Dmitry Tsypchenko

Attacking Midfielder (C) - Torpedo Moscow
21 Mar 2032
Sunday
Process

Marked for Dmitry Tsypchenko

293 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

8 Mar 2032
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The terraces

Anger at Torpedo Moscow spills outside the ground

It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.

Market

Ivan Pjaca 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 The request is on a desk at Torpedo Moscow, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Bogdan Rogochiy has one foot out of the door

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

Boardroom

Bogdan Rogochiy signs for Orenburg while still at Torpedo Moscow

The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Bogdan Rogochiy has agreed terms with Orenburg for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.

Squad

Tempers go at Torpedo Moscow

Artur Galoyan 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 Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Tsypchenko 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.

Squad

Yefim Lysenko signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Yefim Lysenko and Torpedo Moscow agree another 3 years.

Squad

Alexandr Lomakin 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; Alexandr Lomakin will call it something else in private.

Player ratings

Danil Stepanov was the difference for Torpedo Moscow

Marked 7.27. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.

In brief

Back issues
292 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

1 Mar 2032
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Boardroom

The silence upstairs is getting loud at Torpedo Moscow

Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.

Squad

Artur Galoyan 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 Torpedo Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Dmitry Tsypchenko 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.

Squad

Nahuel Urtasún signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Nahuel Urtasún commits to Torpedo Moscow for another 3 years.

Match

Torpedo Moscow get the job done against Orenburg

A 1‑0 win over Orenburg, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Player ratings

Alexey Kashtanov takes the honours

Marked 7.75 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Torpedo Moscow had the best player on the pitch.

Player ratings

Nikolay Boyarkin runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

A promise honoured for Alexandr Lomakin

It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Torpedo Moscow told Alexandr Lomakin something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.

Market

Torpedo Moscow pick up Nahuel Urtasún for nothing

The best deals are the ones the accountants never notice. Nahuel Urtasún arrives at Torpedo Moscow with his wages the only cost and something to prove the only clause.

In brief

290 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

16 Feb 2032
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Mario Ćurić 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 Torpedo Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Dmitry Tsypchenko 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.

Match

Dmitry Tsypchenko sends Torpedo Moscow past KAMAZ

It finished 2‑0, and it was Dmitry Tsypchenko’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Torpedo Moscow.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Dmitry Tsypchenko

Marked 8.39 — 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.

Market

Yefim Lysenko attracts admirers

The name of Yefim Lysenko has come up in conversations Torpedo Moscow were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Player ratings

Artur Galoyan in the eights

A performance of 8.22 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Maxim Kriushichev

Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Alexandr Konev

“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.

Squad

Dmitry Tsypchenko named player of the week

One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Dmitry Tsypchenko has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.

In brief

289 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

9 Feb 2032
From our football correspondent Crisis

The terraces

Anger at Torpedo Moscow spills outside the ground

It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.

Market

Ivan Pjaca hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Torpedo Moscow can pretend not to have heard.

Match

No end in sight to Torpedo Moscow's wait for a win

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

Squad

Alexey Kashtanov stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Alexey Kashtanov and Torpedo Moscow agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Tempers go at Torpedo Moscow

Artur Galoyan 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.

Match

Torpedo Moscow cannot find the net

4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.

Squad

Words at Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Tsypchenko 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 ratings

Nobody could get near Artur Galoyan

Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

Shinnik take the points off Torpedo Moscow

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

In brief

287 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

26 Jan 2032
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Torpedo Moscow are in real trouble now

Position 16, 21 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.

Market

Nikita Kalugin is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Torpedo Moscow is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Player ratings

Nikolay Boyarkin 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.

Squad

Words at Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Tsypchenko 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.

Squad

Bogdan Rogochiy 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 Torpedo Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Artur Galoyan stands above it all

Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.34 on the card, and the Torpedo Moscow support went home talking about one name.

Squad

No hiding place for Bogdan Rogochiy

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bogdan Rogochiy, and the manager let it.

