Marked for Prokhor Volkov
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match13 Jan 2029
The wait goes on for Orel
8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Market15 Jan 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.
Squad15 Jan 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 Orel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match13 Jan 2029
Orel come up short against Rotor 2
Rotor 2 left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings15 Jan 2029
Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout15 Jan 2029
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Boardroom15 Jan 2029
86% of the income goes out in wages at Orel
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.
The dugout15 Jan 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.
Looking ahead15 Jan 2029
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Evgeny Ushakov’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Orel needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad8 Jan 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market8 Jan 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.
Match6 Jan 2029
The wait goes on for Orel
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Match6 Jan 2029
5 matches without a goal for Orel
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 5 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Market8 Jan 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Orel is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad8 Jan 2029
A falling-out at Orel
Vadim Averkiev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom8 Jan 2029
$65.1K of the owner's money at Orel
The shortfall was covered from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be relieved and entitled to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings usually arrive together.
Match6 Jan 2029
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Boardroom8 Jan 2029
No signings allowed at Orel
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad11 Dec 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 10 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market11 Dec 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.
Market11 Dec 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Orel is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad11 Dec 2028
A falling-out at Orel
Vadim Averkiev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match9 Dec 2028
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Boardroom11 Dec 2028
Orel cannot sign anybody
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
The dugout11 Dec 2028
The manager makes an example of Ivan Oborocha
“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.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Appearance number 100 for Marat Volkov
100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
Boardroom11 Dec 2028
Orel are $5.0M in the red
The borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad27 Nov 2028
Tempers go at Orel
Vadim Averkiev 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.
Match25 Nov 2028
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad27 Nov 2028
100 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
The dugout27 Nov 2028
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout27 Nov 2028
Loris Fiorito gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Loris Fiorito is on it.
The dugout27 Nov 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Prokhor Volkov, and the manager let it.
Looking ahead27 Nov 2028
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Emrakh Nabatov’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Orel needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Market27 Nov 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Vyacheslav Gordienko’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market27 Nov 2028
Orel have made Arsen Agakhanov available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match11 Nov 2028
No end in sight to Orel's wait for a win
17 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Orel has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad13 Nov 2028
11 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match11 Nov 2028
Orel taken apart
1‑6 to Zenit Penza, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
The dugout13 Nov 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Orel may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings13 Nov 2028
Successful dribbles: 24. 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.
Market13 Nov 2028
Only the photograph left for Prokhor Volkov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Prokhor Volkov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Orel the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad13 Nov 2028
A falling-out at Orel
Vadim Averkiev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match11 Nov 2028
Nobody could stop scoring
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Orel and Zenit Penza in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Boardroom13 Nov 2028
No signings allowed at Orel
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market16 Oct 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Orel is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad16 Oct 2028
A falling-out at Orel
Vadim Averkiev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom16 Oct 2028
No signings allowed at Orel
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
Boardroom16 Oct 2028
The Orel debt reaches $4.9M
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
Ivan Oborocha knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Orel, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market16 Oct 2028
The name of Vyacheslav Gordienko keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Orel say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
The plan did not have a place for Vsevolod Pershin
Nobody at Orel is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
Squad16 Oct 2028
“If we are going to be beaten, let it not be because somebody in here could not be bothered.” He stood up and said it in front of everybody, which is a thing a squad remembers about a man for years.
Market16 Oct 2028
Orel have made Marat Volkov available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
In brief
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Looking ahead
Home comforts ahead for Orel
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The dugout
Emrakh Nabatov keeps his manager's vote
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match7 Oct 2028
The wait goes on for Orel
13 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Match9 Oct 2028
Orel sink to position 13
6 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Words exchanged at Orel
Vadim Averkiev 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.
The dugout9 Oct 2028
“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.
Match7 Oct 2028
Point won or two lost for Orel?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Metallurg? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
The dugout9 Oct 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Eduard Bocharov, and the manager let it.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Off the academy pitches and onto a senior team sheet at 14. The debut is the easy part; the second appearance is the one every young player has to earn.
Market9 Oct 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Vadim Averkiev’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout9 Oct 2028
The plan did not have a place for Stepan Pyatin
Nobody at Orel is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match16 Sep 2028
No end in sight to Orel's wait for a win
10 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Orel has to find a result from somewhere.
Match16 Sep 2028
Nowhere to hide for Orel
0‑3 against Spartak Tambov, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
The dugout18 Sep 2028
Vsevolod Pershin: 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.” Orel have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match16 Sep 2028
Orel cannot find the net
5 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.
