“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rubin 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniil Kiryagin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Daniil Kiryagin trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Rubin 2 know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Words at Rubin 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniil Kiryagin 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.
Something was said to Anton Mitryushkin and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout11 Dec 2028
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Valentin Yevseyev chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Yefrem Plotnikov is 16, and for one weekend he was the best of everybody his age in the division. Nobody should build a career on it and everybody quietly does.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Akron 2? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Amir Khairulin's mistake
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Rubin 2 has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Words at Rubin 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniil Kiryagin 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.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 91. Ural 2 had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Valentin Yevseyev after the 2‑2 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
At 16 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.
Anton Mitryushkin 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniil Kiryagin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Amir Khairulin has his answer from Rubin 2; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Dmitry Prokhorov signs something — a contract at Rubin 2 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Rubin 2 spent the window trying to move Yefrem Plotnikov 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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Rubin 2 have lost him in all but the paperwork.
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.
Daniil Kiryagin 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Ilja Ivanov 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.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Rubin 2 people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rubin 2 can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rubin 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Words at Rubin 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniil Kiryagin 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 dugout21 Aug 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Valentin Yevseyev was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Rubin 2 dressing room was either.