Match

Torpedo Moscow and SKA Khabarovsk cancel each other out

Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. SKA Khabarovsk came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.

Squad

Bogdan Rogochiy left out for tactical reasons at Torpedo Moscow

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

286 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

19 Jan 2032
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Artur Galoyan 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 Torpedo Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Dmitry Tsypchenko 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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Artur Galoyan

Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

In brief

285 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

12 Jan 2032
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The terraces

Anger at Torpedo Moscow spills outside the ground

It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.

Market

Ivan Pjaca 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 Torpedo Moscow, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Tempers go at Torpedo Moscow

Artur Galoyan 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.

Match

Dmitry Tsypchenko the difference as Torpedo Moscow beat Ufa

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Dmitry Tsypchenko. 2‑1 against Ufa, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Dmitry Tsypchenko at his very best

Marked 8.32. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Torpedo Moscow.

Player ratings

Artur Galoyan in the eights

A performance of 8.18 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Nikolay Boyarkin

Marked 8.10 — 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.

Squad

The team sheet said everything about Alexandr Lomakin

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 Alexandr Lomakin.

Squad

Alexandr Lomakin dropped after a run of poor form

The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.

In brief

284 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

5 Jan 2032
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Vladislav Kucheiko 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 Torpedo Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Dmitry Tsypchenko 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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Torpedo Moscow against Rodina

0‑1 to Rodina, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Player ratings

Nikolay Boyarkin 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

Torpedo Moscow pick somebody else ahead of Alexandr Lomakin

There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.

Squad

No hiding place for Alexandr Korenblyum

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alexandr Korenblyum, and the manager let it.

In brief

283 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

29 Dec 2031
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Torpedo Moscow sink to position 16

17 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.

Match

Torpedo Moscow strike at the death to beat Rotor

There were 85 minutes on the clock and Rotor had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Torpedo Moscow did not stop to explain themselves.

Market

Nikita Kalugin has one foot out of the door

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

Squad

Tempers go at Torpedo Moscow

Mario Ćurić 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 ratings

Nikolay Boyarkin 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.

Squad

Words at Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Tsypchenko 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

281 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

15 Dec 2031
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The terraces

Anger at Torpedo Moscow spills outside the ground

It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.

Match

13 matches without a win for Torpedo Moscow

The run now stands at 13, and the questions being asked around Torpedo Moscow are no longer polite ones.

Market

Ivan Pjaca 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 Torpedo Moscow, and it is not being withdrawn.

Match

5 matches without a goal for Torpedo Moscow

The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 5 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.

Squad

Tempers go at Torpedo Moscow

Mario Ćurić 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 Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Tsypchenko 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 ratings

Nobody could get near Artur Galoyan

Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

Gleb Shevchenko takes the honours

Marked 7.35 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Torpedo Moscow had the best player on the pitch.

Squad

Alexandr Lomakin dropped after a run of poor form

The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.

In brief

280 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

8 Dec 2031
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

12 matches without a win for Torpedo Moscow

The run now stands at 12, and the questions being asked around Torpedo Moscow are no longer polite ones.

Match

4 matches without a goal for Torpedo Moscow

The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.

Squad

Dmitry Tsypchenko 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.

Squad

Tempers go at Torpedo Moscow

Bogdan Rogochiy 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 ratings

The afternoon belonged to Artur Galoyan

A mark of 7.37, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.

Squad

Yefim Lysenko named in the team of the month

A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Yefim Lysenko is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.

Squad

No hiding place for Alexandr Korenblyum

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alexandr Korenblyum, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Alexandr Konev

Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

Torpedo Moscow draw a blank against Sokol

The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Sokol defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.

In brief

279 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

1 Dec 2031
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

11 matches without a win for Torpedo Moscow

The run now stands at 11, and the questions being asked around Torpedo Moscow are no longer polite ones.

Match

Torpedo Moscow are in real trouble now

Position 18, 12 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.

