Marked for Conor Masterson
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Nov 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 Arsenal Tula this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Arsenal Tula training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alan Tsaraev 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.
Match7 Nov 2026
Rotor made Arsenal Tula work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“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.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Marked 7.99 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Arsenal Tula had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Stepan Ponomarev, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Every signing waits for it and every press conference asks about it until it comes. It has come, Arsenal Tula have their man off the mark, and the second one is always easier.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market7 Sep 2026
Edarlyn Reyes hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Arsenal Tula can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Arsenal Tula training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alan Tsaraev 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 dugout7 Sep 2026
“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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Roman Izotov slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Roman Izotov is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
A loan move for Gašper Trdin is in the works
Arsenal Tula have made the call to Levski. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
Alan Tsaraev 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 Arsenal Tula, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Looking ahead7 Sep 2026
Yenisey next, and one man in the Arsenal Tula dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 Aug 2026
“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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
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.
Boardroom31 Aug 2026
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $422.8K — a club that wants Alexandr Kutitskiy enough to be asked twice.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Arsenal Tula have gone to Dinamo Moscow with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Arsenal Tula training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alan Tsaraev 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.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Slovan Bratislava have kept their man, and Arsenal Tula go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Oleg Isaenko 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 dugout31 Aug 2026
“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 dugout31 Aug 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Tigran Avanesyan's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Aug 2026
Harry Bridle and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Omar Beckles and Gillingham agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Sam Vokes calls time on his country
“65 caps was 65 more than the boy who started ever expected.” At 36 he has stepped away from the national side and has not stepped away from Gillingham.
Market3 Aug 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
A loan move for Millenic Alli is in the works
Gillingham have made the call to Luton Town. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Gillingham have made the call to Coventry City. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
West Bromwich Albion have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
Ronan Hale 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Ronan Hale has seen what the next man earns
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Gillingham that is a harder question to answer.