Marked for Stefan Kovač
From our football correspondent
Steady
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.
Squad12 Mar 2029
A falling-out at Baltika
Maks Ebong and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Maxim Petrov 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 dugout12 Mar 2029
Stefan Kovač 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.
Loan watch12 Mar 2029
“I did not go to Aktobe to sit and watch. I want to come back to Baltika and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Baltika are still strangers to each other
6 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 dugout12 Mar 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.
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 Baltika, another week without a signature from Osman Minatulaev.
The dugout12 Mar 2029
Mark Mokin 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 Baltika, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match27 Jan 2029
0‑3 to Krylya Sovetov, 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.
Market29 Jan 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.
Market29 Jan 2029
Baltika say no — this time
The offer from Torpedo-BelAZ for Rinat Shakerov 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.
Market29 Jan 2029
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Alex Fernandes wants continental football; whether Baltika can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Match27 Jan 2029
No end in sight to Baltika's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Baltika has to find a result from somewhere.
Match27 Jan 2029
Baltika 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.
The dugout29 Jan 2029
This is not rotation. Nikolay Titkov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Baltika is pretending otherwise.
Player ratings29 Jan 2029
Maxim Petrov beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Transfer targets29 Jan 2029
Baltika asked and Rostov said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match6 Jan 2029
0‑3 to CSKA Moscow, 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 dugout8 Jan 2029
This is not rotation. Irakly Manelov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Baltika is pretending otherwise.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Maxim Petrov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The dugout8 Jan 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ilja Pomazun, and the manager let it.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Stefan Kovač 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.
Boardroom8 Jan 2029
Nobody left the Baltika 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.
The dugout8 Jan 2029
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 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Valery Kashirin to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout8 Jan 2029
Stefan Kovač 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; Stefan Kovač will call it something else in private.
Market8 Jan 2029
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
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.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Words exchanged at Baltika
Maks Ebong 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.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Words at Baltika training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nathan Gassama 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 terraces30 Oct 2028
At 22 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.
The dugout30 Oct 2028
Stefan Kovač 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.
The dugout30 Oct 2028
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Baltika told Yaroslav Arbuzov something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout30 Oct 2028
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Looking ahead30 Oct 2028
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Zenit in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market16 Oct 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 Baltika can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
This is not rotation. Irakly Manelov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Baltika is pretending otherwise.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Maks Ebong 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 Baltika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Words at Baltika training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxim Petrov 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 dugout16 Oct 2028
The manager makes an example of Hazem Mastouri
“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 dugout16 Oct 2028
Fahd Moufi 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 Fahd Moufi is on it.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
Stefan Kovač 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.
Looking ahead16 Oct 2028
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Maxim Shnaptsev’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Baltika needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Market16 Oct 2028
The name of Nathan Gassama keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Baltika say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market25 Sep 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 Baltika can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout25 Sep 2028
This is not rotation. Mingiyan Beveev has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Baltika is pretending otherwise.
Market25 Sep 2028
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Alex Fernandes wants continental football; whether Baltika can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad25 Sep 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Maxim Shnaptsev and Baltika agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad25 Sep 2028
A falling-out at Baltika
Maks Ebong and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match23 Sep 2028
0‑1 to Spartak Moscow, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Stefan Kovač 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 dugout25 Sep 2028
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Bookings catch up with Maks Ebong
One yellow too many, and a match watched from the stand. The most avoidable absence in football, and Baltika will feel it on Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market21 Aug 2028
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Rotor had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Market21 Aug 2028
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Baltika people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The dugout21 Aug 2028
This is not rotation. Irakly Manelov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Baltika is pretending otherwise.
Market21 Aug 2028
The fee is $290.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Chaika drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Squad21 Aug 2028
A falling-out at Baltika
Maks Ebong and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Aug 2028
A move Arseny Filev 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. Arseny Filev is living that version at Baltika, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Words at Baltika training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxim Petrov 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 dugout21 Aug 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Stefan Kovač, and the manager let it.
Match19 Aug 2028
A 1‑1 draw with Orenburg leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets14 Aug 2028
The deal with Chaika is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Squad14 Aug 2028
A falling-out at Baltika
Maxim Petrov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market14 Aug 2028
Everyone has stopped pretending: Rodina will make the call about Irakly Manelov this week. Baltika have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Match12 Aug 2028
It had gone 5 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.
