Marked for Dmitry Tananeev
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
Back issues
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 May 2027
Ilja Antonov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Rodina 2 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad31 May 2027
At 18 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.
Squad31 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rodina 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 May 2027
Words exchanged at Rodina 2
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match10 May 2027
Rodina 2 sink to position 8
11 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad10 May 2027
A falling-out at Rodina 2
Dmitry Tananeev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 May 2027
A row about effort at Rodina 2
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikita Savin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 May 2027
Only the photograph left for Ilja Antonov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ilja Antonov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Rodina 2 the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad3 May 2027
A falling-out at Rodina 2
Artem Biryukov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 May 2027
Nikita Savin 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match12 Apr 2027
Every point is an argument now for Rodina 2
Position 8 and 11 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Squad12 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rodina 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Maxim Danilin, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market29 Mar 2027
Only the photograph left for Nikita Savin
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nikita Savin will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Rodina 2 the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad29 Mar 2027
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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Rodina 2
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Mar 2027
Dmitry Tananeev 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Rodina 2
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikita Savin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout22 Mar 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market1 Mar 2027
Only the photograph left for Nikita Savin
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nikita Savin will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Rodina 2 the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad1 Mar 2027
At 18 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Artem Biryukov 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 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Rodina 2
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Timofey Danilov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Alexandr Alekhin has moved up it.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Ruslan Maltsev has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match15 Feb 2027
Every point is an argument now for Rodina 2
Position 8 and 11 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market15 Feb 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Rodina 2 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market15 Feb 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 2 have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Squad15 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rodina 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Maxim Danilin
“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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Rodina 2 will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
Squad15 Feb 2027
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Jorge Bernardo keeps the shirt for now, at Rodina 2's convenience rather than his own.
Market15 Feb 2027
Rodina 2 have made Ruslan Maltsev available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Market15 Feb 2027
The name of Gleb Knyazev keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Rodina 2 say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market8 Feb 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Rodina 2 people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Svyatoslav Kozhedub 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A falling-out at Rodina 2
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 dugout8 Feb 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Rodina 2 will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Nerves in the Rodina 2 squad
Jorge Bernardo has been around long enough to know what the spring feels like when it goes wrong, and he can feel it. A dressing room that is frightened plays like one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market1 Feb 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rodina 2 can pretend not to have heard.
Market1 Feb 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Kolomna waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Rodina 2 is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Rodina 2 can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Rodina 2
Svyatoslav Kozhedub 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.
Market1 Feb 2027
Add another name to the list: Zvezda have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Nikita Savin. The answer from Rodina 2 has not changed — yet.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Jorge Bernardo
“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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Rodina 2 will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
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.
Market1 Feb 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Alexandr Stenyakin’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market28 Dec 2026
Ilja Antonov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Rodina 2 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Svyatoslav Kozhedub 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Dmitry Tananeev 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 Dec 2026
At 35, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
The dugout28 Dec 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.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match21 Dec 2026
Rodina 2 sink to position 8
11 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market21 Dec 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Svyatoslav Kozhedub will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Rodina 2 the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad21 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rodina 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Rodina 2 may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad14 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Rodina 2
Svyatoslav Kozhedub and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Denis Bogatikov is 17, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad14 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Rodina 2
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikita Savin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Rodina 2 will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
Market14 Dec 2026
The name of Daniel Svintsov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Rodina 2 say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Rodina 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Svyatoslav Kozhedub 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Rodina 2
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 dugout9 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Timofey Danilov, and the manager let it.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alexandr Stenyakin trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Arseny Khorin, 20, is the weekend’s best young player
Measured against every other kid in the division and first among them. The senior award is where Rodina 2 would like this to lead.
Market9 Nov 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Alexandr Stenyakin’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market2 Nov 2026
Ilja Antonov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Rodina 2 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Arseny Khorin, 20, steals the show — 7.80
Marked 7.80 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Rodina 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilja Antonov 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Dmitry Tananeev 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 terraces2 Nov 2026
He is 20 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.
Match31 Oct 2026
A 2‑0 win over Murom, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Ilja Antonov
“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 Nov 2026
Arseny Khorin named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Arseny Khorin is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Alexandr Zhemchuzhnikov on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Oct 2026
Every point is an argument now for Rodina 2
Position 8 and 8 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Match24 Oct 2026
Nowhere to hide for Rodina 2
0‑3 against Kuban, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market26 Oct 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Svyatoslav Kozhedub will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Rodina 2 the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match24 Oct 2026
The goals have deserted Rodina 2
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Rodina 2 can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Rodina 2
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Svyatoslav Kozhedub was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad26 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Rodina 2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Ilja Antonov left out for the big one
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Ilja Antonov will call it something else in private.
Boardroom26 Oct 2026
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Squad26 Oct 2026
22 new faces, and Rodina 2 are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Oct 2026
Denis Mushkarin is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Rodina 2
Svyatoslav Kozhedub 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Ilja Antonov 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Rodina 2 will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Market12 Oct 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Alexandr Stenyakin’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.