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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Dinamo Barnaul know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Dinamo Barnaul, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
SquadKirill Mogel is not doing himself any favours
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
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.
A new face in his position, and Artem Yarkin suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Dinamo Barnaul have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Dinamo Barnaul know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Dinamo Barnaul have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Foma Mikhaylov has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Lukas Kuklys 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.
Artem Yarkin has been around long enough to know what the spring feels like when it goes wrong, and he can feel it. A dressing room that is frightened plays like one.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Dinamo Barnaul, another week without a signature from Nikita Baranov.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Dinamo Barnaul can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Artem Yarkin 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.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Emil Kamilov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dinamo Barnaul the goodbyes have quietly begun.
4 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.
Mikhail Osipov 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.
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.
Maxim Radchenko 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Artem Polshakov and Dinamo Barnaul agree another 2 years.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Dinamo Barnaul, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Artem Yarkin signs something — a contract at Dinamo Barnaul or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The offer from Spartak Nalchik for Zakhar Sergeev 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.
Dmitry Bakay 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.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Dinamo Barnaul has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
The best deals are the ones the accountants never notice. Zahran Alamsah arrives at Dinamo Barnaul with his wages the only cost and something to prove the only clause.
“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.
Dmitry Bakay was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Stepan Mikhailin and Dinamo Barnaul agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Dinamo Barnaul has been clear about where Savva Kotov stands, which is more than many ever get.
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.
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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Alexey Grishakov and Dinamo Barnaul agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Roman Kommusar will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dinamo Barnaul the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
Danil Anosov 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.
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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Dinamo Barnaul they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
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.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Roman Kommusar will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dinamo Barnaul the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Danil Anosov 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.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Dinamo Barnaul has been clear about where Nikita Vorona stands, which is more than many ever get.
“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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Dinamo Barnaul have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Danil Anosov 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Dinamo Barnaul have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Dinamo Barnaul is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
“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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Dinamo Barnaul they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Danil Anosov 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Dinamo Barnaul, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Dinamo Barnaul have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Danil Anosov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Ural 2 defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Dinamo Barnaul, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Kirill Mogel. 1‑0 against Nosta, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 8.31 — 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.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Andrey Kulagin.
“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.
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.
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.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
Danil Anosov 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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
“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 offer from Znamya Truda for Kirill Mogel 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.
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.
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.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Dinamo Barnaul has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.