Marked for Tomislav Dadić
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad25 Oct 2027
Yegor Lyubakov: 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.” Rotor have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings25 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad25 Oct 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rotor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Words at Rotor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artem Simonyan 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.
Loan watch25 Oct 2027
“I did not go to Volga to sit and watch. I want to come back to Rotor and fight for my place.” 2 appearances in 13 matches say the rest.
Player ratings25 Oct 2027
Marked 7.20 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Rotor had the best player on the pitch.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad27 Sep 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Rotor will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match25 Sep 2027
The wait goes on for Rotor
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.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Words at Rotor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artem Simonyan 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.
Loan watch27 Sep 2027
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Rotor, and 1 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad27 Sep 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Denis Fomin, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad6 Sep 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 39 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match4 Sep 2027
The wait goes on for Rotor
4 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Tempers go at Rotor
Alexandr Kutitskiy 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Roman Bosov is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Artem Simonyan 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.
Match4 Sep 2027
A bad afternoon for Rotor against Fakel
0‑2 to Fakel, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad30 Aug 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Rotor will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market30 Aug 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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rotor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Words at Rotor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexandr Troshechkin 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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Tomislav Dadić
“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.
Loan watch30 Aug 2027
“I watch every Rotor game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Volga runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market30 Aug 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Tomislav Dadić’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Aug 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 76 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 29. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad2 Aug 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Rotor may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom2 Aug 2027
The Rotor board want somebody sold
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Tempers go at Rotor
Nikita Chagrov 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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words at Rotor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artem Simonyan 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.
Market2 Aug 2027
Denis Fomin is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Rotor has been clear about where Denis Fomin stands, which is more than many ever get.
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
7.20, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Rotor had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Match31 Jul 2027
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Chelyabinsk will be the happier side with the point.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Jul 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 83 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad26 Jul 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Rotor may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad26 Jul 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rotor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Artem Simonyan 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 ratings26 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match24 Jul 2027
Rotor and Yenisey cancel each other out
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Yenisey came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Jun 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rotor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Jun 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sergey Makarov, and the manager let it.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Imran Aznaurov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Rotor 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 May 2027
Tempers go at Rotor
Nikita Chagrov 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.
Squad24 May 2027
Yaroslav Arbuzov 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.
Market24 May 2027
The name of Tomislav Dadić keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Rotor say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Apr 2027
Tempers go at Rotor
Nikita Chagrov 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Yaroslav Arbuzov 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
“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
Market29 Mar 2027
Said Aliev sold, and an era ends
$2.5M from HIFK for Said Aliev. Money is money, but the dressing room has lost the man it looked to.
The terraces29 Mar 2027
Supporters turn on the $2.5M sale of Said Aliev
He is going to HIFK, the club has $2.5M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
Squad29 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alexandr Korotkov, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market1 Mar 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rotor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match27 Feb 2027
3 matches without a goal for Rotor
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Match27 Feb 2027
A bad afternoon for Rotor against Fakel
0‑1 to Fakel, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Rotor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yaroslav Arbuzov 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
“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 Mar 2027
The team sheet said everything about Sergey Prokofjev
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 Sergey Prokofjev.
Market1 Mar 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Tomislav Dadić signs something — a contract at Rotor or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Fouls conceded: 9. He was booked, he was fortunate not to be booked twice, and the referee had run out of patience long before the end.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 36. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match30 Jan 2027
Said Aliev wins it after the whistle should have gone
92 minutes played. Said Aliev found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Spartak Kostroma went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Market1 Feb 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 Rotor, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match30 Jan 2027
Three points for Rotor, 2‑1 the final word against Spartak Kostroma in a contest settled by the finer margins.
The terraces1 Feb 2027
Rotor supporters have found a favourite in Ilja Rodionov
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Ilja Rodionov 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 ratings1 Feb 2027
Marked 8.50 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Rotor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yaroslav Arbuzov 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nikolay Pokidyshev, and the manager let it.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Tempers go at Rotor
Imran Aznaurov 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match12 Dec 2026
Whatever happens, Rotor do not lose
7 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad14 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Maxim Kainov
“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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rotor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Rotor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Denis Fomin 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 41. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad12 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rotor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nikita Chagrov, and the manager let it.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
7.64, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Rotor had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
There was no pressure on him and nowhere he had to be. Rotor lost a goal to a decision that took half a second and will be discussed all week.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
7.21, 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Tomislav Dadić and Rotor agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Rotor
Nikita Chagrov 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Anatoliy Makarov 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
49 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.