Market18 Sep 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Orel is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad18 Sep 2028
A falling-out at Orel
Vadim Averkiev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad18 Sep 2028
A row about effort at Orel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Arsen Agakhanov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match16 Sep 2028
No clean sheets in sight for Orel
4 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Boardroom18 Sep 2028
Embargo at Orel
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.
In brief
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Boardroom
The borrowing at Orel reaches $4.8M
-
Boardroom
Doors closed at Orel
-
The dugout
Nikolai Markov answers for it
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Aug 2028
14 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match16 Aug 2028
The cup run ends for Orel
2‑4 against Dinamo Vologda, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Match19 Aug 2028
The wait goes on for Orel
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Market21 Aug 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Orel is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad21 Aug 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 Orel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match16 Aug 2028
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Orel and Dinamo Vologda, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Player ratings21 Aug 2028
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Arsen Agakhanov 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.
Boardroom21 Aug 2028
No signings allowed at Orel
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad24 Jul 2028
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.
Market24 Jul 2028
Only the photograph left for Prokhor Volkov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Prokhor Volkov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Orel the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match22 Jul 2028
Salyut take the points off Orel
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Boardroom24 Jul 2028
No signings allowed at Orel
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
Match22 Jul 2028
The run is over for Orel
4 matches without defeat, and then Salyut. Nobody at the ground pretended it would go on forever; nobody expected it to stop here either.
Boardroom24 Jul 2028
The Orel debt reaches $4.4M
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
The dugout24 Jul 2028
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Nikolai Markov to a room that had heard them before.
Squad24 Jul 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 Orel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Jul 2028
A first team debut at 14 for Platon Markov
Off the academy pitches and into a senior shirt, at 14. The parents in the stand will keep the programme, and so will he.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Jul 2028
A falling-out at Orel
Vadim Averkiev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom3 Jul 2028
The owner puts $25.9K into Orel
This is money that keeps the lights on rather than money that buys a centre-half, and the difference is the whole story. A club funded by its owner rather than by its football has exactly one conversation left ahead of it.
Squad3 Jul 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Arkhip Leonov and Orel agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Boardroom3 Jul 2028
Wages swallow 93% of the Orel income
Every club 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 it has been tried.
Boardroom3 Jul 2028
Orel sign 3 boys into the academy
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
Squad3 Jul 2028
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Vsevolod Pershin has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom26 Jun 2028
The scrutiny sharpens at Orel
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Orel is running low.
Market26 Jun 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Orel is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad26 Jun 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 Orel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Words at Orel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Arsen Agakhanov 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.
Boardroom26 Jun 2028
Orel cannot sign anybody
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
Boardroom26 Jun 2028
Orel are $4.2M in the red
The borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
The dugout26 Jun 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.
Market26 Jun 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Vyacheslav Gordienko signs something — a contract at Orel or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market26 Jun 2028
Orel have let the market know Mikhail Pilipenko can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom29 May 2028
The scrutiny sharpens at Orel
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Orel is running low.
Market29 May 2028
Only the photograph left for Prokhor Volkov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Prokhor Volkov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Orel the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad29 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 Orel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom29 May 2028
No signings allowed at Orel
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
Boardroom29 May 2028
The Orel debt reaches $4.0M
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
The dugout29 May 2028
The manager makes an example of Eduard Bocharov
“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.
The dugout29 May 2028
Ivan Oborocha asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market29 May 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Daniil Arsentjev’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market29 May 2028
Orel have made Mikhail Pilipenko available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom8 May 2028
Nikolai Markov has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Orel can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market8 May 2028
“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 Orel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad8 May 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Evgeny Ushakov commits to Orel for another 2 years.
Squad8 May 2028
A falling-out at Orel
Vadim Averkiev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom8 May 2028
The owner puts $12.1K into Orel
This is money that keeps the lights on rather than money that buys a centre-half, and the difference is the whole story. A club funded by its owner rather than by its football has exactly one conversation left ahead of it.
The dugout8 May 2028
Vadim Averkiev without the man who signed him
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Vadim Averkiev was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
Squad8 May 2028
A row about effort at Orel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yakov Barkov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout8 May 2028
The manager makes an example of Ruslan Dobrynin
“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.
Squad8 May 2028
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Orel would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom1 May 2028
Pressure builds in the Orel boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market1 May 2028
Only the photograph left for Prokhor Volkov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Prokhor Volkov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Orel the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad1 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 Orel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom1 May 2028
Orel cannot sign anybody
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
The dugout1 May 2028
The manager makes an example of Loris Fiorito
“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.
