Marked for Mark Nikolaev
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market4 Dec 2028
“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 The request is on a desk at Textilschik, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom4 Dec 2028
The scrutiny sharpens at Textilschik
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Textilschik is running low.
Boardroom4 Dec 2028
The owner puts $199.5K into Textilschik
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.
Boardroom4 Dec 2028
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.
Squad4 Dec 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 Textilschik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market4 Dec 2028
He is 18, and nobody at Textilschik signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Evgeny Gololobov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Textilschik 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.
Squad4 Dec 2028
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Textilschik told Mark Nikolaev something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Squad4 Dec 2028
“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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad14 Aug 2028
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Dinamo Vologda will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Aslan Aushev is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad14 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 Dinamo Vologda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Marcel Guzynski gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Marcel Guzynski has just signed for Dinamo Vologda, and for once the answer mattered.
Match12 Aug 2028
9 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Player ratings14 Aug 2028
Danila Yezhkov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.01. 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.
Player ratings14 Aug 2028
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market14 Aug 2028
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 Jul 2028
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Dinamo Vologda will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market31 Jul 2028
“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 Dinamo Vologda, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market31 Jul 2028
Only the photograph left for Mark Nikolaev
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mark Nikolaev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dinamo Vologda the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Player ratings31 Jul 2028
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Andrey Yakovlev 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.
Match29 Jul 2028
8 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Match29 Jul 2028
It finished 1‑0, and it was Danila Yezhkov’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Dinamo Vologda.
Player ratings31 Jul 2028
Marked 8.15 — 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.
Squad31 Jul 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vsevolod Bykov, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Jul 2028
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Dinamo Vologda will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market3 Jul 2028
Only the photograph left for Mark Nikolaev
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mark Nikolaev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dinamo Vologda the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad3 Jul 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 Dinamo Vologda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Words at Dinamo Vologda training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yaroslav Frolov 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.
Market3 Jul 2028
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Boardroom3 Jul 2028
Dinamo Vologda sign 3 boys into the academy
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Jun 2028
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 Dinamo Vologda have had the benefit of it.
Market5 Jun 2028
Only the photograph left for Mark Nikolaev
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mark Nikolaev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dinamo Vologda the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Aslan Aushev 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 Dinamo Vologda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market29 May 2028
“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 Dinamo Vologda, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad29 May 2028
Danila Yezhkov 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.
Boardroom29 May 2028
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Dinamo Vologda now.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market8 May 2028
Only the photograph left for Mark Nikolaev
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mark Nikolaev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dinamo Vologda the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad8 May 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Danila Yezhkov and Dinamo Vologda agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 May 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 Dinamo Vologda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market1 May 2028
Only the photograph left for Danila Yezhkov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Danila Yezhkov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dinamo Vologda the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market1 May 2028
Mark Nikolaev hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dinamo Vologda can pretend not to have heard.
Squad1 May 2028
Danila Yezhkov 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.
Boardroom1 May 2028
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Dinamo Vologda now.
Squad1 May 2028
Words at Dinamo Vologda training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrey Yakovlev 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.
Squad1 May 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Apr 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Dinamo Vologda is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad10 Apr 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 Dinamo Vologda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Andrey Yakovlev 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Apr 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Dinamo Vologda is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market3 Apr 2028
Mark Nikolaev hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dinamo Vologda can pretend not to have heard.
Squad3 Apr 2028
He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday. The order of those three tells you everything about what a football club actually values.
Boardroom3 Apr 2028
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Mark Nikolaev has agreed terms with Znamya Truda for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Andrey Yakovlev 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.
Boardroom3 Apr 2028
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Dinamo Vologda now.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market13 Mar 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Dinamo Vologda they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad13 Mar 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 Dinamo Vologda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Nikita Krivoruchko 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.
Squad13 Mar 2028
“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.
Market13 Mar 2028
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Dinamo Vologda, another week without a signature from Aslan Aushev.
