Marked for David Karaev
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad25 Jan 2027
30 days out for Daniil Shamkin after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. KAMAZ will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market25 Jan 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what KAMAZ can pretend not to have heard.
Market25 Jan 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at KAMAZ is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match23 Jan 2027
Still nobody has beaten KAMAZ
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Boardroom25 Jan 2027
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Hernán Paredes 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
A falling-out at KAMAZ
Andrey Semenov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Marked 8.04 — 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.
Boardroom25 Jan 2027
93% of the income goes out in wages at KAMAZ
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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad18 Jan 2027
37 days out for Daniil Shamkin after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. KAMAZ will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match16 Jan 2027
Nobody wins at KAMAZ
14 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.34 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Market18 Jan 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around KAMAZ they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Tempers go at KAMAZ
David Karaev 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at KAMAZ training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hernán Paredes 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 ratings18 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match16 Jan 2027
Three points for KAMAZ, 1‑0 the final word against Volga in a contest settled by the finer margins.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
“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
Steady
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at KAMAZ
David Karaev 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.
Boardroom11 Jan 2027
Rubin Yalta will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Ilja Glebov has pre-agreed a move to KAMAZ, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at KAMAZ training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hernán Paredes 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 dugout11 Jan 2027
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.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
“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.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
“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.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Timofey Kalistratov'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.
Match9 Jan 2027
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Neftekhimik defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Market11 Jan 2027
The name of Muhammad Sultonov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. KAMAZ say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match2 Jan 2027
The run at home goes on for KAMAZ
13 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Artem Popov is named among the best
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. KAMAZ will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at KAMAZ can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A falling-out at KAMAZ
David Karaev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A row about effort at KAMAZ
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hernán Paredes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces4 Jan 2027
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Paulo Renê
“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.
Match2 Jan 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Stepan Oganesyan. 1‑0 against SKA Khabarovsk, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Stepan Oganesyan was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.08. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad28 Dec 2026
Ruslan Ayukin damages knee ligaments — 14 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 14 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Match26 Dec 2026
KAMAZ win it in stoppage time
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 93th minute. Spartak Kostroma will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Market28 Dec 2026
Only the photograph left for Roman Tkachuk
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Roman Tkachuk will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around KAMAZ the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad28 Dec 2026
David Karaev 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 KAMAZ this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A row about effort at KAMAZ
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hernán Paredes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces28 Dec 2026
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Wages swallow 136% of the KAMAZ income
Every club 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 it has been tried.
Match26 Dec 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: David Karaev. 1‑0 against Spartak Kostroma, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Daniil Shamkin did the work nobody counts — 7.02
9 combined actions and 7.02. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Dec 2026
21 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. KAMAZ lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” KAMAZ may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match19 Dec 2026
The run at home goes on for KAMAZ
12 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Market21 Dec 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alexandr Deryugin will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around KAMAZ the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at KAMAZ training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hernán Paredes 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 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at KAMAZ
Andrey Semenov 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
32 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Marked 8.17 — 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.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Andrey Semenov, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Ruslan Ayukin
43 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. KAMAZ lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 32. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Market30 Nov 2026
Roman Tkachuk has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around KAMAZ they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad30 Nov 2026
David Karaev 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 KAMAZ this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Nov 2026
A row about effort at KAMAZ
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hernán Paredes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Paulo Renê 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.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Wages eat 130% of everything KAMAZ 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.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Paulo Renê
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match18 Nov 2026
KAMAZ out of the cup
Orenburg ended it 1‑2. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Squad23 Nov 2026
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Andrey Solodukhin, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.67
A mark of 7.67 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.29 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market23 Nov 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around KAMAZ they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match21 Nov 2026
Nobody wins at KAMAZ
10 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Tempers go at KAMAZ
David Karaev 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
A row about effort at KAMAZ
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hernán Paredes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match21 Nov 2026
Chaika made KAMAZ work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
In brief
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Player ratings
Nobody could get near David Karaev
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Match
KAMAZ at the halfway mark
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at KAMAZ
David Karaev 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at KAMAZ training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hernán Paredes 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.
Match14 Nov 2026
KAMAZ come up short against Rodina
Rodina left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Carlos Alberto
“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 ratings16 Nov 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.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout16 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.
Looking ahead16 Nov 2026
Chaika next, and one man in the KAMAZ dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Market16 Nov 2026
The Artem Popov story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Artem Popov signs something — a contract at KAMAZ or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market9 Nov 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at KAMAZ can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A falling-out at KAMAZ
David Karaev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match7 Nov 2026
The run at home goes on for KAMAZ
9 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A row about effort at KAMAZ
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hernán Paredes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match7 Nov 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was David Karaev’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to KAMAZ.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Marked 7.67 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, KAMAZ had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Carlos Alberto dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Andrei Kombarov on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market2 Nov 2026
Roman Tkachuk has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around KAMAZ they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A row about effort at KAMAZ
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hernán Paredes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A falling-out at KAMAZ
Andrey Semenov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
David Karaev 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.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Wages eat 130% of everything KAMAZ 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.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Carlos Alberto
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Market2 Nov 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at KAMAZ, another week without a signature from Andrey Semenov.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match24 Oct 2026
The 88th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and David Karaev decided nobody was going anywhere. Fakel had no time left to answer.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Market26 Oct 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at KAMAZ is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A row about effort at KAMAZ
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hernán Paredes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at KAMAZ
Andrey Semenov 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 terraces26 Oct 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Andrey Solodukhin 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.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Paulo Renê
“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.
