The Spartak Tambov Sentinel
Squad21 Jul 2031
6 saves: Igor Vaisbein was the team
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.
The dugout21 Jul 2031
Sean Craig keeps the receipts
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Spartak Tambov may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Transfer targets21 Jul 2031
The paperwork begins on Eduard Nesterov
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Spartak Tambov have done the hard part with Sochi, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad21 Jul 2031
Rasul Zhangurazov in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Spartak Tambov this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Jul 2031
A move Arseny Osadchiy would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Arseny Osadchiy is living that version at Spartak Tambov, and it tends to show in the first month.
Boardroom21 Jul 2031
Graduation day at Spartak Tambov
6 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Match19 Jul 2031
Spartak Tambov cannot find the net
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.
Squad21 Jul 2031
Chivano Rijssel wants to go home
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Spartak Tambov know it.
Transfer targets21 Jul 2031
Door shut on Savely Kovtun
Spartak Tambov asked and KAMAZ said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
In brief
- Match Kuban take the points off Spartak Tambov
- Market One of our own: Rodion Belkin joins the Spartak Tambov first team
- Market One of our own: Nikolay Shevtsov joins the Spartak Tambov first team