful dribbles: 18. 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Neftyanik is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Neftyanik can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vlad Chkalov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Neftyanik has been clear about where Sander Elyounoussi stands, which is more than many ever get.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 13 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
It finished 0-3. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Neftyanik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Vlad Chkalov 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.
“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 Neftyanik know it.
10 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
This is money that keeps the lights on rather than money that buys a centre-half, and the difference is the whole story. A club funded by its owner rather than by its football has exactly one conversation left ahead of it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vlad Chkalov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
A 1‑0 win over Spartak Nalchik, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Druzhba kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Neftyanik will be asked about the last half hour all week.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Neftyanik is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Words at Neftyanik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Răduţ Burcea 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Neftyanik can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Neftyanik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
9 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Chelyabinsk will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Nikita Postnov has pre-agreed a move to Neftyanik, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Neftyanik asked and KAMAZ said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Words at Neftyanik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vlad Chkalov 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 clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Neftyanik people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“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.
Boardroom11 Sep 2028
Deadline passes with 7 signed and 17 gone
That is the business done at Neftyanik until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Sergey Krotov 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 approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Vlad Chkalov 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.
“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 Neftyanik know it.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Neftyanik people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Neftyanik can pretend not to have heard.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Kirill Kon' did not need any: 8.09, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Neftyanik and Chaika M in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Neftyanik can pretend not to have heard.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Neftyanik have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The offer from Druzhba for Vlad Dolgikh 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Neftyanik they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Aleksandr Gorbachev 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vlad Chkalov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Maxim Boichenko has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Neftyanik people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Dinamo Bryansk keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Neftyanik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Neftyanik asked and KAMAZ said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Dinamo Stavropol left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Words at Neftyanik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vlad Chkalov 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.
In brief
BoardroomWages swallow 119% of the Neftyanik income
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Neftyanik have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Neftyanik can pretend not to have heard.
Everything agreed with Dinamo Bryansk, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Sergey Krotov 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.
Boardroom17 Jul 2028
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Neftyanik
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
The phone has started ringing about Manuk Mnatsakanyan again, and this time the name on the line is Cherepovets. Neftyanik are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Words at Neftyanik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vlad Chkalov 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 clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Neftyanik people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Neftyanik they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The deal with Khimik is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Sergey Krotov 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.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Vlad Chkalov 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Spartak Nalchik waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Neftyanik is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Neftyanik is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Savely Gerasimov 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Spartak Kostroma have kept their man, and Neftyanik go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vlad Chkalov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Neftyanik has been clear about where Vlad Dolgikh stands, which is more than many ever get.
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 17 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Kuban waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Neftyanik is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“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 Neftyanik, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deal with Spartak Kostroma is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Rubin Yalta will make the call about Vlad Dolgikh this week. Neftyanik have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
“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.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Words at Neftyanik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladlen Komarov 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Savely Gerasimov signs something — a contract at Neftyanik or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
BoardroomOpen for business: Neftyanik enter the window
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 24 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Neftyanik they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Neftyanik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 Neftyanik know it.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Răduţ Burcea 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Vlad Chkalov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Vitaliy Smolnikov may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Neftyanik will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 Neftyanik, and it is not being withdrawn.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Neftyanik have had the benefit of it.
Aleksandr Gorbachev 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.
This is money that keeps the lights on rather than money that buys a centre-half, and the difference is the whole story. A club funded by its owner rather than by its football has exactly one conversation left ahead of it.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Words at Neftyanik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vlad Chkalov 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.
18 games, 2 goals, and a squad option that has arrived without a fee attached. The interesting question at Neftyanik now is not whether he plays but who he displaces.
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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Neftyanik is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Nikita Khvat 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.
Squad29 May 2028
Vlad Chkalov 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 manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Timofey Nikiforov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Position 3, 70 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Neftyanik they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.19, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Neftyanik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vlad Chkalov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
What was a back-page story is now a matter for the terraces, and the terraces do not do nuance. Neftyanik would like it dealt with before it becomes the only question anybody asks.
“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 Neftyanik will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Savely Gerasimov 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.
This is money that keeps the lights on rather than money that buys a centre-half, and the difference is the whole story. A club funded by its owner rather than by its football has exactly one conversation left ahead of it.
Squad8 May 2028
Vlad Chkalov 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.
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.
The borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Nikita Khvat is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Neftyanik, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Vlad Chkalov 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 board was up, the win was priced in, and then Rostov 2 scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
In brief
The dugoutVlad Chkalov asks for a word with the manager
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Neftyanik they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
A season average of 7.18 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Neftyanik know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Neftyanik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Words at Neftyanik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vlad Chkalov 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.
He is 19 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.
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Neftyanik will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
Nikita Khvat 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.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
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.
A point taken on 93 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
The borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Neftyanik is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Nikita Khvat 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.
9.59. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
A 3‑1 win over Kuban Holding, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
This is money that keeps the lights on rather than money that buys a centre-half, and the difference is the whole story. A club funded by its owner rather than by its football has exactly one conversation left ahead of it.
In brief
SquadWords at Neftyanik training over how hard people work
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Neftyanik can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vlad Chkalov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Something was said to Stepan Rodin and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Aleksandr Gorbachev signs something — a contract at Neftyanik or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nobody at Neftyanik 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.
Aleksandr Gorbachev 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.
A 2‑1 win over PSK Pervorechenskoe, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vlad Chkalov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Maxim Boichenko has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Neftyanik they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Aleksandr Gorbachev 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.
This is money that keeps the lights on rather than money that buys a centre-half, and the difference is the whole story. A club funded by its owner rather than by its football has exactly one conversation left ahead of it.
Fyodor Smirnov scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Zarya Lugansk, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Words at Neftyanik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vlad Chkalov 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 embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 1 arrived, 2 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Neftyanik asked and Ryazan said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Zarya Lugansk next, and the two sides the division is watching meet each other. Whoever wins will be told nothing is decided in the same breath as being congratulated.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Neftyanik can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Neftyanik can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Manuk Mnatsakanyan will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Neftyanik the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The deal with Dinamo Vologda is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.16, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Neftyanik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Neftyanik asked and Dinamo Vologda said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Nikita Khvat. 2‑1 against Druzhba, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Words at Neftyanik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vlad Chkalov 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.
In brief
Player ratingsSavely Gerasimov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
Nikita Khvat 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.
Marked 6.71 on 13 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vlad Chkalov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Neftyanik is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Nikita Khvat did not need any: 7.65, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Neftyanik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
“I watch every Neftyanik game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Irkutsk runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
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.
Position 3 and 41 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Player ratings10 Jan 2028
Nikita Khvat, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.51
A mark of 8.51 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Neftyanik is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Nikita Khvat 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 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.
At 20 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
8.28. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Neftyanik have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
He is 20, he is averaging 7.01, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Nikita Khvat 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.
Aleksandr Gorbachev 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.
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.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Neftyanik are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Neftyanik, and 6 appearances in 12 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Ilya Abdulov left the room before anybody could ask which.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Manuk Mnatsakanyan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Nikita Khvat did not need any: 7.72, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 36 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Words at Neftyanik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vlad Chkalov 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Neftyanik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 20 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Ilya Abdulov was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Neftyanik dressing room was either.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Andrey Abramov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Fyodor Smirnov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Neftyanik the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Neftyanik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vlad Chkalov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Kirill Kon' has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Nikita Khvat 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vlad Chkalov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
He is 23 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.
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Ilya Abdulov was not hiding it after 2‑2, and nobody in the Neftyanik dressing room was either.
In brief
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than Danila Karimov
Two of the goals had his name somewhere on them, which is the afternoon a manager wants from anybody asked to both create and finish. 7.98, and 2 involvements.
Nikita Khvat 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vlad Chkalov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 20 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.
“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 dugout1 Nov 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 2‑3 defeat, delivered by Ilya Abdulov to a room that had heard them before.
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Neftyanik they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.11, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words at Neftyanik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vlad Chkalov 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.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Neftyanik are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Vlad Chkalov 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.
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.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Neftyanik are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
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 Pavel Sazonov is on it.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Yaroslav Mikhaylov did not need any: 7.92, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Aleksandr Gorbachev and Neftyanik agree another 3 years.
Nikita Khvat 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Timofey Nikiforov. 3‑1 against Spartak Nalchik, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Maxim Boichenko has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
3 goals before the ground had finished arriving. Spartak Nalchik spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Neftyanik they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Neftyanik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Andrey Abramov and Neftyanik agree another 4 years.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Words at Neftyanik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vlad Chkalov 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Stepan Rodin has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.