The Irtysh Chronicle
Squad9 Nov 2026
Irtysh count the cost of losing Alexandr Smirnov
18 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Irtysh
Alexandr Smirnov 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.
Market9 Nov 2026
Arseny Serov steps up from the Irtysh academy
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Arseny Serov has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market9 Nov 2026
Nil Dulov steps up from the Irtysh academy
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Nil Dulov has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Vilgelm Berg
“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.
Market9 Nov 2026
Still no ink between Irtysh and Maxim Marchenko
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Irtysh, another week without a signature from Maxim Marchenko.
Market9 Nov 2026
The Yury Bavin question follows Irtysh around
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Yury Bavin’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Konstantin Shokhin 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 Irtysh, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“I want to play”: Maher Hakami speaks
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
In brief
- Squad Alexey Solovjov has settled at Irtysh
- The dugout The manager plants his flag on Georgy Shestakov