Market

Nikita Kalugin has one foot out of the door

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

Squad

Yefim Lysenko says Torpedo Moscow went back on their word

“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.

Squad

Tempers go at Torpedo Moscow

Artur Galoyan 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.

Match

The goals have deserted Torpedo Moscow

3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Torpedo Moscow can tell you which week it ends in.

Match

Torpedo Moscow come up short against Neftekhimik

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

Squad

The manager makes an example of Sergey Borodin

“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

Nobody could get near Alexandr Konev

Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

In brief

278 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

24 Nov 2031
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

No end in sight to Torpedo Moscow's wait for a win

10 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Torpedo Moscow has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Artur Galoyan 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 Torpedo Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Dmitry Tsypchenko 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.

Squad

Bogdan Rogochiy 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 ratings

Nobody could get near Artur Galoyan

Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

Torpedo Moscow draw a blank against Spartak Kostroma

The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Spartak Kostroma defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.

In brief

275 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

3 Nov 2031
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Nikolay Boyarkin

17 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Torpedo Moscow lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Match

Torpedo Moscow are in real trouble now

Position 17, 10 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.

Match

No end in sight to Torpedo Moscow's wait for a win

7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Torpedo Moscow has to find a result from somewhere.

Match

Torpedo Moscow cannot find the net

7 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.

Market

Nikita Kalugin is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Torpedo Moscow is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Tempers go at Torpedo Moscow

Artur Galoyan 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 Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Tsypchenko 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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Torpedo Moscow against Orenburg

0‑1 to Orenburg, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

Nikita Kalugin 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.

In brief

274 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

27 Oct 2031
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Nikolay Boyarkin

24 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Torpedo Moscow lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Match

No end in sight to Torpedo Moscow's wait for a win

6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Torpedo Moscow has to find a result from somewhere.

Match

Torpedo Moscow cannot find the net

6 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.

Squad

Mario Ćurić 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 Torpedo Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Dmitry Tsypchenko 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.

Squad

Vadim Gapeev 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.

In brief

272 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

13 Oct 2031
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Nikolay Boyarkin

38 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Torpedo Moscow lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Match

The wait goes on for Torpedo Moscow

4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Squad

Artur Galoyan 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 Torpedo Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

The goals have deserted Torpedo Moscow

4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Torpedo Moscow can tell you which week it ends in.

Squad

Dmitry Tsypchenko 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.

Squad

The manager has not finished forgetting Dmitry Tsypchenko'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.

In brief

271 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

6 Oct 2031
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Nikolay Boyarkin

45 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Torpedo Moscow lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Match

The small margins put Torpedo Moscow out

Out, 0‑1 to Dinamo Vologda, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Artur Galoyan

Successful dribbles: 33. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

Every point is an argument now for Torpedo Moscow

Position 16 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.

Market

Nikita Kalugin is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Torpedo Moscow is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Market

Ruslan Rotan asks to leave Torpedo Moscow

“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.

Squad

Dmitry Tsypchenko signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Dmitry Tsypchenko and Torpedo Moscow agree another 3 years.

Squad

Tempers go at Torpedo Moscow

Artur Galoyan 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 Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Tsypchenko 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

269 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

22 Sep 2031
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The terraces

Anger at Torpedo Moscow spills outside the ground

It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Nikolay Boyarkin

59 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Torpedo Moscow lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Market

Ivan Pjaca hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Torpedo Moscow can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Tempers go at Torpedo Moscow

Mario Ćurić 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 ratings

Nobody could get near Artur Galoyan

Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Words at Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Tsypchenko 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.

Match

Torpedo Moscow find a way past Chernomorets

Chernomorets made Torpedo Moscow work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Player ratings

The afternoon belonged to Dmitry Tsypchenko

A mark of 7.95, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Bogdan Rogochiy

“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.

