Marked for Timofey Laptev
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match23 Dec 2028
0‑3 against Rostov 2, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
The dugout25 Dec 2028
Khachim Mashukov: 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.” Spartak Nalchik have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match23 Dec 2028
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Spartak Nalchik are no longer polite ones.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Alan Khachirov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match23 Dec 2028
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
The dugout25 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.
Squad25 Dec 2028
15 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Boardroom25 Dec 2028
109% of the income goes out in wages at Spartak Nalchik
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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad3 Jan 2028
There were 10 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market3 Jan 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Spartak Nalchik can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom3 Jan 2028
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Spartak Nalchik now.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Alan 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.
Match1 Jan 2028
1‑2 to Druzhba, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Khachim Mashukov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout3 Jan 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Islam Pekov, and the manager let it.
The dugout3 Jan 2028
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Player ratings3 Jan 2028
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match30 Oct 2027
Beaten 0‑3 by Legion, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match30 Oct 2027
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Alan Khachirov 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 Nov 2027
118% of the income goes out in wages at Spartak Nalchik
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.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
The manager makes an example of Islam Pekov
“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.
Boardroom1 Nov 2027
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words at Spartak Nalchik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Timofey Laptev 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.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
Amur Khatsukov 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
Steady
Squad3 May 2027
Alan Khachirov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 May 2027
David Sarbashev 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.
Loan watch3 May 2027
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Spartak Nalchik, and 3 appearances in 37 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout3 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Khusey Karkaev
“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.
Market3 May 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Soslan Lysenko’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout3 May 2027
Ismail Zhaboev 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 Spartak Nalchik, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Spartak Nalchik may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market29 Mar 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Spartak Nalchik is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Alan Khachirov 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Timofey Laptev 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 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Platon Kovalev
“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.
Market29 Mar 2027
The Islam Tlupov story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Islam Tlupov signs something — a contract at Spartak Nalchik or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.