Match24 Oct 2026
Nobody wins at KAMAZ
8 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Match24 Oct 2026
Fakel made KAMAZ work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
In brief
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Player ratings
David Karaev takes the honours
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The dugout
The form table has caught Carlos Alberto
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match10 Oct 2026
Whatever happens, KAMAZ do not lose
8 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
A falling-out at KAMAZ
David Karaev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at KAMAZ training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hernán Paredes 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.
Match10 Oct 2026
Arsenal Tula made KAMAZ work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.39, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Paulo Renê dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Andrei Kombarov kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The dugout12 Oct 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 dugout12 Oct 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match30 Sep 2026
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Anton Roschin obliged against Volna. 2‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is KAMAZ.
Market5 Oct 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at KAMAZ is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match3 Oct 2026
Whatever happens, KAMAZ 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
David Karaev 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 KAMAZ this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Hernán Paredes 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.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages swallow 156% of the KAMAZ income
Every club 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 it has been tried.
The terraces5 Oct 2026
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
A performance of 8.23 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market28 Sep 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at KAMAZ is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Tempers go at KAMAZ
David Karaev 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 ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad28 Sep 2026
A row about effort at KAMAZ
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hernán Paredes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets28 Sep 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Independiente have kept their man, and KAMAZ go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The terraces28 Sep 2026
He is 19 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Match26 Sep 2026
After 4 games, KAMAZ finally taste it again
The first defeat in 4 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Sokol; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
The dugout28 Sep 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.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Marked 7.16 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, KAMAZ had the best player on the pitch.
In brief
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The dugout
Maxim Laikin gets it from the manager
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The dugout
The manager has not finished forgetting David Khubaev's mistake
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.40 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Match19 Sep 2026
KAMAZ make it 4 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now KAMAZ have 4 straight wins of it.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at KAMAZ
David Karaev 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at KAMAZ training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hernán Paredes 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 targets21 Sep 2026
KAMAZ asked and Spartak Moscow said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match19 Sep 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Muhammad Sultonov. 1‑0 against Volga, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Too much change too quickly at KAMAZ
12 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.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Andrei Kombarov on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vitaly Semenov, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 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 KAMAZ can pretend not to have heard.
Market31 Aug 2026
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. KAMAZ have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 32 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market31 Aug 2026
KAMAZ say no — this time
The offer from Volga for Roman Manuilov 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.
Transfer targets31 Aug 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at KAMAZ
Andrey Semenov 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
Three points for KAMAZ, 1‑0 the final word against Spartak Kostroma in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad31 Aug 2026
A row about effort at KAMAZ
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Khubaev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Marked 7.84. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad24 Aug 2026
41 days out for Yefim Dolgopolov after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. KAMAZ will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market24 Aug 2026
The bid was some way short and KAMAZ did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at KAMAZ
David Karaev 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.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Besiktas have kept their man, and KAMAZ go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match22 Aug 2026
0‑1 to Chernomorets, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad24 Aug 2026
David Khubaev 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 dugout24 Aug 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
A loan enquiry to Lokomotiv Moscow: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout24 Aug 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Aug 2026
A fracture rules Yefim Dolgopolov out for 50 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason KAMAZ will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. KAMAZ have done the hard part with Partizan, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A falling-out at KAMAZ
David Karaev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dinamo Moscow have kept their man, and KAMAZ go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
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.
Market17 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
KAMAZ are still strangers to each other
10 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
A loan enquiry to PAOK: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match8 Aug 2026
Cruel end for Ufa as KAMAZ pounce
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. KAMAZ scored in the 90th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Squad10 Aug 2026
57 days out for Yefim Dolgopolov after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. KAMAZ will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market10 Aug 2026
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Zvezda waiting with a shirt. Nobody at KAMAZ is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A move Stepan Oganesyan would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Stepan Oganesyan is living that version at KAMAZ, and it tends to show in the first month.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The deal with Besiktas is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Vojvodina keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Tempers go at KAMAZ
David Karaev 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: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The terraces10 Aug 2026
KAMAZ supporters have found a favourite in Maxim Laikin
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Maxim Laikin 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Aug 2026
250 appearances across 13 seasons in these colours. Careers like that are not built any more, and KAMAZ know what they have.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Artem Popov and KAMAZ agree another 2 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
David Karaev 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 KAMAZ this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
KAMAZ asked and Dinamo Moscow said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market3 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. KAMAZ have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad3 Aug 2026
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
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.
Market3 Aug 2026
36 months and counting on David Karaev
Still no offer on the table, and David Karaev’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.