In brief

268 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

15 Sep 2031
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The wait goes on for Torpedo Moscow

29 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Match

19 matches without a goal for Torpedo Moscow

The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 19 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Nikolay Boyarkin

66 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Torpedo Moscow lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Player ratings

Artur Galoyan runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Artur Galoyan 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 Torpedo Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Dmitry Tsypchenko 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.

In brief

266 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

1 Sep 2031
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

27 matches without a win for Torpedo Moscow

The run now stands at 27, and the questions being asked around Torpedo Moscow are no longer polite ones.

Match

17 matches without a goal for Torpedo Moscow

The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 17 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Nikolay Boyarkin

80 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Torpedo Moscow lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

A fracture rules Yegor Ananjev out for 22 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Torpedo Moscow will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Ruslan Rotan 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 Torpedo Moscow, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Mario Ćurić 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 Torpedo Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

In brief

265 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

25 Aug 2031
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

No end in sight to Torpedo Moscow's wait for a win

26 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Torpedo Moscow has to find a result from somewhere.

Match

Torpedo Moscow cannot find the net

16 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.

The terraces

Anger at Torpedo Moscow spills outside the ground

It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Nikolay Boyarkin

87 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Torpedo Moscow lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

A fracture rules Yegor Ananjev out for 29 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Torpedo Moscow will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

Tempers go at Torpedo Moscow

Artur Galoyan 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 Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Tsypchenko 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.

Match

Torpedo Moscow come up short against Fakel

Fakel left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Artur Galoyan

Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

In brief

263 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

11 Aug 2031
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

The wait goes on for Torpedo Moscow

24 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Match

Torpedo Moscow cannot find the net

14 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Nikolay Boyarkin

101 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Torpedo Moscow lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

Alexandr Lomakin breaks a bone — 18 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 18 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Tempers go at Torpedo Moscow

Vladislav Kucheiko 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 Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Tsypchenko 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

Orel watching Yefim Lysenko

The interest is real enough to have reached print. Torpedo Moscow have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Player ratings

Gleb Shevchenko stands above it all

Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.75 on the card, and the Torpedo Moscow support went home talking about one name.

Player ratings

Artur Galoyan runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

262 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

4 Aug 2031
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

The wait goes on for Torpedo Moscow

23 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Match

13 matches without a goal for Torpedo Moscow

The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 13 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Nikolay Boyarkin

108 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Torpedo Moscow lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

Alexandr Lomakin breaks a bone — 25 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 25 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Ruslan Rotan hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Torpedo Moscow can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Mario Ćurić 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 Torpedo Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Dmitry Tsypchenko 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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Alexandr Konev

Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

Artur Galoyan stands above it all

Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.33 on the card, and the Torpedo Moscow support went home talking about one name.

In brief

260 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

21 Jul 2031
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

21 matches without a win for Torpedo Moscow

The run now stands at 21, and the questions being asked around Torpedo Moscow are no longer polite ones.

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Nikolay Boyarkin

122 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Torpedo Moscow lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Match

Torpedo Moscow cannot find the net

11 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.

Squad

Alexandr Lomakin breaks a bone — 39 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 39 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Mario Ćurić 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 Torpedo Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Boardroom

Graduation day at Torpedo Moscow

6 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.

Squad

Dmitry Tsypchenko 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.

Market

Torpedo Moscow promote Vladislav Kozhemyakin from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Vladislav Kozhemyakin has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

Market

Georgy Skvortsov steps up from the Torpedo Moscow academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Georgy Skvortsov has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.

In brief

259 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

14 Jul 2031
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Alexandr Lomakin breaks a bone — 46 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 46 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

A muscle injury sidelines Alexey Kashtanov for 14 days

Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Torpedo Moscow will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.

Squad

Words at Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Tsypchenko 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

257 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

30 Jun 2031
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The terraces

The mood at Torpedo Moscow has turned into something else

Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.

Squad

A fracture rules Alexandr Lomakin out for 60 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Torpedo Moscow will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Mikhail Pykhcheev asks to leave Torpedo Moscow

“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.

