Marked for Khetag Kochiev
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Chelyabinsk
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market1 Feb 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 The request is on a desk at Chelyabinsk, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 29. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Konstantin Kertanov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market1 Feb 2027
The phone has started ringing about Bulat Gatin again, and this time the name on the line is Saturn. Chelyabinsk are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Chelyabinsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khetag Kochiev 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.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
Chelyabinsk asked and Spartak Kostroma said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match30 Jan 2027
Chaika left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dmitry Yudin, and the manager let it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad18 Jan 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Yakov Myasnikov
23 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Chelyabinsk lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market18 Jan 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market18 Jan 2027
The offer from Narva Trans for Vitaly Lystsov 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.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Garrik Levin 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 Chelyabinsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Khetag Kochiev 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.
Match16 Jan 2027
3 matches without a goal for Chelyabinsk
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.
Match16 Jan 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Jan 2027
30 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Chelyabinsk lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market11 Jan 2027
Neftchi come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Chelyabinsk did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“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 Chelyabinsk know it.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Garrik Levin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Khetag Kochiev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
No hiding place for Carlinhos
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Carlinhos, and the manager let it.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
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.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Andrei Aksyonov after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match26 Dec 2026
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Baba N'Diaye scored in the 85th minute, Neftekhimik had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Chelyabinsk took the lot.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Garrik Levin 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.
Match26 Dec 2026
Still nobody has beaten Chelyabinsk
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Khetag Kochiev 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.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Wages eat 288% of everything Chelyabinsk earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The terraces28 Dec 2026
At 20 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Match26 Dec 2026
Neftekhimik made Chelyabinsk work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Marked 7.54 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Chelyabinsk had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Andrei Aksyonov, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Dec 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Khetag Kochiev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Alexey Berdnikov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Mazinho
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
Mazinho 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
“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 Chelyabinsk know it.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Andrei Aksyonov was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Chelyabinsk dressing room was either.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A booking nobody needed, on a night the game was already won. Chelyabinsk lose a player for the most avoidable reason there is.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match5 Dec 2026
No end in sight to Chelyabinsk's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Chelyabinsk has to find a result from somewhere.
Boardroom7 Dec 2026
The scrutiny sharpens at Chelyabinsk
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Chelyabinsk is running low.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“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; Chelyabinsk are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Khetag Kochiev 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 ratings7 Dec 2026
Garrik Levin beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Kattê
“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.
Market7 Dec 2026
“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 dugout7 Dec 2026
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
The afternoon belonged to Carlinhos
A mark of 7.61, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match28 Nov 2026
6 matches without a win for Chelyabinsk
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Chelyabinsk are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Ruslan Baitukov pops up at the right end — 7.72
7.72, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Garrik Levin 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Khetag Kochiev 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.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Wages swallow 289% of the Chelyabinsk income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Matías Noriega
“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 ratings30 Nov 2026
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.
Match28 Nov 2026
Level with 94 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Chelyabinsk had all but put away. Rodina will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market23 Nov 2026
“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 Chelyabinsk, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match21 Nov 2026
5 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.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Up for the corner, and Garrik Levin delivers — 7.93
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Garrik Levin scored, was marked 7.93, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Garrik Levin 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 Chelyabinsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Carlinhos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Mazinho
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match23 Nov 2026
Half the programme played, position 14, 14 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
Match21 Nov 2026
Level with 92 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Chelyabinsk had all but put away. Ural will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Too much change too quickly at Chelyabinsk
9 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
-
Match
Chelyabinsk share the spoils with Ural
-
The dugout
Mazinho dropped after a run of poor form
-
The dugout
The manager’s verdict
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match14 Nov 2026
4 matches without a win for Chelyabinsk
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Chelyabinsk are no longer polite ones.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Garrik Levin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Khetag Kochiev 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.
Match14 Nov 2026
Torpedo Moscow left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Nickson Ironsi
“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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
200 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
Squad16 Nov 2026
“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 Chelyabinsk know it.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
No sign of nerves from Denis Pokotylo at 20 — 7.64
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Denis Pokotylo did not need any: 7.64, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Garrik Levin 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Chelyabinsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khetag Kochiev 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.
Match7 Nov 2026
A point taken on 91 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Baba N'Diaye, and the manager let it.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The form table has caught Mazinho
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Match7 Nov 2026
It needed Denis Pokotylo to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Shinnik, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Andrei Aksyonov was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Chelyabinsk dressing room was either.
Looking ahead9 Nov 2026
Chelyabinsk take on the side everybody is chasing
Torpedo Moscow arrive as leaders. A side at the top is beaten roughly once a month, and the club that does it gets a week it remembers for a year.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market26 Oct 2026
“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 Chelyabinsk, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Konstantin Kertanov 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Khetag Kochiev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match24 Oct 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad26 Oct 2026
200 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
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.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Chelyabinsk are still strangers to each other
21 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.