Squad13 Mar 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Dinamo Vologda, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market6 Mar 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Dinamo Vologda is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market6 Mar 2028
“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 Dinamo Vologda, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad6 Mar 2028
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad6 Mar 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Andrey Yakovlev and Dinamo Vologda agree another 2 years.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Danila Yezhkov 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.
Boardroom6 Mar 2028
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Dinamo Vologda now.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Feb 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 Dinamo Vologda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Andrey Yakovlev 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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
The manager makes an example of Danila Yezhkov
“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
Market7 Feb 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Dinamo Vologda is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market7 Feb 2028
“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.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Andrey Yakovlev 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.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Dinamo Vologda now.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Yaroslav Frolov 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.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Wages eat 96% of everything Dinamo Vologda earn
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad17 Jan 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Dinamo Vologda may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad17 Jan 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 Dinamo Vologda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Jan 2028
“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.
Match15 Jan 2028
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Words at Dinamo Vologda training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yaroslav Frolov 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.
Player ratings17 Jan 2028
Successful dribbles: 11. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings10 Jan 2028
A brace, and Danila Yezhkov takes the afternoon — 8.86
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Danila Yezhkov provided it, and the 8.86 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market10 Jan 2028
Only the photograph left for Danila Yezhkov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Danila Yezhkov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dinamo Vologda the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Player ratings10 Jan 2028
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match8 Jan 2028
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 9 matches without defeat is a foundation Dinamo Vologda did not have in the autumn.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Danila Yezhkov 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.
Match8 Jan 2028
Three points for Dinamo Vologda, 2‑1 the final word against Kosmos in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Yaroslav Frolov 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.
Boardroom10 Jan 2028
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Dinamo Vologda now.
Squad10 Jan 2028
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad13 Dec 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Andrey Yakovlev
15 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Dinamo Vologda lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market13 Dec 2027
Only the photograph left for Danila Yezhkov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Danila Yezhkov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dinamo Vologda the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market13 Dec 2027
“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 Dinamo Vologda, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad13 Dec 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Vologda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings13 Dec 2027
Ninety minutes of Nikita Kireev at his very best
Marked 8.24. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Dinamo Vologda.
Player ratings13 Dec 2027
Ninety minutes of Anton Betyuzhnov at his very best
Marked 8.21. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Dinamo Vologda.
Squad13 Dec 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vladislav Yanchenko, and the manager let it.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Nikita Krivoruchko 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad22 Nov 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Andrey Yakovlev
36 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Dinamo Vologda lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Danila Yezhkov 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 terraces22 Nov 2027
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.
Match20 Nov 2027
A 1‑0 win over Zenit 2, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings22 Nov 2027
Ninety minutes of Anton Betyuzhnov at his very best
Marked 8.18. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Dinamo Vologda.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Words at Dinamo Vologda training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikita Krivoruchko 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.
Squad22 Nov 2027
“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.
Player ratings22 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market22 Nov 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Dinamo Vologda know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Nov 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Andrey Yakovlev
43 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Dinamo Vologda lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market15 Nov 2027
Mark Nikolaev hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dinamo Vologda can pretend not to have heard.
Squad15 Nov 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Vologda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings15 Nov 2027
Marked 7.21 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Dinamo Vologda had the best player on the pitch.
Squad15 Nov 2027
The manager makes an example of Danil Spodarets
“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.
Boardroom15 Nov 2027
The numbers do not look good at Dinamo Vologda
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Oct 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Andrey Yakovlev
71 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Dinamo Vologda lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market18 Oct 2027
“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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Vologda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words at Dinamo Vologda training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yaroslav Frolov 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.
Match16 Oct 2027
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match14 Aug 2027
Whatever happens, Dinamo Vologda do not lose
14 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Match14 Aug 2027
17 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Squad16 Aug 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Dinamo Vologda have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Danila Yezhkov pulls a muscle — 15 days out
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 15 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Market16 Aug 2027
Only the photograph left for Gleb Gusev
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Gleb Gusev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dinamo Vologda the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Dinamo Vologda training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrey Yakovlev 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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Aslan Aushev 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 terraces16 Aug 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Vsevolod Bykov 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market26 Jul 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Druzhba can pretend not to have heard.