In brief

256 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

23 Jun 2031
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Torpedo Moscow are in real trouble now

Position 16, 5 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.

Squad

A fracture rules Alexandr Lomakin out for 67 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Torpedo Moscow will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

Tempers go at Torpedo Moscow

Vladislav Kucheiko 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.

In brief

254 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

9 Jun 2031
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A fracture rules Alexandr Lomakin out for 81 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Torpedo Moscow will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Ruslan Rotan asks to leave Torpedo Moscow

“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.

Squad

Tempers go at Torpedo Moscow

Artur Galoyan 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.

In brief

253 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

2 Jun 2031
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The terraces

The mood at Torpedo Moscow has turned into something else

Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.

Squad

A fracture rules Alexandr Lomakin out for 88 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Torpedo Moscow will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Boardroom

The caretaker keeps it: Interim Coach confirmed

A month of looking elsewhere ended where it started. He already knows every name in the building; the rest of it he now has to prove in public.

Market

Mikhail Pykhcheev 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 Torpedo Moscow, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Mario Ćurić 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 Torpedo Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Dmitry Tsypchenko 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.

In brief

251 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

19 May 2031
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A fracture rules Alexandr Lomakin out for 102 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Torpedo Moscow will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Only the photograph left for Kirill Suslov

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kirill Suslov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Torpedo Moscow the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Artur Galoyan 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 Torpedo Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

In brief

250 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

12 May 2031
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A fracture rules Alexandr Lomakin out for 109 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Torpedo Moscow will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Ruslan Rotan asks to leave Torpedo Moscow

“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.

Squad

Tempers go at Torpedo Moscow

Artur Galoyan 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.

In brief

248 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

28 Apr 2031
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A fracture rules Alexandr Lomakin out for 123 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Torpedo Moscow will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Match

Every point is an argument now for Torpedo Moscow

Position 16 and 5 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.

Boardroom

The scrutiny sharpens at Torpedo Moscow

Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Torpedo Moscow is running low.

In brief

247 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

21 Apr 2031
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Kirill Suslov has one foot out of the door

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

Boardroom

Torpedo Moscow to lose Kirill Suslov for free

There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Kirill Suslov has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.

Squad

Artur Galoyan 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 Torpedo Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

In brief

245 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

7 Apr 2031
From our football correspondent Crisis

The terraces

The mood at Torpedo Moscow has turned into something else

Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.

Market

Mikhail Pykhcheev hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Torpedo Moscow can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Dmitry Tsypchenko 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.

In brief

244 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

31 Mar 2031
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Every point is an argument now for Torpedo Moscow

Position 16 and 5 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.

Boardroom

Pressure builds in the Torpedo Moscow boardroom

The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.

Squad

Kirill Suslov keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Torpedo Moscow may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

In brief

242 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

17 Mar 2031
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Tempers go at Torpedo Moscow

Vladislav Kucheiko 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 Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Tsypchenko 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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Maxim Mishutin

“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.

In brief

241 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

10 Mar 2031
From our football correspondent Crisis

The terraces

The mood at Torpedo Moscow has turned into something else

Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.

Squad

Maxim Mishutin keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Torpedo Moscow may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Market

Ruslan Rotan hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Torpedo Moscow can pretend not to have heard.

In brief

239 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

24 Feb 2031
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Mario Ćurić 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 Torpedo Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Dmitry Tsypchenko 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.

Squad

When it matters, Nikita Kalugin plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

In brief

238 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

17 Feb 2031
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Tempers go at Torpedo Moscow

Artur Galoyan 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 Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Tsypchenko 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.

Squad

Torpedo Moscow lose Tikhon Rusakov

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

In brief

236 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

3 Feb 2031
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The wait goes on for Torpedo Moscow

19 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Match

Every point is an argument now for Torpedo Moscow

Position 16 and 4 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.

Boardroom

The silence upstairs is getting loud at Torpedo Moscow

Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.