Squad1 May 2028
A row about effort at Orel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Anatoly Demidov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom1 May 2028
Orel are $4.0M in the red
The borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
The dugout1 May 2028
The manager's exit leaves Vadim Averkiev exposed
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Vadim Averkiev is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
Market1 May 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Daniil Arsentjev’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Apr 2028
“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 Orel know it.
Squad24 Apr 2028
A row about effort at Orel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Arsen Agakhanov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Tempers go at Orel
Ruslan Dobrynin 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.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
The manager makes an example of Prokhor Volkov
“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.
Market24 Apr 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Orel know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
Stepan Pyatin asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market10 Apr 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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
A falling-out at Orel
Vadim Averkiev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words at Orel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Anatoly Demidov 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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
14 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
Artem Mamaev gets it from the manager
“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 dugout10 Apr 2028
Ivan Oborocha knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Orel, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom3 Apr 2028
Pressure builds in the Orel boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market3 Apr 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Orel is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad3 Apr 2028
A falling-out at Orel
Mikhail Pilipenko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom3 Apr 2028
The owner puts $8.5K into Orel
This is money that keeps the lights on rather than money that buys a centre-half, and the difference is the whole story. A club funded by its owner rather than by its football has exactly one conversation left ahead of it.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Words at Orel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Arsen Agakhanov 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.
Boardroom3 Apr 2028
Orel cannot sign anybody
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
Boardroom3 Apr 2028
Orel are $4.0M in the red
The borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Yakov Barkov, and the manager let it.
Market3 Apr 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Daniil Arsentjev’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad27 Mar 2028
Tempers go at Orel
Vadim Averkiev 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
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Yuriy Fokin commits to Orel for another 3 years.
Squad27 Mar 2028
A row about effort at Orel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yakov Barkov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Prokhor Volkov, and the manager let it.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
A promise honoured at Orel
Something was said to Mukhamed Mizaushev and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Market27 Mar 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Orel know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market20 Mar 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Orel can pretend not to have heard.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Words exchanged at Orel
Vadim Averkiev 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.
Boardroom20 Mar 2028
Wages swallow 160% of the Orel income
Every club 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 it has been tried.
The dugout20 Mar 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.
Squad20 Mar 2028
A row about effort at Orel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Anatoly Demidov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
Loris Fiorito has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Orel 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.
Market20 Mar 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Orel know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market20 Mar 2028
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Mikhail Pilipenko may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
Prokhor Volkov knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Orel, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom6 Mar 2028
The scrutiny sharpens at Orel
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Orel is running low.
Market6 Mar 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Orel is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad6 Mar 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Vadim Averkiev and Orel agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Boardroom6 Mar 2028
Orel counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Orel now.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Arsen Agakhanov 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.
Boardroom6 Mar 2028
Orel are $3.8M in the red
The borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
Squad6 Mar 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 Orel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market6 Mar 2028
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Loris Fiorito moves up the pecking order
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Orel than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom28 Feb 2028
Window shuts: 5 in, 5 out at Orel
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 5 arrived, 5 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Market28 Feb 2028
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Orel have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad28 Feb 2028
A row about effort at Orel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Anatoly Demidov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
The manager makes an example of Ivan Oborocha
“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.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Tempers go at Orel
Ruslan Dobrynin 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.
Boardroom28 Feb 2028
Nobody arrives at Orel until somebody leaves
The club is not barred from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every name linked with Orel this window arrives with a name leaving in the same sentence.
Market28 Feb 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Orel know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market28 Feb 2028
Orel spent the window trying to move Daniil Arsentjev on and nobody came. He trains with a squad that has already told him he is not part of it, and both sides now wait for the next one.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Sergei Terekhov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market7 Feb 2028
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Orel people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market7 Feb 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Orel can pretend not to have heard.
Squad7 Feb 2028
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Pressure builds in the Orel boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Player ratings7 Feb 2028
Loris Fiorito, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.62
A mark of 7.62 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Market7 Feb 2028
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Orel have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Market7 Feb 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Match5 Feb 2028
Orel make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Orel have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad7 Feb 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 Orel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings17 Jan 2028
Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market17 Jan 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Orel is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The terraces17 Jan 2028
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Match15 Jan 2028
It finished 1‑0, and it was Daniil Arsentjev’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Orel.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Igor Bugaenko 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.
Player ratings17 Jan 2028
A mark of 7.56, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Nikolai Markov could afford to be generous.
