Marked for Dmitry Tananeev
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad23 Apr 2029
A fracture rules Raphaël Calvet out for 121 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason FC Versailles will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings23 Apr 2029
Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market23 Apr 2029
“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 The request is on a desk at FC Versailles, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout23 Apr 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” FC Versailles may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad23 Apr 2029
A season average of 7.21 with 19 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Match21 Apr 2029
Nobody wants to play FC Versailles right now
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.
Squad23 Apr 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Versailles this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Words at FC Versailles training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Elisha Owusu 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.
In brief
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Player ratings
The afternoon belonged to Ali Ouchen
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The dugout
Cédric Odzoumo left out for the big one
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match24 Mar 2029
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against FC Rouen, and it could have been more.
Squad26 Mar 2029
The match ball belongs to Pape Demba Diop, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Match26 Mar 2029
56 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Market26 Mar 2029
“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 FC Versailles, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad26 Mar 2029
19 goals and a season average of 7.21. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Florian Le Joncour and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Words at FC Versailles training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Elisha Owusu 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 ratings26 Mar 2029
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match24 Mar 2029
FC Versailles settle it inside twenty minutes
2 goals before the ground had finished arriving. FC Rouen spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad2 Oct 2028
The knee: Jawed Kalaï out for 53 days
53 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. FC Versailles lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad2 Oct 2028
77 days out for Romain Basque after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. FC Versailles will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market2 Oct 2028
“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 FC Versailles, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings2 Oct 2028
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 7.85 for the rest of it.
Squad2 Oct 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Cédric Odzoumo and FC Versailles agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad2 Oct 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 FC Versailles this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match30 Sep 2028
A 1‑0 win over Le Puy Foot 43, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout2 Oct 2028
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.” Théodore David kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The dugout2 Oct 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad25 Sep 2028
A fracture rules Théo Le Normand out for 16 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason FC Versailles will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match20 Sep 2028
Out, 0‑1 to EA Guingamp, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Match23 Sep 2028
SC Aubagne Air Bel will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. FC Versailles were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Market25 Sep 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings25 Sep 2028
Successful dribbles: 27. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Player ratings25 Sep 2028
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.83 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Elisha Owusu 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.
Player ratings25 Sep 2028
Marked 8.03 — 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.
The dugout25 Sep 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Amine Saïd, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings20 Mar 2028
No sign of nerves from Harouna Djibirin at 21 — 7.63
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Harouna Djibirin did not need any: 7.63, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Match18 Mar 2028
No end in sight to FC Versailles's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at FC Versailles has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Florian Le Joncour and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Words at FC Versailles training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valentin Atangana 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.
Match18 Mar 2028
1‑3 to Valenciennes, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
Elisha Owusu 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.
Player ratings20 Mar 2028
Shelton Guillaume was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.05. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. FC Versailles told Valentin Atangana something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Squad20 Mar 2028
A goalkeeper’s error has no defender behind it to tidy it away. He knew before the ball crossed the line, the crowd knew a second later, and there is nothing anybody can say tonight.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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The dugout
Somebody else is better right now than Papis Dembelé
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Squad
No place for Dmitry Tananeev in the new shape
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market13 Mar 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FC Versailles can pretend not to have heard.
Squad13 Mar 2028
A fracture rules Raphaël Calvet out for 15 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason FC Versailles will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad13 Mar 2028
The medical room confirms 18 days on the sidelines for Théo Barbet, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Florian Le Joncour 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.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Dmitry Tananeev arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Dmitry Tananeev has, at FC Versailles, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Match11 Mar 2028
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at FC Versailles can tell you which week it ends in.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
The manager makes an example of Papis Dembelé
“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.
Match11 Mar 2028
0‑1 to Clermont Foot, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Théodore David after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market6 Sep 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Rodina have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market6 Sep 2027
“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 Rodina, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Wages swallow 144% of the Rodina income
Every club 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 it has been tried.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words at Rodina training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kirill Ushatov 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words exchanged at Rodina
Dmitry Tananeev 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.
The dugout6 Sep 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kerfala Cissoko, and the manager let it.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Artem Biryukov slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Artem Biryukov is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
The dugout6 Sep 2027
Sebastián Arce knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Rodina, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout6 Sep 2027
Mikhail Maltsev has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Rodina will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market2 Aug 2027
The bid was some way short and Rodina did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market2 Aug 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Rodina is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.39 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Rodina may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom2 Aug 2027
Belts tighten at Rodina
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
Market2 Aug 2027
“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 Rodina, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match31 Jul 2027
A bad afternoon for Rodina against Akhmat
2‑3 to Akhmat, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Sergey Volkov
“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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Dmitry Tananeev and Rodina agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match17 Jul 2027
A hiding for Rodina
Beaten 0‑4 by Lokomotiv Moscow, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
“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.
Market19 Jul 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market19 Jul 2027
Only the photograph left for Yegor Larionov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Yegor Larionov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Rodina the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Tempers go at Rodina
Yordy Reyna 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.
Market19 Jul 2027
Add another name to the list: Nosta have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Dmitry Tananeev. The answer from Rodina has not changed — yet.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Leo Goglichidze, and the manager let it.
Squad19 Jul 2027
A row about effort at Rodina
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kirill Ushatov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
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Boardroom
The ground is getting bigger
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Boardroom
Inquest at Rodina
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Market
Kosmos are about to pick up the phone
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Jul 2027
45 days out for Ismael Sesay after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Nosta will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market12 Jul 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words exchanged at Nosta
Stanislav Irshev 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.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
Nosta offered $83.0K; Rodina said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Boardroom12 Jul 2027
174% of the income goes out in wages at Nosta
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.
Market12 Jul 2027
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
A loan move for Ilja Vostrikov is in the works
Nosta have made the call to Spartak Tambov. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
Volgar have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market12 Jul 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Rodina people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market12 Jul 2027
Rodina say no — this time
The offer from Neftyanik for Yordy Reyna 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.
Market12 Jul 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Rodina is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market12 Jul 2027
Dinamo Moscow pay $600.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words exchanged at Rodina
Dmitry Tananeev 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.
Boardroom12 Jul 2027
Wages swallow 117% of the Rodina income
Every club 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 it has been tried.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
The manager makes an example of Samu Herronen
“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 dugout12 Jul 2027
“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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Where he used to play does most of his talking for him at Rodina. The room defers to it, the kids study it, and the only thing that can puncture it is a bad month.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
Promotion for Rodina
Mathematically certain, and nobody in this town is going to bed early. Whatever else happened this season, it finishes a division above where it started.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
It is over: Rodina are relegated
The arithmetic ran out, and everybody could see it coming from a distance. The hard summer starts now, and next season's fixtures will be full of unfamiliar names.
Market5 Jul 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Rodina they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market5 Jul 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Kaluga waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Rodina is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Squad5 Jul 2027
A falling-out at Rodina
Dmitry Tananeev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout5 Jul 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Dmitry Tananeev has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
Rodina sign 6 boys into the academy
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Magomedkhabib Abdusalamov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.