Boardroom

Alexey Kalinovsky has until the next board meeting

What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Torpedo Moscow can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.

Match

9 matches without a goal for Torpedo Moscow

The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 9 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.

Squad

Tempers go at Torpedo Moscow

Artur Galoyan 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

Alexandr Lomakin stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Alexandr Lomakin and Torpedo Moscow agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Words at Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Tsypchenko 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.

Match

Akhmat take the points off Torpedo Moscow

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

In brief

233 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

13 Jan 2031
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

No end in sight to Torpedo Moscow's wait for a win

16 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Torpedo Moscow has to find a result from somewhere.

The terraces

The mood at Torpedo Moscow has turned into something else

Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.

Squad

Nikolay Boyarkin breaks a bone — 27 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 27 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Match

Torpedo Moscow cannot find the net

6 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.

Squad

Artur Galoyan 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 Torpedo Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Dmitry Tsypchenko 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.

Match

Spartak Moscow take the points off Torpedo Moscow

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

Squad

The manager makes an example of Alexey Kashtanov

“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

Yegor Sysoev runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 7. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

230 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

23 Dec 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The wait goes on for Torpedo Moscow

13 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Squad

Nikolay Boyarkin breaks a bone — 48 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 48 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Alexandr Mironov hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Torpedo Moscow can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Tempers go at Torpedo Moscow

Mario Ćurić 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 Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Tsypchenko 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.

Match

The goals have deserted Torpedo Moscow

3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Torpedo Moscow can tell you which week it ends in.

In brief

227 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

2 Dec 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The wait goes on for Torpedo Moscow

10 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Squad

Nikolay Boyarkin breaks a bone — 69 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 69 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Maxim Mishutin hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Torpedo Moscow can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Cristian Moldovan is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Torpedo Moscow is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Alexey Kashtanov signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Alexey Kashtanov and Torpedo Moscow agree another 2 years.

Squad

Mario Ćurić 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 Torpedo Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Dmitry Tsypchenko 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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Torpedo Moscow against Dinamo Moscow

1‑2 to Dinamo Moscow, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Yegor Sysoev

Successful dribbles: 9. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

In brief

224 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

11 Nov 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Every point is an argument now for Torpedo Moscow

Position 16 and 2 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.

Squad

Nikolay Boyarkin breaks a bone — 90 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 90 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Yegor Sysoev hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Torpedo Moscow can pretend not to have heard.

Match

6 matches without a win for Torpedo Moscow

The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Torpedo Moscow are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Words at Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Tsypchenko 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.

Squad

Danil Stepanov 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 Torpedo Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

In brief

221 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

21 Oct 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

The terraces

Anger at Torpedo Moscow spills outside the ground

It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.

Squad

A fracture rules Nikolay Boyarkin out for 111 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Torpedo Moscow will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Nikita Kalugin asks to leave Torpedo Moscow

“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.

Squad

Tempers go at Torpedo Moscow

Mario Ćurić 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 Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Tsypchenko 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 ratings

Nobody could get near Artur Galoyan

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

In brief

218 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

30 Sep 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The wait goes on for Torpedo Moscow

20 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Match

Nowhere to hide for Torpedo Moscow

1‑4 against Spartak Moscow, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.

Squad

Mario Ćurić 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 Torpedo Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Dmitry Tsypchenko 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.

Boardroom

Nobody left the Torpedo Moscow 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.

Squad

No hiding place for Nikita Kalugin

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nikita Kalugin, and the manager let it.

Squad

Mario Ćurić has to sit this one out

A booking nobody needed, on a night the game was already won. Torpedo Moscow lose a player for the most avoidable reason there is.

Market

Mario Ćurić linked with a move away

The name of Mario Ćurić keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Torpedo Moscow say nothing, which says plenty.

Player ratings

Off the bench and decisive: Alexandr Konev

The substitution nobody applauded turned out to be the whole story. Torpedo Moscow were going nowhere until he came on.