Match24 Jul 2027
6 matches without a win for Druzhba
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Druzhba are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings26 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market26 Jul 2027
The phone has started ringing about Mark Nikolaev again, and this time the name on the line is Kosmos. Druzhba are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at Druzhba training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kirill Yushko 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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Eddi Tsanava 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 Druzhba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match24 Jul 2027
Legion left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad26 Jul 2027
“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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Jaime Júnior asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match17 Jul 2027
5 matches without a win for Druzhba
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Druzhba are no longer polite ones.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Jaime Júnior 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 Druzhba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match17 Jul 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at Druzhba training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Soslan Cherdzhiev 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
“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.
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Boardroom19 Jul 2027
Druzhba counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Druzhba now.
Boardroom19 Jul 2027
No investment in the facilities at Druzhba
Nothing about this will be in a press release. A plan went upstairs, came back rejected, and the version of the club that would have existed in three years' time just quietly stopped being possible.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom21 Jun 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Druzhba
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Druzhba is running low.
Squad21 Jun 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Maxim Abakumov
21 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Druzhba lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market21 Jun 2027
“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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Georgy Suanov: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Druzhba have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market21 Jun 2027
The Kosmos deal is off
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Mark Nikolaev reports back to Druzhba with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Market21 Jun 2027
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Druzhba will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad31 May 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Maxim Abakumov
42 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Druzhba lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market31 May 2027
“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 Druzhba, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Druzhba training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jaime Júnior 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market17 May 2027
“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 Druzhba, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad17 May 2027
Klevi Qefalija 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.
Squad17 May 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Apr 2027
“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 Druzhba, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad12 Apr 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Druzhba may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Jaime Júnior 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom29 Mar 2027
Pressure builds in the Druzhba boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market29 Mar 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Druzhba can pretend not to have heard.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Druzhba training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jaime Júnior 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Druzhba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom29 Mar 2027
The numbers do not look good at Druzhba
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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vladislav Anisimov, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Druzhba
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Druzhba is running low.
Market1 Mar 2027
“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 Druzhba, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market1 Mar 2027
So close: Mark Nikolaev’s move dies late
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Torpedo Miass moved on, Mark Nikolaev reports back to Druzhba, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Market1 Mar 2027
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Druzhba will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Tamerlan Khachirov 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Eddi Tsanava 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 Druzhba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
The numbers do not look good at Druzhba
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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Eddi Tsanava asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A season on the outside for Jaime Júnior
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Druzhba has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market22 Feb 2027
Mark Nikolaev hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Druzhba can pretend not to have heard.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Jaime Júnior 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 Druzhba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Druzhba training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tamerlan Khachirov 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.
Boardroom22 Feb 2027
99% of the income goes out in wages at Druzhba
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.
Market22 Feb 2027
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Druzhba will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Artur Zezarakhov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Druzhba 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom8 Feb 2027
Matvey Yarygin has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Druzhba can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market8 Feb 2027
“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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“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; Druzhba are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Druzhba training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tamerlan Khachirov 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Mark Nikolaev 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Asker Delok loses the manager who believed in him
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Asker Delok's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
Boardroom8 Feb 2027
Druzhba pull $408.7K back off the table
The money that was there in the summer is not there now. Nobody upstairs calls this a change of ambition, and everybody downstairs reads it as one.
Market8 Feb 2027
The name of Kirill Yushko keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Druzhba say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market18 Jan 2027
Only the photograph left for Mark Nikolaev
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mark Nikolaev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Druzhba the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Druzhba training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jaime Júnior 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Klevi Qefalija 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market11 Jan 2027
“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.
Match9 Jan 2027
No end in sight to Druzhba's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Druzhba has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Kirill Yushko 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Eddi Tsanava 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.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Tiago Duarte was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.16. 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
No place for Eddi Tsanava on the big day
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Druzhba pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
Match9 Jan 2027
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“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.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.