The Neftyanik Sentinel
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
What a way to start for Akim Zyuzin — 7.48
1 on the scoresheet on his first appearance and a mark of 7.48 beside it. Most debuts are got through; this one was enjoyed, by him and by everybody watching it.
Market3 Aug 2026
Miroslav Potapov puts it in writing
“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 The request is on a desk at Neftyanik, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Bogdan Shapovalov, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.80
A mark of 7.80 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Neftyanik
Yuri Dulov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Door shut on Artem Yuran
Neftyanik asked and Volgar said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match1 Aug 2026
Akim Zyuzin’s goal not enough for Neftyanik
Akim Zyuzin scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Dinamo Stavropol, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Market3 Aug 2026
Shakhter Donetsk join the queue for Nazar Karimov
Add another name to the list: Shakhter Donetsk have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Nazar Karimov. The answer from Neftyanik has not changed — yet.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
No hiding place for Arseniy Semyonov
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Arseniy Semyonov, and the manager let it.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
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 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Vasily Zinovyev to a room that had heard them before.
In brief
- Transfer targets Neftyanik try to borrow Iljas Muminov
- The dugout Miroslav Potapov knocks on the manager’s door
- Squad A first team debut at 19 for Aleksandr Pokrovsky