Looking ahead17 Jan 2028
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Evgeny Ushakov’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Orel needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Dmitry Merkulov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market20 Dec 2027
Prokhor Volkov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Orel they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Words exchanged at Orel
Vadim Averkiev 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.
Player ratings20 Dec 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad20 Dec 2027
A row about effort at Orel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Igor Bugaenko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces20 Dec 2027
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Match18 Dec 2027
At last: Orel win one
5 matches without a win, and then this, against Strogino. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Match18 Dec 2027
Orel get the job done against Strogino
A 1‑0 win over Strogino, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings20 Dec 2027
7.41, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Orel had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Nikolai Markov kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad22 Nov 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match20 Nov 2027
Orel taken apart
0‑3 to SKA Khabarovsk 2, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Market22 Nov 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Orel can pretend not to have heard.
Market22 Nov 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Orel is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Tempers go at Orel
Mikhail Pilipenko 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.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
The manager makes an example of Georgy Borisov
“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.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Words at Orel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Merkulov 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.
Squad22 Nov 2027
100 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.
Boardroom22 Nov 2027
Inquest at Orel
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The dugout25 Oct 2027
Igor Bugaenko: 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.” Orel have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market25 Oct 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Orel can pretend not to have heard.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match23 Oct 2027
5 matches without a win for Orel
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Orel are no longer polite ones.
Market25 Oct 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Orel is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Words exchanged at Orel
Vadim Averkiev 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.
Match23 Oct 2027
A bad afternoon for Orel against Ryazan
0‑1 to Ryazan, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad25 Oct 2027
A row about effort at Orel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Anatoly Demidov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
The manager makes an example of Ivan Oborocha
“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
Crisis
Squad27 Sep 2027
A fracture rules Igor Bugaenko out for 25 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Orel will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match25 Sep 2027
Chastening afternoon for Orel
A 0‑3 beating by Dinamo St Petersburg was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Market27 Sep 2027
“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 Orel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad27 Sep 2027
7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Market27 Sep 2027
Only the photograph left for Prokhor Volkov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Prokhor Volkov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Orel the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Words exchanged at Orel
Vadim Averkiev 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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
A row about effort at Orel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Anatoly Demidov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom27 Sep 2027
Inquest at Orel
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad30 Aug 2027
Igor Bugaenko breaks a bone — 54 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 54 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match28 Aug 2027
Chastening afternoon for Orel
A 0‑3 beating by Rodina M was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Market30 Aug 2027
“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 Orel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match28 Aug 2027
7 matches without a win for Orel
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Orel are no longer polite ones.
Market30 Aug 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Znamya Truda waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Orel is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Orel
Vadim Averkiev 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.
Transfer targets30 Aug 2027
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.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daniil Arsentjev, and the manager let it.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Dmitry Merkulov 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Aug 2027
Igor Bugaenko breaks a bone — 61 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 61 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match18 Aug 2027
The cup run ends for Orel
1‑8 against Saturn, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Squad23 Aug 2027
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 29. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The terraces23 Aug 2027
A cup embarrassment at Saturn follows Orel home
1-8. Going out of a cup is one afternoon; going out like that is a week of phone-ins, and the manager will hear every one of them.
Market23 Aug 2027
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Luki-Energiya had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Match21 Aug 2027
6 matches without a win for Orel
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Orel are no longer polite ones.
Match18 Aug 2027
Loris Fiorito among the goals in a wild afternoon
9 goals in one match, Loris Fiorito on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Orel and Saturn.
Transfer targets23 Aug 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Jul 2027
89 days out for Igor Bugaenko after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Orel will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market26 Jul 2027
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Prokhor Volkov had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Market26 Jul 2027
“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 Orel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Tempers go at Orel
Vadim Averkiev 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 Jul 2027
Orel asked and Strogino said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market26 Jul 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Igor Bugaenko has his answer from Orel; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Squad26 Jul 2027
A row about effort at Orel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Anatoly Demidov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match24 Jul 2027
No time for Salyut to settle
The goal that put Salyut ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Orel equalised, 2 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 Jul 2027
Igor Bugaenko breaks a bone — 103 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 103 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market12 Jul 2027
“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.
Market12 Jul 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Orel people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
The deal with Mashuk is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Squad12 Jul 2027
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad12 Jul 2027
A falling-out at Orel
Vadim Averkiev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
Orel asked and Dinamo Vologda said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market12 Jul 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Prokhor Volkov 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.
Market12 Jul 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Ruslan Dobrynin has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
In brief
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Squad
Words at Orel training over how hard people work
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Boardroom
99% of the income goes out in wages at Orel
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The dugout
No hiding place for Stepan Pyatin