Marked for Nikolay Volkov
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Dec 2026
Chastening afternoon for Legion
A 0‑3 beating by Nart was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Legion training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rohan Vaughan 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Legion
Jamaludin Ipaev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Anzor Tokaev
“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.
Looking ahead28 Dec 2026
A six-pointer for Legion
Angusht next, and both sides can do the sum. Win and the table looks different; lose and it looks the way everybody has been fearing.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
109% of the income goes out in wages at Legion
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.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Nobody left the Legion dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
One booking too many, and a game watched from the stand. Legion lose him for the most avoidable reason in the sport.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 50. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Match24 Oct 2026
Nowhere to hide for Legion
1‑5 against Dinamo Makhachkala 2, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match24 Oct 2026
5 matches without a win for Legion
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Legion are no longer polite ones.
Match24 Oct 2026
Legion are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Match24 Oct 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Legion and Dinamo Makhachkala 2, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Legion
Labazan Labazanov 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Legion
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rohan Vaughan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
The one goal a footballer does not get to celebrate and does not get to forget either. His name is in the wrong column and nothing about it was meant.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Up for the corner, and Vladislav Teplyakov delivers — 7.70
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Vladislav Teplyakov scored, was marked 7.70, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 21 signed and 1 gone
That is the business done at Legion until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Squad14 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Legion
Labazan Labazanov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match12 Sep 2026
Legion come up short against Nart
Nart left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Market14 Sep 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Stepan Mironov has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market14 Sep 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Nikolay Volkov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
The window shuts on the Anatoly Karpov deal
Legion ran out of time with Dinamo Vologda. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Legion are still strangers to each other
10 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.