Marked for Stanislav Magkeev
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces18 Jun 2029
Supporters organise against the Fakel board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Boardroom18 Jun 2029
Pressure builds in the Fakel boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market18 Jun 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Fakel is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Transfer targets18 Jun 2029
Fakel asked and Zenit said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout18 Jun 2029
This is not rotation. Yury Zhuravlev has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Fakel is pretending otherwise.
Squad18 Jun 2029
Tempers go at Fakel
Ilja Gruznov 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.
Transfer targets18 Jun 2029
A loan enquiry to CSKA Moscow: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets18 Jun 2029
A loan enquiry to Spartak Moscow: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout18 Jun 2029
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ramazan Gadjimuradov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces21 May 2029
The mood at Fakel 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.
Squad21 May 2029
50 days out for Daniil Odoevskiy after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Fakel will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Boardroom21 May 2029
Pressure builds in the Fakel boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market21 May 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Fakel is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad21 May 2029
Butta Magomedov 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.
Squad21 May 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Radomir Kabanov commits to Fakel for another 3 years.
Squad21 May 2029
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Fakel know it.
The dugout21 May 2029
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.
Market21 May 2029
Fakel have made Butta Magomedov available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 May 2029
A fracture rules Daniil Odoevskiy out for 58 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Fakel will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad14 May 2029
A falling-out at Fakel
Nuri Abdokov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout14 May 2029
This is not rotation. Yury Zhuravlev has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Fakel is pretending otherwise.
Squad14 May 2029
Butta Magomedov 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.
The dugout14 May 2029
A promise honoured at Fakel
Something was said to Stanislav Magkeev and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout14 May 2029
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Stanislav Magkeev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad7 May 2029
A fracture rules Daniil Odoevskiy out for 65 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Fakel will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Boardroom7 May 2029
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Boardroom7 May 2029
The Fakel board call everybody in
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
The dugout7 May 2029
This is not rotation. Maxim Kuzmin has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Fakel is pretending otherwise.
Squad7 May 2029
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Beka Kharshiladze has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
The dugout7 May 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Fakel, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market7 May 2029
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Fakel could ask drops and the wages Ramazan Gadjimuradov can ask rise.
The dugout7 May 2029
Vitaly Borsuk gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Vitaly Borsuk is on it.
Market7 May 2029
Fakel have let the market know Kirill Danilin can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market12 Mar 2029
“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.
The dugout12 Mar 2029
This is not rotation. Maxim Kuzmin has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Fakel is pretending otherwise.
The dugout12 Mar 2029
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Fakel have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Transfer targets12 Mar 2029
Fakel asked and Zenit said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout12 Mar 2029
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Butta Magomedov 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.
Market12 Mar 2029
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Fakel, another week without a signature from Ramazan Gadjimuradov.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Words exchanged at Fakel
Ilja Gruznov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout12 Mar 2029
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ramazan Gadjimuradov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match5 Mar 2029
Every point is an argument now for Fakel
Position 15 and 19 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.
Boardroom5 Mar 2029
Viktor Potapov has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Fakel can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market5 Mar 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ramazan Gadjimuradov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Fakel the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market5 Mar 2029
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Gomel waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Fakel is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Transfer targets5 Mar 2029
Fakel asked and Dinamo Moscow said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad5 Mar 2029
Tempers go at Fakel
Nuri Abdokov 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.
Market5 Mar 2029
The phone has started ringing about Ignat Filonov again, and this time the name on the line is Rubin Yalta. Fakel are listening politely and promising nothing.
The dugout5 Mar 2029
The manager makes an example of Ilnur Alshin
“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.
Market5 Mar 2029
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match16 Dec 2028
No end in sight to Fakel's wait for a win
19 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Fakel has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Darko Todorović damages knee ligaments — 50 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 50 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market18 Dec 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Fakel can pretend not to have heard.
Match16 Dec 2028
6 matches without a goal for Fakel
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 6 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
The dugout18 Dec 2028
This is not rotation. Maxim Kuzmin has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Fakel is pretending otherwise.
