The Sokol Post
Boardroom16 Jul 2029
Sokol run out of patience with Anton Ryazantsev
The end came on a Tuesday, as these things usually do: a short meeting, a shorter statement, and Anton Ryazantsev clearing his office by noon. Football’s cruellest ritual, performed to schedule.
Squad16 Jul 2029
A knee injury of the worst kind for Kostas Triantafyllopoulos
41 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sokol lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Boardroom16 Jul 2029
A stranger takes charge at Sokol
The coaching staff has emptied out entirely and there was nobody internal to promote, so the club has appointed a name almost none of its supporters will recognise. Clubs recover from this; none of them enjoy explaining it.
Market16 Jul 2029
Madi Gary agrees terms with Pobeda
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Sokol people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Boardroom16 Jul 2029
Interim Coach takes charge at Sokol
“Somebody has to pick the team on Saturday, and this week that is me.” An interim appointment with no promises attached, which is how most of them start.
Market16 Jul 2029
Vasil Khositashvili puts it in writing
“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 The request is on a desk at Sokol, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets16 Jul 2029
The paperwork begins on Arseny Avvakumov
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Sokol have done the hard part with Dinamo Bryansk, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Boardroom16 Jul 2029
3 academy graduates step up at Sokol
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Transfer targets16 Jul 2029
Sokol rebuffed over Alexandr Pomalyuk
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Spartak Moscow have kept their man, and Sokol go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
In brief
- Squad A falling-out at Sokol
- Market Sokol promote Denis Shevtsov from within
- Market One of our own: Vadim Moiseev joins the Sokol first team