Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alexandr Grigorjev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Rostov 2 the goodbyes have quietly begun.
He is 20, he is averaging 7.03, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Daniil Gorovykh 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 Rostov 2, and both men came out saying it was fine.
He is 20, he is averaging 7.07, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Daniil Gorovykh 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Leonid Zubkov after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
7.63, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
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.
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 Vladimir Kasparyan.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Leonid Zubkov on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Yaroslav Solovjov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Rostov 2 the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Vadim Rassadin. 1‑0 against Spartak Nalchik, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“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 Rostov 2, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
Maxim Radchenko, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.68
A mark of 7.68 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Rostov 2 is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
He is 20, he is averaging 7.02, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Daniil Gorovykh 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.
He is 22 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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Leonid Zubkov could afford to be generous.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rostov 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Leonid Zubkov after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Daniil Gorovykh has come out of that comparison in the side, and Rostov 2 have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Ilja Zubenko will call it something else in private.
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Yaroslav Solovjov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Rostov 2 the goodbyes have quietly begun.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.00, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Vladimir Kasparyan 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.
Georgy Suanov, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.88
A mark of 7.88 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Rostov 2 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
A season average of 7.00 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Rostov 2 know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Rostislav Polyakov is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Daniil Gorovykh 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Rustam Asenchukov 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.
10 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.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Vadim Rassadin, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.65
A mark of 7.65 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.
He is 20, he is averaging 7.07, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Daniil Gorovykh 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.
A 1‑0 win over Kuban Holding, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
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.” Leonid Zubkov kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
At 20 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Kirill Cheburakov provided it, and the 8.57 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Rostov 2 people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rostov 2 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 Rostov 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“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 Rostov 2, and it is not being withdrawn.
60 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Rostov 2 people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Marked 7.57 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Rostov 2 had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Leonid Zubkov chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Successful dribbles: 13. 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.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Rostov 2 have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rostov 2 can pretend not to have heard.
A mark of 8.04 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.51 for the rest of 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 Rostov 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Successful dribbles: 14. 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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Leonid Zubkov after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Nikita Babakin has his answer from Rostov 2; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Nart? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Vadim Rassadin wins it after the whistle should have gone
91 minutes played. Vadim Rassadin found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Astrakhan went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Two goals and a mark of 8.96 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Maxim Radchenko did not need any: 7.64, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Daniil Gorovykh 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Kirill Cheburakov 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 dugout18 Jan 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Leonid Zubkov, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Vadim Rassadin provided it, and the 8.62 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
A season average of 7.01 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Rostov 2 know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Daniil Gorovykh 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.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
26 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Chaika M tried to reorganise, Rostov 2 did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Ilja Zubenko did not need any: 8.02, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Rostov 2 have had the benefit of it.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rostov 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Ilja Zubenko 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.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Dmitry Shevchenko is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
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.” Leonid Zubkov kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Vadim Rassadin, 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Vadim Rassadin is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Danil Ryazanov 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.
Position 4, 40 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
The dugout28 Dec 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 1‑2 Leonid Zubkov left the room before anybody could ask which.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Rostov 2 told Nikita Kolyuchkin something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
4 matches without defeat, and then Sevastopol. Nobody at the ground pretended it would go on forever; nobody expected it to stop here either.
The dugout21 Dec 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 1‑2 Leonid Zubkov left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Daniil Gorovykh'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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Rostov 2, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Kirill Cheburakov signs something — a contract at Rostov 2 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A mark of 7.66 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.
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Daniil Gorovykh 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.
At 20 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Rostov 2 will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
At 20 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.
Vadim Rassadin, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 7.75
A mark of 7.75 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for 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 Rostov 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Dmitry Shevchenko 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.
It finished 1‑0, and it was Vadim Rassadin’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Rostov 2.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Vadim Rassadin is the division's best young player this month
At 19 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. Rostov 2 will try very hard not to make too much of it.
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout7 Dec 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.” Leonid Zubkov kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Vadim Rassadin provided it, and the 9.01 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
A 3‑1 win over Spartak Nalchik, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
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.
The goal that put Spartak Nalchik ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Rostov 2 equalised, 3 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
The dugout30 Nov 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.” Leonid Zubkov kept it short after the 3‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Vadim Rassadin did not need any: 7.71, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Daniil Gorovykh 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.
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.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Leonid Zubkov could afford to be generous.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Rostov 2 has been clear about where Yaroslav Solovjov stands, which is more than many ever get.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Kirill Cheburakov signs something — a contract at Rostov 2 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Successful dribbles: 10. 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.
Daniil Gorovykh 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.
Danil Ryazanov 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 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.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Rostov 2 will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Dmitry Shevchenko is 20, and for one weekend he was the best of everybody his age in the division. Nobody should build a career on it and everybody quietly does.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Rostov 2 know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Daniil Gorovykh 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.
20 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Leonid Zubkov after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Kirill Cheburakov signs something — a contract at Rostov 2 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Marat Kovalkov did not need any: 8.09, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Vladimir Kasparyan is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Daniil Gorovykh 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.
A 1‑0 win over Kuban Holding, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 9 combined actions and a mark of 6.58, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Leonid Zubkov could afford to be generous.
Nobody at Rostov 2 is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rostov 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Rostov 2, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A mark of 7.90 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Vadim Rassadin is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Rustam Asenchukov is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Marat Kovalkov is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Daniil Gorovykh 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.
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.
20 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 dugout28 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Leonid Zubkov, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
At 19 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.
“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 crowd waited for a goal that never came. Shakhter Donetsk defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
At 20 he has taken a place rather than been given one, and somebody else has to find something to say about it. Rostov 2 have a decision that made itself.
“If we are going to be beaten, let it not be because somebody in here could not be bothered.” He stood up and said it in front of everybody, which is a thing a squad remembers about a man for years.
Rostov 2 opened the door and nobody walked through it. So Georgy Suanov stays — listed, trained, and available — while both sides mark the days to January on the same calendar.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Rostov 2 has been clear about where Georgy Suanov stands, which is more than many ever get.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Maxim Radchenko is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Rostov 2 than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.