Marked for Mathieu Oliveira
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad25 Jan 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Druzhba have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad25 Jan 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 Druzhba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Druzhba training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mathieu Oliveira 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Jan 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad18 Jan 2027
The medical room confirms 54 days on the sidelines for Tamerlan Khachirov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad18 Jan 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 Druzhba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match11 Jan 2027
Every point is an argument now for Druzhba
Position 14 and 18 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Mathieu Oliveira 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Druzhba training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolas Riveros 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market4 Jan 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.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.83 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Gabriel Leiva 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Mathieu Oliveira 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Druzhba pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Dec 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Druzhba may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Nicolas Riveros 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Druzhba training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mathieu Oliveira 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.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Wages eat 164% of everything Druzhba earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Match26 Dec 2026
A 1‑0 win over Dinamo Stavropol, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Marked 7.56 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Druzhba had the best player on the pitch.
Squad28 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vladislav Anisimov, and the manager let it.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
14 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 13 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match14 Dec 2026
Every point is an argument now for Druzhba
Position 14 and 14 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Druzhba training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mathieu Oliveira 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.
Match12 Dec 2026
Dinamo Makhachkala 2 left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Dec 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Druzhba can pretend not to have heard.
Match5 Dec 2026
Still nobody has beaten Druzhba
The unbeaten run reaches 7. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad7 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 Druzhba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Druzhba training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kirill Yushko 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.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
19 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Soslan Cherdzhiev, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match28 Nov 2026
Rubin Yalta will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Druzhba were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.00, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Mathieu Oliveira, 33, rolls back the years — 7.87
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.87 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Mathieu Oliveira 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.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
22 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Match28 Nov 2026
6 unbeaten for Druzhba
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Druzhba did not have in the autumn.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Kirill Yushko 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.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
145% of the income goes out in wages at Druzhba
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.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Defensive actions: 20, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Nov 2026
Gabriel Leiva 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Mathieu Oliveira 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 ratings23 Nov 2026
18 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Loan watch23 Nov 2026
“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 Druzhba, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Kirill Yushko 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Druzhba told Rodislav Trefilov something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match16 Nov 2026
Druzhba are in real trouble now
Position 14, 9 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Mathieu Oliveira 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Druzhba training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Spartak Gogniev 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 terraces16 Nov 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Nicolas Riveros 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.
Squad16 Nov 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.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Druzhba training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bartłomiej Kolec 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
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Asker Delok. 1‑0 against Nart, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Eddi Tsanava in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Druzhba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
16 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
The afternoon belonged to Asker Delok
7.63, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Druzhba had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Too much change too quickly at Druzhba
6 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match31 Oct 2026
12 matches without a win for Druzhba
The run now stands at 12, and the questions being asked around Druzhba are no longer polite ones.
Market2 Nov 2026
“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 Druzhba, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Druzhba training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mathieu Oliveira 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.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
145% of the income goes out in wages at Druzhba
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.
Squad2 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Druzhba will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match24 Oct 2026
11 matches without a win for Druzhba
The run now stands at 11, and the questions being asked around Druzhba are no longer polite ones.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Mathieu Oliveira 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 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 Druzhba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tamerlan Khachirov, and the manager let it.
Loan watch26 Oct 2026
“I watch every Druzhba game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Legion runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.70 on the card, and the Druzhba support went home talking about one name.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match17 Oct 2026
The wait goes on for Druzhba
10 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.
Match19 Oct 2026
Every point is an argument now for Druzhba
Position 14 and 3 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Mathieu Oliveira 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.
Match17 Oct 2026
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Druzhba training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yury Kudrevaty 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.
Squad19 Oct 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
Crisis
Match10 Oct 2026
No end in sight to Druzhba's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Druzhba has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Mathieu Oliveira 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Eddi Tsanava in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Druzhba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match10 Oct 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad12 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Kirill Yushko
“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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
9 new faces, and Druzhba are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match30 Sep 2026
Druzhba out of the cup
Krylya Sovetov ended it 0‑1. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Market5 Oct 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.
Match3 Oct 2026
The wait goes on for Druzhba
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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
There were 6 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 ratings5 Oct 2026
Spartak Gogniev pops up at the right end — 7.61
7.61, 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Mathieu Oliveira 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Druzhba training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Spartak Gogniev 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.
Match3 Oct 2026
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages eat 166% of everything Druzhba earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Sep 2026
The wait goes on for Druzhba
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.
Match26 Sep 2026
5 matches without a goal for Druzhba
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.
Squad28 Sep 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 Druzhba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Druzhba training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bartłomiej Kolec 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
Dinamo Stavropol left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad28 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match21 Sep 2026
Every point is an argument now for Druzhba
Position 14 and 3 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Match19 Sep 2026
5 matches without a win for Druzhba
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Druzhba are no longer polite ones.
Match19 Sep 2026
4 matches without a goal for Druzhba
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Druzhba training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mathieu Oliveira 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Eddi Tsanava 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.
Match19 Sep 2026
Rostov 2 left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
There was one mistake and it ended in the net. Defenders are judged on the worst thing they did rather than on the eighty-nine minutes either side of it, which is unfair and is also the job.
Squad21 Sep 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Zaid Koblev'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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Radmir Khainetskiy, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Sep 2026
4 matches without a win for Druzhba
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Druzhba are no longer polite ones.
Squad14 Sep 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 Druzhba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match12 Sep 2026
Druzhba cannot find the net
3 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Mathieu Oliveira 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.
Match12 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad14 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market7 Sep 2026
“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 Druzhba, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 Sep 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Bartłomiej Kolec and Druzhba agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Nicolas Riveros 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.
Match5 Sep 2026
Sochi 2 left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad7 Sep 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Druzhba training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yury Kudrevaty 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market31 Aug 2026
“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 Druzhba, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nicolas Riveros and Druzhba agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Gabriel Leiva 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Mathieu Oliveira 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad31 Aug 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match19 Aug 2026
Druzhba through in the cup
A 1‑0 win over Legion, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Market24 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Druzhba can pretend not to have heard.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Eddi Tsanava 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 Aug 2026
Words at Druzhba training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mathieu Oliveira 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 terraces24 Aug 2026
Druzhba supporters have found a favourite in Zaid Koblev
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Zaid Koblev 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 ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Artur Zezarakhov, and the manager let it.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.44 on the card, and the Druzhba support went home talking about one name.
Match22 Aug 2026
A 1‑1 draw with Pobeda leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 Aug 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 Druzhba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match15 Aug 2026
Druzhba cannot find the net
3 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Soslan Cherdzhiev 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.
Market17 Aug 2026
He is 20, and nobody at Druzhba signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Squad17 Aug 2026
5 new faces, and Druzhba are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Squad17 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Radmir Khainetskiy and Druzhba agree another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mathieu Oliveira and Druzhba agree another 2 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Gabriel Leiva 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.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Mathieu Oliveira 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.
Match8 Aug 2026
A bad afternoon for Druzhba against Nart
0‑1 to Nart, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Asker Delok, and the manager let it.