Marked for Anton Stepanenko
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad23 Jul 2029
A one-man rearguard from Daniel Sappa
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market23 Jul 2029
“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 The request is on a desk at Spartak Kostroma, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad23 Jul 2029
Daniel Sappa 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.
Market23 Jul 2029
The paperwork is done: Arseny Lomtev joins from KDV Tomsk in a deal worth $38.0K. Now comes the harder part.
Player ratings23 Jul 2029
Marked 9.36 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Match21 Jul 2029
Volga made Spartak Kostroma work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings23 Jul 2029
Marked 8.52 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings23 Jul 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.32, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings23 Jul 2029
Defensive actions: 18. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Jun 2029
Daniel Sappa in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Spartak Kostroma this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market18 Jun 2029
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Nikita Demchenko has his answer from Spartak Kostroma; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Squad18 Jun 2029
The manager makes an example of Giorgy Uridia
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 May 2029
Daniel Sappa in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Spartak Kostroma this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 May 2029
The manager makes an example of Marat Tlekhugov
“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.
Market28 May 2029
Arnas Paulauskas is 19, and Spartak Kostroma have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Market28 May 2029
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.
Market28 May 2029
He is 18, and nobody at Spartak Kostroma signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Market28 May 2029
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad7 Aug 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Epicentr this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Aug 2028
“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.
Match5 Aug 2028
A bad afternoon for Epicentr against Kolos
0‑1 to Kolos, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad7 Aug 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ihor Kyriukhantsev commits to Epicentr for another 2 years.
Loan watch7 Aug 2028
“I did not go to Ahrobiznes to sit and watch. I want to come back to Epicentr and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
Player ratings7 Aug 2028
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market7 Aug 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Epicentr know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad7 Aug 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nazar Yurchenko trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market7 Aug 2028
24 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.