Match12 Aug 2028
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Irakly Manelov. 1‑0 against Akron, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad14 Aug 2028
A row about effort at Baltika
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Stefan Kovač was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings14 Aug 2028
Ninety minutes of Irakly Manelov at his very best
Marked 8.10. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Baltika.
The dugout14 Aug 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.
Market14 Aug 2028
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market24 Jul 2028
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Dinamo Makhachkala waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Baltika is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market24 Jul 2028
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
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.
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.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
$3.3M on the table at Akron. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
The dugout24 Jul 2028
This is not rotation. Irakly Manelov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Baltika is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
Baltika have gone to Rodina 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.
Squad24 Jul 2028
A falling-out at Baltika
Maks Ebong and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Nizhniy Novgorod have kept their man, and Baltika go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Jul 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 Baltika can pretend not to have heard.
Market10 Jul 2028
The fee is $2.8M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Sochi drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Transfer targets10 Jul 2028
The deal with Volga died in the treatment room. Nobody will say what was found and everybody in the game will find out by Friday.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Maks Ebong was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The terraces10 Jul 2028
Baltika spend $2.8M on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $2.8M for Mikhail Ignatov, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
Squad10 Jul 2028
A row about effort at Baltika
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Stefan Kovač was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad10 Jul 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Axel Gnapi Dable and Baltika agree another 4 years.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Baltika are still strangers to each other
8 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets3 Jul 2028
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Baltika have done the hard part with Sochi, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Market3 Jul 2028
The chase for Sékou Koïta ended with $3.8M changing hands and CSKA Moscow out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Transfer targets3 Jul 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, and a scan that said otherwise. He goes back to Rodina; Baltika go back to the market; and both will insist there is no story here.
Market3 Jul 2028
As if he never left: David Volk returns
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. David Volk is a Baltika player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
The dugout3 Jul 2028
This is not rotation. Mingiyan Beveev has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Baltika is pretending otherwise.
Market3 Jul 2028
The fee is $430.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Fakel drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Squad3 Jul 2028
“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; Baltika are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Maks Ebong 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 Baltika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces3 Jul 2028
The town asked, and Baltika paid $3.8M
Sékou Koïta was the name on every phone-in, and the club has gone and signed him for $3.8M. For one week the board can do no wrong, which is a week most boards never get.
In brief
-
Squad
Words at Baltika training over how hard people work
-
Squad
No place for Sékou Koïta in the new shape
-
Boardroom
5 new boys at the Baltika academy
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout29 May 2028
This is not rotation. Irakly Manelov has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Baltika is pretending otherwise.
Squad29 May 2028
A falling-out at Baltika
Maks Ebong and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 May 2028
Words at Baltika training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alex Fernandes 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 dugout29 May 2028
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.
The dugout29 May 2028
Fahd Moufi 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 Fahd Moufi is on it.
The dugout29 May 2028
Ilja Pomazun 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 Baltika, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Loan watch29 May 2028
11 appearances away from home and 7 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
Market29 May 2028
The clock does Yaroslav Arbuzov’s negotiating for him
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Baltika could ask drops and the wages Yaroslav Arbuzov can ask rise.
Market29 May 2028
Eldar Ćivić linked with a move away
The name of Eldar Ćivić keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Baltika say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market21 Feb 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.
Match19 Feb 2028
There were 85 minutes on the clock and Dinamo Makhachkala had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Baltika did not stop to explain themselves.
Market21 Feb 2028
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Baltika people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market21 Feb 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets21 Feb 2028
The deal with Rodina is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Transfer targets21 Feb 2028
$1.3M was the most the club would pay and KAMAZ were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Maks Ebong 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 targets21 Feb 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Rodina have kept their man, and Baltika go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market21 Feb 2028
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Baltika have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 Jan 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings31 Jan 2028
Maks Ebong goes up and wins it — 7.94
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.94 for the rest of it.
Transfer targets31 Jan 2028
The deal with Dinamo Moscow is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Words exchanged at Baltika
Nathan Gassama and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Transfer targets31 Jan 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Rubin have kept their man, and Baltika go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad31 Jan 2028
A row about effort at Baltika
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Stefan Kovač was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match29 Jan 2028
A 1‑1 draw with Krylya Sovetov leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout31 Jan 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.