The dugout18 Dec 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Fakel may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Words exchanged at Fakel
Nuri Abdokov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad18 Dec 2028
A row about effort at Fakel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Butta Magomedov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout18 Dec 2028
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad30 Oct 2028
100 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Fakel lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match28 Oct 2028
The wait goes on for Fakel
12 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.
Match28 Oct 2028
Fakel taken apart
1‑4 to Akron, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
The dugout30 Oct 2028
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
The dugout30 Oct 2028
This is not rotation. Yury Zhuravlev has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Fakel is pretending otherwise.
The dugout30 Oct 2028
The manager makes an example of Butta Magomedov
“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.
Boardroom30 Oct 2028
Nobody left the Fakel 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.
Player ratings30 Oct 2028
Successful dribbles: 16. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The dugout30 Oct 2028
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑4 defeat, delivered by Viktor Potapov to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match23 Sep 2028
No end in sight to Fakel's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Fakel has to find a result from somewhere.
The dugout25 Sep 2028
This is not rotation. Maxim Kuzmin has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Fakel is pretending otherwise.
The dugout25 Sep 2028
Jan Kalšek: 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.” Fakel have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match23 Sep 2028
3 matches without a goal for Fakel
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.
Transfer targets25 Sep 2028
Fakel asked and Zenit said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Words exchanged at Fakel
Nuri Abdokov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout25 Sep 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kirill Danilin, and the manager let it.
Match23 Sep 2028
Fakel come up short against Rostov
Rostov left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad25 Sep 2028
A row about effort at Fakel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Butta Magomedov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad18 Sep 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 12 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match18 Sep 2028
Fakel are in real trouble now
Position 16, 6 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.
Match16 Sep 2028
No end in sight to Fakel's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Fakel has to find a result from somewhere.
Transfer targets18 Sep 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Independiente have kept their man, and Fakel go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match16 Sep 2028
Zenit take the points off Fakel
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout18 Sep 2028
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Viktor Potapov to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout18 Sep 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Fakel, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad18 Sep 2028
A booking nobody needed, on a night the game was already won. Fakel lose a player for the most avoidable reason there is.
The dugout18 Sep 2028
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Butta Magomedov is on it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom11 Sep 2028
Deadline passes with 20 signed and 13 gone
That is the business done at Fakel until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Transfer targets11 Sep 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. CSKA Moscow have kept their man, and Fakel go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Words at Fakel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Butta Magomedov 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.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Fakel are still strangers to each other
7 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Transfer targets11 Sep 2028
A loan enquiry to Zenit: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout11 Sep 2028
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Darko Todorović is on it.
Market11 Sep 2028
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Fakel, another week without a signature from Ramazan Gadjimuradov.
The dugout11 Sep 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Stanislav Magkeev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Looking ahead11 Sep 2028
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Daniil Odoevskiy’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Fakel needing him to play as if none of it matters.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market14 Aug 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Fakel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market14 Aug 2028
Terms done: Max Dziov is going
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Vitebsk waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Fakel is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market14 Aug 2028
Akron pay $400.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Transfer targets14 Aug 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sochi have kept their man, and Fakel go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad14 Aug 2028
A falling-out at Fakel
Nuri Abdokov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match12 Aug 2028
Krylya Sovetov left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Butta Magomedov 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.
Squad14 Aug 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Oleg Balandin commits to Fakel for another 3 years.
The dugout14 Aug 2028
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Jul 2028
A fracture rules Igor Yurganov out for 81 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Fakel will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market24 Jul 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market24 Jul 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad24 Jul 2028
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
Everything agreed with Baltika, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Lokomotiv Moscow is saying, and nobody at Fakel is enjoying the guessing.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Butta Magomedov 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.
Squad24 Jul 2028
17 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Match22 Jul 2028
Level with 88 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Fakel had all but put away. Baltika will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 Jul 2028
A fracture rules Igor Yurganov out for 89 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Fakel will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market17 Jul 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Transfer targets17 Jul 2028
Fakel had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at SKA Khabarovsk, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Market17 Jul 2028
The paperwork is done: Artem Ismagilov joins from Neftekhimik in a deal worth $150.0K. Now comes the harder part.