In brief
-
The dugout
The view from the dugout
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The dugout
Mazinho dropped after a run of poor form
-
Market
The Alexey Berdnikov story refuses to die
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Mark Pereverzev is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Khetag Kochiev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces19 Oct 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Denis Pokotylo has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Elias
“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.
Match17 Oct 2026
A 1‑0 win over Chernomorets, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
A performance of 8.05 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Bogdan Rogochiy and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Oct 2026
Garrik Levin and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Garrik Levin beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Carlinhos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
No hiding place for Carlinhos
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Carlinhos, and the manager let it.
Match10 Oct 2026
Chelyabinsk rescue it on 92 minutes
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 92. Ufa had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Match10 Oct 2026
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
The form table has caught Mazinho
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Khetag Kochiev 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.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Andrei Aksyonov after the 2‑2 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match30 Sep 2026
Volga go through and Chelyabinsk go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
The terraces5 Oct 2026
Anger at Chelyabinsk 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.
Match3 Oct 2026
10 matches without a win, and then this, against Chaika. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Garrik Levin 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Khetag Kochiev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match3 Oct 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Konstantin Kertanov. 2‑1 against Chaika, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages swallow 378% of the Chelyabinsk income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The terraces5 Oct 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Garrik Levin has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Garrik Levin was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.18. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match26 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Chelyabinsk's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Chelyabinsk has to find a result from somewhere.
Market28 Sep 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chelyabinsk can pretend not to have heard.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Garrik Levin 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 Chelyabinsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Chelyabinsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khetag Kochiev 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 ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Nickson Ironsi
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Too much change too quickly at Chelyabinsk
21 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.
Market28 Sep 2026
He is 18, and nobody at Chelyabinsk signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
Mazinho 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market14 Sep 2026
“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.
Match12 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Chelyabinsk's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Chelyabinsk has to find a result from somewhere.
Match12 Sep 2026
The goals have deserted Chelyabinsk
6 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Chelyabinsk can tell you which week it ends in.
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
Window shuts: 26 in, 10 out at Chelyabinsk
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 26 arrived, 10 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Konstantin Kertanov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Chelyabinsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khetag Kochiev 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.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
Chelyabinsk asked and Arsenal Tula said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market14 Sep 2026
Signings arrive with a picture of the club in their head, and this one’s picture was bigger than the building. He will play well and he will be gone, in that order, and everybody knows it.
Match12 Sep 2026
Arsenal Tula left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match5 Sep 2026
6 matches without a win for Chelyabinsk
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Chelyabinsk are no longer polite ones.
Match5 Sep 2026
5 matches without a goal for Chelyabinsk
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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chelyabinsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Khetag Kochiev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
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.
Match5 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alexey Berdnikov, and the manager let it.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Andrei Aksyonov left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Denis Pokotylo slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Denis Pokotylo is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chelyabinsk can pretend not to have heard.
Market31 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Match29 Aug 2026
5 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
4 matches without a goal for Chelyabinsk
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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
A move Zayed Fadaaq 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. Zayed Fadaaq is living that version at Chelyabinsk, and it tends to show in the first month.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
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.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad31 Aug 2026
The formation has left Carlinhos behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Chelyabinsk will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Too much change too quickly at Chelyabinsk
18 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 30. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match22 Aug 2026
No end in sight to Chelyabinsk's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Chelyabinsk has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Garrik Levin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Khetag Kochiev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match22 Aug 2026
3 matches without a goal for Chelyabinsk
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 targets24 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Rubin have kept their man, and Chelyabinsk go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match22 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad24 Aug 2026
No place for Mazinho in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Chelyabinsk are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Andrei Aksyonov left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 Aug 2026
Garrik Levin 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A move Bulat Bakirov 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. Bulat Bakirov is living that version at Chelyabinsk, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Khetag Kochiev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Kirill Kulkov has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Chelyabinsk have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Chelyabinsk asked and Sokol said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market17 Aug 2026
Chelyabinsk have let the market know Khetag Kochiev can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“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.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 13. 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. KAMAZ defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market3 Aug 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 29. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Khetag Kochiev and Chelyabinsk agree another 4 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Garrik Levin 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Khetag Kochiev 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.
Match1 Aug 2026
1‑2 to Rodina, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
Ilja Tuseev 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Market3 Aug 2026
36 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
In brief
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Squad
Chelyabinsk are still strangers to each other
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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Looking ahead
A reunion for Denis Samoilov