Marked for Ivan Zhitnikov
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market28 Dec 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 The request is on a desk at Dinamo Barnaul, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Gleb Gusev 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 Dinamo Barnaul this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
464% of the income goes out in wages at Dinamo Barnaul
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.
Match26 Dec 2026
Volna left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad28 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Vasily Ilik
“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 ratings28 Dec 2026
5.67 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Marked 5.67, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Marked 5.78, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad21 Dec 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Dinamo Barnaul may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match19 Dec 2026
The unbeaten run reaches 11. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Lev Ushakhin 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 Dinamo Barnaul this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ivan Zhitnikov, and the manager let it.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Gleb Gusev left out for the big one
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Gleb Gusev will call it something else in private.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market16 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 Dinamo Barnaul, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad16 Nov 2026
At 20, Enrique Céspedes is already the best thing here
An average of 7.07 in a first team he is several years too young for. Dinamo Barnaul have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Gleb Gusev 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 Dinamo Barnaul this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match14 Nov 2026
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Dinamo Barnaul did not have in the autumn.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
A performance of 9.26 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match14 Nov 2026
Three points for Dinamo Barnaul, 1‑0 the final word against Akron 2 in a contest settled by the finer margins.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market19 Oct 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 Dinamo Barnaul, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Dinamo Barnaul know it.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Lev Ushakhin 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 ratings19 Oct 2026
Marked 8.03 — 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dmitry Bakay, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market28 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 Dinamo Barnaul, and it is not being withdrawn.
The terraces28 Sep 2026
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 7 of the 33 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Lev Ushakhin 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 Dinamo Barnaul this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match26 Sep 2026
Volna left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad28 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lev Ushakhin, and the manager let it.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
5.32 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Marked 5.61, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Marked 5.80, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Sep 2026
Enrique Céspedes 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 ratings14 Sep 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.92, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 20 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Match12 Sep 2026
Nosta made Dinamo Barnaul work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings14 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Ivan Zhitnikov
“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 Sep 2026
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Dinamo Barnaul have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Nikita Chaly 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match5 Sep 2026
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Dinamo Barnaul are no longer polite ones.
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 Dinamo Barnaul, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Lev Ushakhin 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.
Market7 Sep 2026
Ilja Bychkov has left for Ryazan in a $50.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Wages eat 895% of everything Dinamo Barnaul 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.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
A performance of 8.39 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Dmitry Bakay
“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.
Match5 Sep 2026
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match19 Aug 2026
1‑2 against Luki-Energiya, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Market24 Aug 2026
The offer from Kvant for Savva Kotov was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Market24 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 Dinamo Barnaul, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
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.
Match22 Aug 2026
No end in sight to Dinamo Barnaul's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Dinamo Barnaul has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad24 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 Dinamo Barnaul this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market24 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Victor Khugaev again, and this time the name on the line is Rodina M. Dinamo Barnaul are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad24 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Ilja Bychkov
“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 ratings24 Aug 2026
Marked 8.37 — 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Enrique Céspedes and Dinamo Barnaul agree another 4 years.
Market17 Aug 2026
The paperwork is done: Lev Ushakhin joins from Luki-Energiya in a deal worth $81.0K. Now comes the harder part.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Ivan Zhitnikov 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 ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Vasily Ilik gets it from the manager
“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 ratings17 Aug 2026
Marked 7.75 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Dinamo Barnaul had the best player on the pitch.
Market17 Aug 2026
He is 20, and nobody at Dinamo Barnaul signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Match15 Aug 2026
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Market17 Aug 2026
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Ilja Bychkov may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market10 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 Dinamo Barnaul, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Ivan Zhitnikov 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
48 months and counting on Kirill Mogel
Still no offer on the table, and Kirill Mogel’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
Market10 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Alexey Grishakov has his answer from Dinamo Barnaul; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Nikita Chaly has company in his position
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Nikita Chaly keeps the shirt for now, at Dinamo Barnaul's convenience rather than his own.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market3 Aug 2026
Vasily Ilik 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 Dinamo Barnaul can pretend not to have heard.
The terraces3 Aug 2026
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 6 of the 25 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ivan Zhitnikov commits to Dinamo Barnaul for another 2 years.
Squad3 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 Dinamo Barnaul this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match1 Aug 2026
Kirill Mogel scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Amkar, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad3 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Ivan Zhitnikov
“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.
Market3 Aug 2026
Still no offer on the table, and Mikhail Osipov’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
Market3 Aug 2026
Artem Sablin is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Dinamo Barnaul has been clear about where Artem Sablin stands, which is more than many ever get.
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.