Squad17 Jul 2028
A move Artem Ismagilov would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Artem Ismagilov is living that version at Fakel, and it tends to show in the first month.
The dugout17 Jul 2028
This is not rotation. Igor Yurganov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Fakel is pretending otherwise.
Boardroom17 Jul 2028
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Fakel
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.
Transfer targets17 Jul 2028
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
The dugout17 Jul 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom12 Jun 2028
Pressure builds in the Fakel boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Igor Yurganov breaks a bone — 125 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 125 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The dugout12 Jun 2028
This is not rotation. Yury Zhuravlev has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Fakel is pretending otherwise.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Words at Fakel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Butta Magomedov 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.
The dugout12 Jun 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Fakel, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout12 Jun 2028
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.
Market12 Jun 2028
Fakel have made Vitaly Borsuk available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Market12 Jun 2028
The clock does Ravil Netfullin’s negotiating for him
2 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Fakel could ask drops and the wages Ravil Netfullin can ask rise.
Squad12 Jun 2028
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad5 Jun 2028
Igor Yurganov breaks a bone — 133 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 133 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Boardroom5 Jun 2028
Viktor Potapov has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Fakel can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Boardroom5 Jun 2028
The Fakel board call everybody in
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
The dugout5 Jun 2028
This is not rotation. Maxim Kuzmin has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Fakel is pretending otherwise.
Squad5 Jun 2028
A row about effort at Fakel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Butta Magomedov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Fakel are still strangers to each other
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout5 Jun 2028
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.
Market5 Jun 2028
Ramazan Gadjimuradov returns from a loan that gave him nothing
4 appearances and 0 goals is not a season, it is a year somebody has lost. Whether that is his fault, the borrowing club's or the people who arranged it is the argument the next few weeks will have.
The dugout5 Jun 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Stanislav Magkeev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom15 May 2028
The scrutiny sharpens at Fakel
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Fakel is running low.
Squad15 May 2028
The medical room confirms 26 days on the sidelines for Darko Todorović, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout15 May 2028
This is not rotation. Yury Zhuravlev has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Fakel is pretending otherwise.
Squad15 May 2028
A row about effort at Fakel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Butta Magomedov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout15 May 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad15 May 2028
A falling-out at Fakel
Nikita Krivoruchko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout15 May 2028
Maxim Kuzmin 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 Maxim Kuzmin trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout15 May 2028
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Butta Magomedov is on it.
Squad15 May 2028
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Fakel would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom17 Apr 2028
The scrutiny sharpens at Fakel
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Fakel is running low.
Squad17 Apr 2028
57 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Darko Todorović 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.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
This is not rotation. Yury Zhuravlev has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Fakel is pretending otherwise.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and El Mehdi Maouhoub trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
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.
Market17 Apr 2028
Fakel have let the market know Stanislav Magkeev can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Squad17 Apr 2028
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Fakel would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Squad17 Apr 2028
The penny has dropped for David Tebili
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at Fakel the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The dugout10 Apr 2028
This is not rotation. Maxim Kuzmin has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Fakel is pretending otherwise.
Squad10 Apr 2028
15 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad10 Apr 2028
A row about effort at Fakel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Darko Todorović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Max Dziov 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 Fakel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Darko Todorović is on it.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Fakel will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Market10 Apr 2028
No fee and no drama: Beka Kharshiladze has signed at Fakel, and the wage bill is the only line that moved.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
Igor Yurganov 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 Fakel, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market10 Apr 2028
Max Dziov placed on the list
Fakel have made Max Dziov available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom20 Mar 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Fakel
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market20 Mar 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Fakel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Tempers go at Fakel
Mame Mor Faye 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.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Darko Todorović 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.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
This is not rotation. Yury Zhuravlev has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Fakel is pretending otherwise.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
Maxim Kuzmin 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 Maxim Kuzmin trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
Butta Magomedov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Fakel 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.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad20 Mar 2028
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Fakel would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The dugout13 Mar 2028
This is not rotation. Maxim Kuzmin has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Fakel is pretending otherwise.
