Marked for Viktor Gorbachev
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout18 Jun 2029
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Squad18 Jun 2029
Samir Gasanov 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 dugout18 Jun 2029
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Vladimir Pavlov is on it.
The dugout18 Jun 2029
“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.
Market18 Jun 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Vladimir Pavlov signs something — a contract at Kolomna or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Boardroom18 Jun 2029
The window opens at Kolomna
A month in which every rumour is possible and most of them are nonsense. The manager has a list, the board has a number, and neither is telling the other the whole of it.
Market18 Jun 2029
The clock does Rauf Novruzov’s negotiating for him
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Kolomna could ask drops and the wages Rauf Novruzov can ask rise.
The terraces18 Jun 2029
The Loris Fiorito rumours reach the terraces
What was a back-page link has become a chant, and the chant is not friendly. Kolomna would rather it were settled quietly, and it has stopped being quiet.
Squad18 Jun 2029
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Kolomna will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout14 May 2029
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Squad14 May 2029
A falling-out at Kolomna
Samir Gasanov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout14 May 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Viktor Gorbachev, and the manager let it.
Market14 May 2029
The clock does Loris Fiorito’s negotiating for him
3 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Kolomna could ask drops and the wages Loris Fiorito can ask rise.
Market14 May 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Vladislav Yanchenko’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout14 May 2029
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Apr 2029
27 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Kolomna lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market23 Apr 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kolomna can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout23 Apr 2029
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Squad23 Apr 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kolomna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Apr 2029
47 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
The dugout23 Apr 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Yaroslav Kolesnichenko, and the manager let it.
The dugout23 Apr 2029
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Market23 Apr 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Vladimir Pavlov’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market23 Apr 2029
The clock does Rauf Novruzov’s negotiating for him
3 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Kolomna could ask drops and the wages Rauf Novruzov can ask rise.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Mar 2029
20 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Kolomna lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The dugout12 Mar 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Kolomna may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Words exchanged at Kolomna
Samir Gasanov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout12 Mar 2029
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Market12 Mar 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Artem Shabolin signs something — a contract at Kolomna or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout12 Mar 2029
Anton Alyoshin has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Kolomna 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.
Market12 Mar 2029
5 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Kolomna money.
Match12 Mar 2029
Kolomna in the hunt for Europe
Position 5, 40 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
Market12 Mar 2029
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Kolomna, another week without a signature from Viktor Gorbachev.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout12 Feb 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Kolomna may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
The dugout12 Feb 2029
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Market12 Feb 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Artem Shabolin signs something — a contract at Kolomna or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout12 Feb 2029
Anton Alyoshin has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Kolomna 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.
Match12 Feb 2029
Kolomna have something to play for
Position 5 on 40 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
Market12 Feb 2029
6 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Kolomna could ask drops and the wages Vladislav Yanchenko can ask rise.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market29 Jan 2029
“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.
The dugout29 Jan 2029
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Squad29 Jan 2029
He is 21, he is averaging 7.13, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Squad29 Jan 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kolomna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Artem Shabolin 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.
The dugout29 Jan 2029
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Vladimir Pavlov is on it.
Market29 Jan 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Vladislav Teplyakov’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Boardroom29 Jan 2029
The window opens at Kolomna
A month in which every rumour is possible and most of them are nonsense. The manager has a list, the board has a number, and neither is telling the other the whole of it.
The terraces29 Jan 2029
The stands have heard the Loris Fiorito talk too
What was a back-page story is now a matter for the terraces, and the terraces do not do nuance. Kolomna would like it dealt with before it becomes the only question anybody asks.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Jan 2029
Words exchanged at Kolomna
Samir Gasanov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout15 Jan 2029
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
The dugout15 Jan 2029
Rauf Novruzov 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.
Market15 Jan 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Artem Shabolin signs something — a contract at Kolomna or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout15 Jan 2029
Anton Alyoshin has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Kolomna 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.
Match15 Jan 2029
Kolomna in the hunt for Europe
Position 5, 40 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
Market15 Jan 2029
7 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Kolomna could ask drops and the wages Vladislav Yanchenko can ask rise.
Market15 Jan 2029
“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.
Squad15 Jan 2029
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Kolomna would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match8 Jan 2029
Kolomna finish in position 5
40 points, and the season has a number on it. Whatever it felt like from the inside, this is what it will look like in a book.
Market8 Jan 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 Kolomna, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings8 Jan 2029
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Samir Gasanov 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.
Boardroom8 Jan 2029
Kolomna counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Kolomna now.
The dugout8 Jan 2029
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Squad8 Jan 2029
Loris Fiorito named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Loris Fiorito is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout8 Jan 2029
Nobody at Kolomna 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.
The dugout8 Jan 2029
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings18 Dec 2028
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.34, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings18 Dec 2028
Loris Fiorito, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.72
A mark of 8.72 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
The dugout18 Dec 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.
Match16 Dec 2028
Vitaliy Zabelin among the goals in a wild afternoon
6 goals in one match, Vitaliy Zabelin on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Kolomna and Chertanovo.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Words exchanged at Kolomna
Samir Gasanov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Match16 Dec 2028
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Vitaliy Zabelin. 4‑2 against Chertanovo, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The terraces18 Dec 2028
He is 16 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Match16 Dec 2028
The drought breaks for Kolomna
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Chertanovo were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
The dugout18 Dec 2028
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From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom19 Jun 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Kolomna
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market19 Jun 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 Kolomna, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
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Squad19 Jun 2028
Words exchanged at Kolomna
Yaroslav Kolesnichenko and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
Loris Fiorito 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.
The dugout19 Jun 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
The dugout7 Feb 2028
Viktor Gorbachev: 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.” Kolomna have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Words at Kolomna training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artem Shabolin 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.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Rauf Novruzov 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
Belts tighten at Kolomna
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
The dugout7 Feb 2028
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Vladislav Teplyakov is on it.
The dugout7 Feb 2028
Artem Shabolin loses the manager who believed in him
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Artem Shabolin's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
The dugout7 Feb 2028
“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.
Market7 Feb 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Kolomna know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.