Marked for Platon Rybakov
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout1 Jan 2029
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad1 Jan 2029
Tempers go at Legion
Jamaludin Ipaev 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.
Squad1 Jan 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Platon Rybakov and Legion agree another 3 years.
Player ratings1 Jan 2029
16 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Boardroom1 Jan 2029
Belts tighten at Legion
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
The dugout1 Jan 2029
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Squad1 Jan 2029
A row about effort at Legion
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Makar Gorbachev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout1 Jan 2029
Somebody else is better right now than Radomir Shishov
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Match30 Dec 2028
Point won or two lost for Legion?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Sochi 2? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match23 Dec 2028
93 minutes played. Faisal Ismail Abdelrahim found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Rubin Yalta went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
The dugout25 Dec 2028
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Match23 Dec 2028
A 2‑1 win over Rubin Yalta, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The terraces25 Dec 2028
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 16-year-old it feels ownership of. Platon Rybakov has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Player ratings25 Dec 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.27, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Words at Legion training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abusupjan Magomedov 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 dugout25 Dec 2028
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑1, already talking about the next one.
Player ratings25 Dec 2028
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout25 Dec 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Yakov Spiridonov, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad15 May 2028
70 days out for Anzor Tokaev after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Legion will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market15 May 2028
“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 dugout15 May 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad15 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Legion this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 May 2028
A row about effort at Legion
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abusupjan Magomedov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout15 May 2028
The manager makes an example of Vlad Burov
“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
Upbeat
The dugout27 Mar 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad27 Mar 2028
Tempers go at Legion
Kristian Maevskiy 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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Words at Legion training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxim Kostyuk 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Transfer targets7 Feb 2028
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Chaika keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Transfer targets7 Feb 2028
The offer went to Spartak Moscow this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Transfer targets7 Feb 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dinamo Moscow have kept their man, and Legion go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Words exchanged at Legion
Maxim Kostyuk 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.
Squad7 Feb 2028
At 17 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Legion will try not to make too much of it.
Squad7 Feb 2028
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Faisal Ismail Abdelrahim is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
In brief
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Squad
Words at Legion training over how hard people work
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The dugout
Platon Rybakov asks for a word with the manager
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The dugout
The manager plants his flag on Anzor Tokaev