The Irtysh Chronicle
Boardroom16 Jul 2029
Irtysh run out of patience with Artem Gribov
The end came on a Tuesday, as these things usually do: a short meeting, a shorter statement, and Artem Gribov clearing his office by noon. Football’s cruellest ritual, performed to schedule.
Squad16 Jul 2029
A fracture rules Alexandr Puzach out for 47 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Irtysh will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market16 Jul 2029
Only the photograph left for Vladislav Poletaev
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vladislav Poletaev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Irtysh the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom16 Jul 2029
Aleksandr Stepanov steps up at Irtysh for now
“Somebody picks the team on Saturday. This week it is me, and that is as far as I have thought.” No promises were made in either direction, which is how these usually begin.
Boardroom16 Jul 2029
Irtysh to lose Vladislav Poletaev for free
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Vladislav Poletaev has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad16 Jul 2029
The step up is real for Bart Kosiorek
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad16 Jul 2029
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.
Squad16 Jul 2029
A late step up for Luca Napolitano
At 25 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Boardroom16 Jul 2029
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Irtysh
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.
In brief
- Market Irtysh promote Dmitriy Mamonov from within
- Market Irtysh promote Ivan Gubin from within
- Market One of our own: Yuriy Ivanov joins the Irtysh first team