Marked for Yury Bavin
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Sergey Yelagin out for 18 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Irtysh will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match9 Nov 2026
Irtysh refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 19 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Irtysh may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Irtysh
Alexandr Smirnov 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Vitaly Zhokhov 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.
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.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Market9 Nov 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Yury Bavin’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Inal Dudaev has been promised minutes
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Inal Dudaev has written the date down.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match12 Oct 2026
Irtysh refuse to drop out of the race
Position 2, 15 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Irtysh
Alexandr Smirnov 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Irtysh training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Danil Kapustyanskiy 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 dugout12 Oct 2026
Ilja Krylov knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ilja Krylov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market12 Oct 2026
The name of Aznaur Geryugov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Irtysh say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market5 Oct 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Timofey Davydov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Irtysh the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Irtysh
Yury Bavin 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.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages eat 205% of everything Irtysh 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Irtysh
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vitaly Zhokhov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad5 Oct 2026
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Irtysh have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.62 on the card, and the Irtysh support went home talking about one name.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Vitaly Ustinov named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Vitaly Ustinov is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Match3 Oct 2026
Point won or two lost for Irtysh?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Dinamo Vladivostok? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market21 Sep 2026
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Irtysh people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Squad21 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 Irtysh this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match19 Sep 2026
Irtysh come up short against Murom
Murom left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dominik Pikulik, and the manager let it.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Irtysh training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Danil Kapustyanskiy 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 ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match21 Sep 2026
Halfway: Irtysh sit in position 2
11 points at the turn. The first half of a season is a promise; the second is a bill, and the town is about to find out which of the two this one was.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑3 Fyodor Smolnikov left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad21 Sep 2026
One booking too many, and a game watched from the stand. Irtysh lose him for the most avoidable reason in the sport.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Irtysh asked and Baltika said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Irtysh
Amirkhan Selyaev 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Vitaly Zhokhov 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.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Alexey Solovjov
“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
The award goes to Aznaur Geryugov, and nobody around here is inclined to argue with the choice.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Aznaur Geryugov named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Aznaur Geryugov is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Looking ahead7 Sep 2026
The leaders are next for Irtysh
Kuban top the table and they are coming into view. Nothing to lose, which is what every manager says before losing.
Looking ahead7 Sep 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Alexandr Smirnov’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Irtysh needing him to play as if none of it matters.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market17 Aug 2026
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Irtysh people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.28 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Irtysh
Yury Bavin 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.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Daniil Chernyakov from Metallurg for $76.0K, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Irtysh asked and Rubin Yalta said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout17 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Irtysh training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitaly Zhokhov 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Irtysh have made the call to Spartak Nalchik. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match1 Aug 2026
The 86th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Aznaur Geryugov decided nobody was going anywhere. Avangard had no time left to answer.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Aznaur Geryugov, 33, rolls back the years — 8.03
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.03 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market3 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 Irtysh, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Yury Bavin and Irtysh agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Irtysh
Alexandr Smirnov 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.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Marked 7.15 on 13 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Match1 Aug 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Aznaur Geryugov. 1‑0 against Avangard, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Market3 Aug 2026
Still no offer on the table, and Roman Yanushkovskiy’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
In brief
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Squad
5 new faces, and Irtysh are still learning each other
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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Player ratings
The chances came and went for Artemy Maleev