Marked for Dmitry Lesnikov
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match29 Sep 2029
7 unbeaten for Ural
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation Ural did not have in the autumn.
Squad1 Oct 2029
Léo Cordeiro 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 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings1 Oct 2029
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad1 Oct 2029
The manager makes an example of Ivan Ryzhkov
“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.
Match29 Sep 2029
A 1‑1 draw with Dinamo Makhachkala leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Market1 Oct 2029
The Ítalo question follows Ural around
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ítalo’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad1 Oct 2029
A first senior shirt for Yefim Kozlov
Every debut is a small story about the future: Yefim Kozlov, 20 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
Squad1 Oct 2029
“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.
Player ratings1 Oct 2029
5.75 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market28 May 2029
Cristian Díaz has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ural they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad28 May 2029
Tempers go at Ural
Léo Cordeiro 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.
Squad28 May 2029
88 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad28 May 2029
The manager makes an example of Dmitry Lesnikov
“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.
Market28 May 2029
The Léo Cordeiro talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ural know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Loan watch28 May 2029
29 starts and a season average of 6.56. The loan is doing exactly what it was arranged to do.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 May 2029
Léo Cordeiro 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 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 May 2029
22 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Boardroom21 May 2029
Ural counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Ural now.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Feb 2029
Rubin come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Ural did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Player ratings12 Feb 2029
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Léo Cordeiro 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 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market12 Feb 2029
Alexandr Selikhov has left for Krasnodar in a $280.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Market12 Feb 2029
The phone has started ringing about Dmitriy Prischepa again, and this time the name on the line is Yenisey. Ural are listening politely and promising nothing.
Player ratings12 Feb 2029
Marked 9.28 — 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.
Match10 Feb 2029
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Leon Sabua. 1‑0 against Volga, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Defences have started doubling up on Leon Sabua
6 goals and a season average of 7.38 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Market12 Feb 2029
The Ivan Metin conversation is coming
Everyone has stopped pretending: Murom will make the call about Ivan Metin this week. Ural have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad15 Jan 2029
There were 9 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match13 Jan 2029
No end in sight to Ural's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Ural has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Léo Cordeiro 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 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Jan 2029
“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.
Match13 Jan 2029
Chaika take the points off Ural
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings15 Jan 2029
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Boardroom15 Jan 2029
Inquest at Ural
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Vitaly Bondarev 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.
Market15 Jan 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Vladislav Sarveli signs something — a contract at Ural or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market8 Jan 2029
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Tempers go at Ural
Léo Cordeiro 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 ratings8 Jan 2029
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.
Match6 Jan 2029
Ural come up short against Akron
Akron left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Defences have started doubling up on Leon Sabua
5 goals and a season average of 7.35 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad8 Jan 2029
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Alexandr Selikhov knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Squad8 Jan 2029
“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 terraces8 Jan 2029
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
Player ratings8 Jan 2029
Shots: 12, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Jan 2029
Dmitry Lesnikov: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ural have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad1 Jan 2029
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 Ural have had the benefit of it.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Léo Cordeiro 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 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings1 Jan 2029
Leon Sabua runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings1 Jan 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.52, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Defences have started doubling up on Vladislav Sarveli
7 goals and a season average of 7.31 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
In brief
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Match
Honours even between Ural and Rotor
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Boardroom
Ural counting the cost
-
Market
Ítalo linked with a move away
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad25 Dec 2028
Tempers go at Ural
Léo Cordeiro 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.
Boardroom25 Dec 2028
106% of the income goes out in wages at Ural
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.
Player ratings25 Dec 2028
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.
Squad25 Dec 2028
A season average of 7.32 with 3 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad25 Dec 2028
The manager makes an example of Dmitry Lesnikov
“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.
Match23 Dec 2028
Ural share the spoils with Fakel
A 1‑1 draw with Fakel leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match28 Oct 2028
Whatever happens, Ural do not lose
13 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 ratings30 Oct 2028
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Tempers go at Ural
Léo Cordeiro 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 ratings30 Oct 2028
A performance of 9.14 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Boardroom30 Oct 2028
Wages eat 129% of everything Ural 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.
Squad30 Oct 2028
3 goals and a season average of 7.39. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad30 Oct 2028
The manager makes an example of Dmitry Lesnikov
“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.
Match28 Oct 2028
Ural share the spoils with KAMAZ
A 1‑1 draw with KAMAZ leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The terraces30 Oct 2028
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings31 Jul 2028
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Tempers go at Ural
Léo Cordeiro 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.
Match29 Jul 2028
6 unbeaten for Ural
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Ural did not have in the autumn.
Player ratings31 Jul 2028
A defender's afternoon for Léo Cordeiro
Defensive actions: 20. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings31 Jul 2028
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 20 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad31 Jul 2028
“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.
Player ratings31 Jul 2028
Defensive actions: 19, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad31 Jul 2028
The medical room confirms 30 days on the sidelines for Daniil Lobanov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Match29 Jul 2028
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Chelyabinsk came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Jul 2028
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Léo Cordeiro 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 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings24 Jul 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.83, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings24 Jul 2028
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market24 Jul 2028
Cristian Díaz is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Ural has been clear about where Cristian Díaz stands, which is more than many ever get.
Squad24 Jul 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dmitry Lesnikov, and the manager let it.
Match22 Jul 2028
Honours even between Ural and Yenisey
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Vitaly Bondarev 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.
Market24 Jul 2028
The Ítalo question follows Ural around
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ítalo’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
In brief
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Market
The clock does Timur Ayupov’s negotiating for him
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Market
Prokhor Garin leaves for nothing
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Boardroom
The Ural production line keeps running
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market19 Jun 2028
Ural say no — this time
The offer from Rostov for Alexandr Selikhov 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.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Tempers go at Ural
Léo Cordeiro 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.
Squad19 Jun 2028
The manager makes an example of Dmitry Lesnikov
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 May 2028
Tempers go at Ural
Silvije Begić 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.
Squad1 May 2028
26 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad1 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Artem Mamin, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Apr 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Ural may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Tempers go at Ural
Léo Cordeiro 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 Apr 2028
The manager makes an example of Alexey Mamin
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad27 Mar 2028
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Tempers go at Ural
Léo Cordeiro 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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dmitry Lesnikov, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings28 Feb 2028
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 26 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad28 Feb 2028
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 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings28 Feb 2028
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad28 Feb 2028
The manager makes an example of Roman Akbashev
“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.
Squad28 Feb 2028
A season average of 7.22 with 7 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Player ratings28 Feb 2028
Ítalo takes the honours
Marked 7.88 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Ural had the best player on the pitch.
Player ratings28 Feb 2028
A defender's afternoon for Léo Cordeiro
Defensive actions: 15. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Match26 Feb 2028
Ural and KAMAZ cancel each other out
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. KAMAZ came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
Market28 Feb 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Vladislav Sarveli’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad20 Dec 2027
Timur Ayupov: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ural have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad20 Dec 2027
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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Léo Cordeiro 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 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings20 Dec 2027
A performance of 8.74 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings20 Dec 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad20 Dec 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.