Marked for Aleksei Samsonov
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad20 Nov 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Aleksei Samsonov
14 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Spartak Nalchik lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market20 Nov 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 The request is on a desk at Spartak Nalchik, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout20 Nov 2028
This is not rotation. David Sarbashev has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Spartak Nalchik is pretending otherwise.
Market20 Nov 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Renat Apshatsev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Spartak Nalchik the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Aslanbek Kumykov 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.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Inaroko Tutov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout20 Nov 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ivan Veras, and the manager let it.
The dugout20 Nov 2028
“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.
Market20 Nov 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Andemir Goguzokov signs something — a contract at Spartak Nalchik or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad13 Nov 2028
Aleksei Samsonov damages knee ligaments — 21 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 21 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Player ratings13 Nov 2028
A brace, and Adam Boček takes the afternoon — 8.39
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Adam Boček provided it, and the 8.39 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market13 Nov 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Spartak Nalchik is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The dugout13 Nov 2028
This is not rotation. Alan Khachirov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Spartak Nalchik is pretending otherwise.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Aslanbek Kumykov 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.
Match11 Nov 2028
A 2‑0 win over Nart, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout13 Nov 2028
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.” Miroslav Sedov kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alexandr Sirotkov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad6 Nov 2028
Aleksei Samsonov damages knee ligaments — 28 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 28 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The dugout6 Nov 2028
This is not rotation. Inaroko Tutov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Spartak Nalchik is pretending otherwise.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Aslanbek Kumykov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Adam Boček 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.
Squad6 Nov 2028
At 33, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
Match4 Nov 2028
0‑2 to Rostov 2, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Boardroom6 Nov 2028
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.
The dugout6 Nov 2028
“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 dugout6 Nov 2028
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.