Marked for Foma Prokhorov
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 May 2028
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Torpedo Vladimir will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market22 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 The request is on a desk at Torpedo Vladimir, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad22 May 2028
Alimkhan Alimkhanov 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.
Squad22 May 2028
Alexandr Vyaznikov 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 dugout22 May 2028
Danil Sobolev knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Danil Sobolev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market22 May 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Torpedo Vladimir know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad6 Sep 2027
Foma Prokhorov damages knee ligaments — 16 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 16 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market6 Sep 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.
The dugout6 Sep 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Torpedo Vladimir may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Transfer targets6 Sep 2027
Everything agreed with Torpedo Miass, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Transfer targets6 Sep 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words at Torpedo Vladimir training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Konstantin Popov 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Danil Sobolev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout6 Sep 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.
The dugout6 Sep 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Torpedo Vladimir, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Aug 2027
Foma Prokhorov damages knee ligaments — 23 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 23 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market30 Aug 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Torpedo Vladimir have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Transfer targets30 Aug 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alexandr Korenblyum was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Vladislav Kostryukov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad30 Aug 2027
100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
Transfer targets30 Aug 2027
A loan enquiry to Sibir: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets30 Aug 2027
A loan enquiry to Spartak Moscow: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.