Marked for Gennady Shevtsov
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market12 Nov 2029
“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 The request is on a desk at Dinamo Vladivostok, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout12 Nov 2029
This is not rotation. Ignat Polischuk has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Dinamo Vladivostok is pretending otherwise.
Squad12 Nov 2029
Dmitry Burkin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Nov 2029
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ilja Shvedyuk was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom12 Nov 2029
No fees may be paid for anybody, whatever the squad needs. Every rumour about this club until it lifts is a rumour about a deal that cannot be done.
The dugout12 Nov 2029
Nikolay Sukhanov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Dinamo Vladivostok will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout12 Nov 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Fyodor Dyachkov, and the manager let it.
Market12 Nov 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Artem Voropaev signs something — a contract at Dinamo Vladivostok or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Match12 Nov 2029
Position 6 on 21 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market22 Oct 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ignat Polischuk will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dinamo Vladivostok the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market22 Oct 2029
“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 dugout22 Oct 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Dinamo Vladivostok may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings22 Oct 2029
A goal and an assist for Nikita Kasatkin — 7.66
Involvement in 2 goals, from a player who spent the ninety minutes doing the thing a manager actually wants: being where the ball was going to end up. 7.66 beside his name.
Squad22 Oct 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Vladivostok this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout22 Oct 2029
This is not rotation. Nikita Volkov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Dinamo Vladivostok is pretending otherwise.
Squad22 Oct 2029
Everybody at Dinamo Vladivostok saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 36 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Squad22 Oct 2029
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxim Kovzikov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market16 Jul 2029
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Dinamo Vladivostok people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market16 Jul 2029
Hampus Bech hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dinamo Vladivostok can pretend not to have heard.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Daur Kvekveskiri and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Boardroom16 Jul 2029
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Dinamo Vladivostok
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Transfer targets16 Jul 2029
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.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Ilja Shvedyuk 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.
Market16 Jul 2029
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Artem Tokarev 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.
Market16 Jul 2029
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Danila Kozhemyakin is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Boardroom16 Jul 2029
There was a commitment, there was a date, and the date went past. Trust at a football club takes years to build and one afternoon to spend.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout30 Apr 2029
This is not rotation. Ignat Polischuk has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Dinamo Vladivostok is pretending otherwise.
Squad30 Apr 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Vladivostok this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Dmitry Burkin 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.
Boardroom30 Apr 2029
No fees may be paid for anybody, whatever the squad needs. Every rumour about this club until it lifts is a rumour about a deal that cannot be done.
Squad30 Apr 2029
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Dinamo Vladivostok will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
The dugout30 Apr 2029
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market26 Feb 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ignat Polischuk will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dinamo Vladivostok the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom26 Feb 2029
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 0 arrived, 1 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Transfer targets26 Feb 2029
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Dinamo Vladivostok have done the hard part with Sevastopol, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Ilja Yurchenko 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.
Transfer targets26 Feb 2029
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.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Words at Dinamo Vladivostok training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Burkin 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.
Squad26 Feb 2029
45 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
The dugout26 Feb 2029
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Squad26 Feb 2029
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Dinamo Vladivostok will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market12 Feb 2029
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Strogino waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Dinamo Vladivostok is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market12 Feb 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dinamo Vladivostok can pretend not to have heard.
Market12 Feb 2029
Andrey Kulagin has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Dinamo Vladivostok they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The dugout12 Feb 2029
Gennady Shevtsov: 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.” Dinamo Vladivostok have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Transfer targets12 Feb 2029
Everything agreed with Salyut, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Dmitry Burkin 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.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Words at Dinamo Vladivostok training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilja Shvedyuk 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 dugout12 Feb 2029
“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.
Transfer targets12 Feb 2029
Dinamo Kirov have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings18 Dec 2028
Ilja Shvedyuk pops up at the right end — 7.90
7.90, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Dmitry Burkin 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.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ilja Shvedyuk was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout18 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.
The dugout18 Dec 2028
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Fedot Afanasyev on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The dugout18 Dec 2028
The team sheet said everything about Nikita Kasatkin
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Nikita Kasatkin.
The dugout18 Dec 2028
Nikolay Sukhanov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Dinamo Vladivostok will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.