Squad13 Mar 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Fakel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Words at Fakel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Stanislav Magkeev 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.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market13 Mar 2028
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
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.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Fakel, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Fakel will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Arseny Filev: “I am not a substitute”
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Fakel will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom21 Feb 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Fakel
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
The terraces21 Feb 2028
The mood at Fakel 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.
Market21 Feb 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Fakel can pretend not to have heard.
Match19 Feb 2028
6 matches without a win for Fakel
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Fakel are no longer polite ones.
Match19 Feb 2028
6 matches without a goal for Fakel
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 6 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Boardroom21 Feb 2028
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $76.6K — a club that wants Yegor Smirnov enough to be asked twice.
Transfer targets21 Feb 2028
Fakel have gone to Leningradets with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Market21 Feb 2028
Igor Obukhov has left for Orenburg in a $110.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad21 Feb 2028
A row about effort at Fakel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Stanislav Magkeev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad6 Dec 2027
Pavel Pugachev damages knee ligaments — 30 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 30 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Boardroom6 Dec 2027
Viktor Potapov has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Fakel can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Squad6 Dec 2027
A falling-out at Fakel
Mame Mor Faye and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Words at Fakel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Darko Todorović is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad6 Dec 2027
200 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
Max Dziov 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.
Market6 Dec 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Fakel, another week without a signature from Ramazan Gadjimuradov.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces29 Nov 2027
Anger at Fakel 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.
Boardroom29 Nov 2027
Pressure builds in the Fakel boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Player ratings29 Nov 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.77, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad29 Nov 2027
A row about effort at Fakel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxim Kuzmin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match27 Nov 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: El Mehdi Maouhoub. 2‑1 against Baltika, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
The manager makes an example of Butta Magomedov
“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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Fakel are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑1, already talking about the next one.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Darko Todorović is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The dugout25 Oct 2027
This is not rotation. Maxim Kuzmin has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Fakel is pretending otherwise.
Market25 Oct 2027
Vitaly Shitov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Fakel they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad25 Oct 2027
A falling-out at Fakel
El Mehdi Maouhoub and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings25 Oct 2027
The game went through Kirill Danilin — 6.63
Marked 6.63 on 15 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Squad25 Oct 2027
A row about effort at Fakel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Darko Todorović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match23 Oct 2027
1‑2 to Dinamo Moscow, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
Merabi Uridia 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Oct 2027
A row about effort at Fakel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Darko Todorović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad11 Oct 2027
A falling-out at Fakel
Max Dziov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
No hiding place for Max Dziov
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Max Dziov, and the manager let it.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
A promise honoured at Fakel
Something was said to El Mehdi Maouhoub and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and El Mehdi Maouhoub trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Butta Magomedov is on it.
Looking ahead11 Oct 2027
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Lokomotiv Moscow in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Market11 Oct 2027
Fakel have let the market know Darko Todorović can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Max Dziov wants to know why he earns less
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Fakel have no good answer.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market6 Sep 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Fakel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words exchanged at Fakel
El Mehdi Maouhoub and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad6 Sep 2027
A row about effort at Fakel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Stanislav Magkeev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market6 Sep 2027
No place for Maxim Kuzmin in the plan
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Maxim Kuzmin has his answer from Fakel; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
94% of the income goes out in wages at Fakel
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Market6 Sep 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Fakel, another week without a signature from Ramazan Gadjimuradov.
Squad6 Sep 2027
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
The dugout6 Sep 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Butta Magomedov is on it.
Looking ahead6 Sep 2027
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Dinamo Makhachkala in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market30 Aug 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Fakel can pretend not to have heard.
Market30 Aug 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Fakel people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Match28 Aug 2027
7 matches without a win for Fakel
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Fakel are no longer polite ones.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
This is not rotation. Maxim Kuzmin has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Fakel is pretending otherwise.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Darko Todorović 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.
Match28 Aug 2027
Fakel cannot find the net
3 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 dugout30 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Merabi Uridia, and the manager let it.
Match28 Aug 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad30 Aug 2027
8 new faces, and Fakel are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.