In brief

215 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

9 Sep 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

17 matches without a win for Torpedo Moscow

The run now stands at 17, and the questions being asked around Torpedo Moscow are no longer polite ones.

Market

Mikhail Pykhcheev hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Torpedo Moscow can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Cristian Moldovan has one foot out of the door

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

Squad

Artur Galoyan signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Artur Galoyan commits to Torpedo Moscow for another 3 years.

Squad

Tempers go at Torpedo Moscow

Mario Ćurić 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 Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Tsypchenko 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.

Match

Torpedo Moscow come up short against Zenit

Zenit left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Vadim Gapeev

“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

Torpedo Moscow put Bogdan Rogochiy up for sale

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

In brief

212 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

19 Aug 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

No end in sight to Torpedo Moscow's wait for a win

14 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Torpedo Moscow has to find a result from somewhere.

Market

Bogdan Rogochiy 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 Torpedo Moscow, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Alexandr Mironov: 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.” Torpedo Moscow have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Market

Alexandr Chupaev has one foot out of the door

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

Squad

Mario Ćurić 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 Torpedo Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Dmitry Tsypchenko 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.

Match

3 matches without a goal for Torpedo Moscow

The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.

Squad

Alexey Kashtanov 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 Torpedo Moscow, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Match

Torpedo Moscow draw a blank against Dinamo Moscow

The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Dinamo Moscow defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.

In brief

209 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

29 Jul 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

The terraces

Anger at Torpedo Moscow spills outside the ground

It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.

Match

No end in sight to Torpedo Moscow's wait for a win

11 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Torpedo Moscow has to find a result from somewhere.

Market

Ruslan Apekov 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 Torpedo Moscow, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Torpedo Moscow say no — this time

The offer from Baltika for Alexandr Chupaev 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

Tempers go at Torpedo Moscow

Artur Galoyan 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 Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Tsypchenko 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.

Match

Torpedo Moscow come up short against Rubin

Rubin left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

No hiding place for Vadim Gapeev

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vadim Gapeev, and the manager let it.

Squad

Torpedo Moscow lose Yefim Lopatin

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

In brief

208 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

22 Jul 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The wait goes on for Torpedo Moscow

10 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Market

Alexandr Chupaev 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 Torpedo Moscow, and it is not being withdrawn.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Yegor Sysoev

Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Artur Galoyan 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 Torpedo Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Boardroom

5 academy players handed senior numbers at Torpedo Moscow

The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.

Squad

Mario Ćurić 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.

Match

Baltika take the points off Torpedo Moscow

Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

No hiding place for Mario Ćurić

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mario Ćurić, and the manager let it.

Market

Torpedo Moscow promote Yefim Lopatin from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Yefim Lopatin has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

In brief

206 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

8 Jul 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Yegor Sysoev asks to leave Torpedo Moscow

“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.

Market

Kirill Gotsuk is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Torpedo Moscow is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Mario Ćurić 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 Torpedo Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Alexandr Lomakin signs on for more

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

Squad

Dmitry Tsypchenko 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.

Squad

Too much change too quickly at Torpedo Moscow

6 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.

In brief

205 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

1 Jul 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

The terraces

Anger at Torpedo Moscow spills outside the ground

It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.

Market

Ruslan Apekov 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 Torpedo Moscow, and it is not being withdrawn.

Boardroom

Andrei Lebedev signs for Dinamo Vologda while still at Torpedo Moscow

The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Andrei Lebedev has agreed terms with Dinamo Vologda for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.

Squad

Vladislav Kucheiko signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Vladislav Kucheiko commits to Torpedo Moscow for another 3 years.

Squad

Tempers go at Torpedo Moscow

Mario Ćurić 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 Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Tsypchenko 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

203 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

17 Jun 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Ruslan Apekov has one foot out of the door

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

Market

Kirill Gotsuk 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 Torpedo Moscow, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Tempers go at Torpedo Moscow

Mikhail Volkov 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

Georgy Krylov gets the move he always wanted

Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Georgy Krylov has just signed for Torpedo Moscow, and for once the answer mattered.

