Marked for Zelimkhan Bakaev
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 32. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Sergey Pinyaev 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
Gilson Benchimol 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.
Match24 Oct 2026
8 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Squad26 Oct 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting César Montes'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.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Marked 7.75. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match26 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Lokomotiv Moscow's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Lokomotiv Moscow has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad28 Sep 2026
César Montes 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 Lokomotiv Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market28 Sep 2026
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Lucas Vera wants continental football; whether Lokomotiv Moscow can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Lokomotiv Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Danil Prutsev 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 ratings28 Sep 2026
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 10 actions, 6.86, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match19 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Lokomotiv Moscow's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Lokomotiv Moscow has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad21 Sep 2026
César Montes 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Lokomotiv Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexandr Rudenko 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
Marked 7.76 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Lokomotiv Moscow had the best player on the pitch.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match19 Sep 2026
A 1‑1 draw with Krasnodar leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 Aug 2026
The offer from Zenit for Zelimkhan Bakaev 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.
Match22 Aug 2026
No end in sight to Lokomotiv Moscow's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Lokomotiv Moscow has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Sergey Pinyaev 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 Lokomotiv Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artem Karpukas 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Danil Prutsev 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Maxim Nenakhov'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.
Match22 Aug 2026
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Krylya Sovetov defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Market24 Aug 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Sergey Pinyaev signs something — a contract at Lokomotiv Moscow or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” César Montes commits to Lokomotiv Moscow for another 4 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
César Montes 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 Lokomotiv Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market10 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Alexey Batrakov again, and this time the name on the line is Zenit. Lokomotiv Moscow are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad10 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.
Match8 Aug 2026
No time for Rostov to settle
The goal that put Rostov ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Lokomotiv Moscow equalised, 3 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
Market10 Aug 2026
Still no offer on the table, and Zelimkhan Bakaev’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
Player ratings10 Aug 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.
Match8 Aug 2026
A 2‑2 draw with Rostov leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Squad10 Aug 2026
César Montes 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.