Alexandr Scherbakov

Central Midfielder - Ural 2
10 Oct 2026
Saturday
Process

Marked for Alexandr Scherbakov

9 Edition

The Ural 2 Chronicle

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

8 saves: Vladimir Pavlov was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Player ratings

Vitaly Bondarev, 18, steals the show — 7.97

Marked 7.97 at 18, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.

Match

Vitaly Bondarev’s goal not enough for Ural 2

Vitaly Bondarev scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Dinamo Barnaul, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

Squad

Artem Kulikov 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 Ural 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

Daniil Sekach 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.

Squad

Ural 2 are still strangers to each other

13 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.

The dugout

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 Danil Chekhov left the room before anybody could ask which.

Squad

The first one for Vitaly Bondarev

Every signing waits for it and every press conference asks about it until it comes. It has come, Ural 2 have their man off the mark, and the second one is always easier.

Market

The Vitaly Bondarev question follows Ural 2 around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Vitaly Bondarev’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

In brief

Back issues
7 Edition

The Ural 2 Chronicle

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Not going: Vitaly Bondarev stays at Ural 2

“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Luki-Energiya had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.

Match

No end in sight to Ural 2's wait for a win

5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Ural 2 has to find a result from somewhere.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Vitaly Bondarev

Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

Akron 2 take the points off Ural 2

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

The dugout

Vladimir Pavlov 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.

The dugout

Danil Chekhov faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Danil Chekhov after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

Market

Vladimir Pavlov placed on the list

Ural 2 have made Vladimir Pavlov available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.

Squad

Vitaly Bondarev makes the position his own

At 18 he is in the side on merit and somebody else is watching. Places at Ural 2 are won quietly and lost loudly, and this one was won.

The dugout

Ivan Kuznetsov left out for tactical reasons at Ural 2

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.

In brief

6 Edition

The Ural 2 Chronicle

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Vitaly Bondarev has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ural 2 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

A step back for Artem Kulikov at Ural 2

Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.

Market

Alexandr Scherbakov placed on the list

Ural 2 have made Alexandr Scherbakov available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.

In brief

4 Edition

The Ural 2 Chronicle

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Terms done: Vitaly Bondarev is going

Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Spartak Tambov waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Ural 2 is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.

Market

Ivan Kuznetsov puts it in writing

“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 Ural 2, and it is not being withdrawn.

Match

No end in sight to Ural 2's wait for a win

4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Ural 2 has to find a result from somewhere.

Match

No clean sheets in sight for Ural 2

4 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.

Match

Amkar take the points off Ural 2

Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

The dugout

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 0‑2 Danil Chekhov left the room before anybody could ask which.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Yury Maleev

“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 ratings

Alexandr Scherbakov was unplayable

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 dugout

No place in the plan for Yury Maleev

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.

In brief

3 Edition

The Ural 2 Chronicle

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Vladimir Pavlov stands alone

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.

Squad

Ural 2 lose Daniil Yeremin

33 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Match

Rubin 2 take the points off Ural 2

Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Player ratings

Vitaly Bondarev runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Dmitriy Prischepa 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 Ural 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

Danil Chekhov faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Danil Chekhov after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

The dugout

Yury Maleev does not fit this one

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.

Market

Ural 2 put Ivan Kuznetsov up for sale

The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Ivan Kuznetsov may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.

Market

Dmitriy Prischepa linked with a move away

The name of Dmitriy Prischepa keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Ural 2 say nothing, which says plenty.

In brief

2 Edition

The Ural 2 Chronicle

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Ural 2 say no — this time

The offer from Kuban for Vitaly Bondarev 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.

Squad

Artem Kulikov 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 Ural 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Vitaly Bondarev was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 21. 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.

Match

Ural 2 come up short against Uralets-TS

Uralets-TS left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Vladimir Pavlov

“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.

Market

Still no ink between Ural 2 and Ilja Khatuntsev

“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Ural 2, another week without a signature from Ilja Khatuntsev.

The dugout

Danil Chekhov answers for it

“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.

Market

Ivan Kuznetsov told to find a new club

“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Ivan Kuznetsov has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Ural 2.

The dugout

The plan did not have a place for Yury Maleev

Nobody at Ural 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.

In brief

1 Edition

The Ural 2 Chronicle

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

A hiding for Ural 2

Beaten 0‑6 by KDV Tomsk, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.

Squad

Alexandr Scherbakov signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Alexandr Scherbakov and Ural 2 agree another 4 years.

Match

6 goals as Ural 2 and KDV Tomsk go for it

Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Ural 2 and KDV Tomsk, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.

Squad

Tempers go at Ural 2

Daniil Yeremin 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.

Squad

Words at Ural 2 training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilja Khatuntsev 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.

Market

Vitaly Bondarev attracts admirers

The name of Vitaly Bondarev has come up in conversations Ural 2 were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Artem Kulikov

“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.

Boardroom

Nobody left the Ural 2 dressing room in a hurry

The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.

Market

Talks stall between Ural 2 and Alexandr Scherbakov

“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.

In brief

  • Squad Too much change too quickly at Ural 2
  • The dugout The manager’s verdict
  • The dugout The manager has not finished forgetting Vladimir Pavlov's mistake