Squad

Words at Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Tsypchenko 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

Rubin are about to pick up the phone

A conversation is coming this week. Torpedo Moscow will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.

In brief

202 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

10 Jun 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Mikhail Volkov asks to leave Torpedo Moscow

“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.

Market

Only the photograph left for Kirill Gotsuk

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kirill Gotsuk will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Torpedo Moscow the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Mario Ćurić 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 Torpedo Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Dmitry Tsypchenko 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.

Squad

Mikhail Volkov 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.

Squad

Ruslan Apekov has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Torpedo Moscow 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.

In brief

201 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

3 Jun 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

The terraces

Anger at Torpedo Moscow spills outside the ground

It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.

Market

Nikita Kalugin hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Torpedo Moscow can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Tempers go at Torpedo Moscow

Mario Ćurić 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 Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Tsypchenko 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.

Squad

The armband comes off Alexey Kashtanov

Torpedo Moscow will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.

Squad

Mikhail Volkov 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 Torpedo Moscow, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

200 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

27 May 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Boardroom

The silence upstairs is getting loud at Torpedo Moscow

Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.

Match

Torpedo Moscow sink to position 14

16 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.

Market

Sadyg Bagiev 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 Torpedo Moscow, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Andre Changunda has one foot out of the door

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

Squad

Mario Ćurić 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 Torpedo Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Dmitry Tsypchenko 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.

In brief

199 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

20 May 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Ruslan Apekov has one foot out of the door

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

Market

Vladimir Tsapurin asks to leave Torpedo Moscow

“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.

Squad

Tempers go at Torpedo Moscow

Mario Ćurić 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 Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Tsypchenko 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.

Squad

Anatoly Chesnokov signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Anatoly Chesnokov and Torpedo Moscow agree another 3 years.

Squad

Artur Galoyan knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Artur Galoyan trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

198 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

13 May 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Mikhail Volkov asks to leave Torpedo Moscow

“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.

Market

Kirill Gotsuk is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Torpedo Moscow is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Boardroom

Kirill Gotsuk signs for Krasnodar while still at Torpedo Moscow

The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Kirill Gotsuk has agreed terms with Krasnodar for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.

Squad

Mario Ćurić 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 Torpedo Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Dmitry Tsypchenko 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.

Squad

Artur Galoyan 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 Torpedo Moscow, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

197 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

6 May 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

The terraces

Anger at Torpedo Moscow spills outside the ground

It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.

Market

Nikita Kalugin asks to leave Torpedo Moscow

“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.

Squad

Alexey Kashtanov stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Alexey Kashtanov and Torpedo Moscow agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Tempers go at Torpedo Moscow

Mario Ćurić 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 Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Tsypchenko 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.

Squad

Sadyg Bagiev has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Torpedo Moscow 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.

In brief

196 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

29 Apr 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Boardroom

The silence upstairs is getting loud at Torpedo Moscow

Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.

Match

Every point is an argument now for Torpedo Moscow

Position 14 and 16 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.

Market

Sadyg Bagiev 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 Torpedo Moscow, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Only the photograph left for Andre Changunda

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Andre Changunda will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Torpedo Moscow the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Mikhail Volkov 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 Torpedo Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Dmitry Tsypchenko 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.

In brief

195 Edition

The Torpedo Moscow Courier

22 Apr 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Ruslan Apekov 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 Torpedo Moscow, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Only the photograph left for Ruslan Apekov

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ruslan Apekov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Torpedo Moscow the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Tempers go at Torpedo Moscow

Mario Ćurić 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

Nathan Guillemain gets the move he always wanted

Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Nathan Guillemain has just signed for Torpedo Moscow, and for once the answer mattered.

Squad

Words at Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Tsypchenko 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.

Squad

A muscle injury sidelines Nikita Kalugin for 15 days

Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Torpedo Moscow will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.

In brief