The dugout31 Jan 2028
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market17 Jan 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 Baltika, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market17 Jan 2028
Baltika say no — this time
The offer from Podbrezova for Ilja Rubtsov 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 dugout17 Jan 2028
This is not rotation. Mingiyan Beveev has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Baltika is pretending otherwise.
Match15 Jan 2028
4 matches without a win for Baltika
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Baltika are no longer polite ones.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Maks Ebong 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 Baltika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Jan 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Stefan Kovač and Baltika agree another 4 years.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Words at Baltika training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alex Fernandes 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.
Match15 Jan 2028
Baltika are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Match15 Jan 2028
A bad afternoon for Baltika against Rubin
0‑2 to Rubin, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match5 Jan 2028
The cup run ends for Baltika
1‑2 against Rostov, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The terraces10 Jan 2028
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 6 of the 30 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Player ratings10 Jan 2028
Up for the corner, and Maxim Shnaptsev delivers — 7.80
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Maxim Shnaptsev scored, was marked 7.80, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Squad10 Jan 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Alex Fernandes and Baltika agree another 4 years.
Squad10 Jan 2028
A falling-out at Baltika
Fahd Moufi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings10 Jan 2028
13 combined actions and 6.46. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Match8 Jan 2028
CSKA Moscow left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad10 Jan 2028
A row about effort at Baltika
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Stefan Kovač was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market8 Nov 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 Baltika, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad8 Nov 2027
There were 7 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
A falling-out at Baltika
Maks Ebong and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Maxim Zhordochkin has just signed for Baltika, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Appearance number 200 for Stefan Kovač
200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
The manager makes an example of Mingiyan Beveev
“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.
Match8 Nov 2027
Halfway: Baltika sit in position 10
19 points at the turn. The first half of a season is a promise; the second is a bill, and the town is about to find out which of the two this one was.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Valery Kashirin after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The dugout8 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 Kirill Kosarev is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad20 Sep 2027
Arnur Sagalbaev damages knee ligaments — 37 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 37 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.
Market20 Sep 2027
Fahd Moufi 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 Baltika can pretend not to have heard.
Loan watch20 Sep 2027
The goals keep arriving from Mark Mokin’s exile
21 goals in 21 games at Arsenal Dzerzhinsk — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Baltika updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Squad20 Sep 2027
The medical room confirms 33 days on the sidelines for Eldar Ćivić, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad20 Sep 2027
A falling-out at Baltika
Maxim Petrov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets20 Sep 2027
The clock did what KAMAZ would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Match18 Sep 2027
Still nobody has beaten Baltika
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.
The dugout20 Sep 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Baltika are still strangers to each other
11 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad23 Aug 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Jordy Thomassen
45 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Baltika lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Transfer targets23 Aug 2027
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Bunyodkor keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.69 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Transfer targets23 Aug 2027
$1.8M settles it between the clubs for Grigory Zhilkin
Amkar have accepted the money. What Baltika do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
Stefan Kovač pops up at the right end — 7.68
7.68, 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Baltika
Fahd Moufi 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.
Match21 Aug 2027
Three points for Baltika, 3‑1 the final word against Rodina in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at Baltika training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikolay Titkov 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 ratings23 Aug 2027
Ninety minutes of Eldar Ćivić at his very best
Marked 8.16. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Baltika.
In brief
-
The dugout
No hiding place for Sergey Varatynov
-
Squad
Baltika are still strangers to each other
-
The dugout
The view from the dugout
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Aug 2027
Jordy Thomassen damages knee ligaments — 61 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 61 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.
Market9 Aug 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.
Market9 Aug 2027
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Volga had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Baltika have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Eldar Ćivić goes up and wins it — 7.91
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.91 for the rest of it.
Squad9 Aug 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 Baltika know it.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Maxim Petrov 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Baltika training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nathan Gassama 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 targets9 Aug 2027
Baltika asked and Rubin said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Aug 2027
69 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Baltika lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market2 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 Baltika can pretend not to have heard.
Squad2 Aug 2027
61 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Maxim Petrov 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 Baltika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch2 Aug 2027
16 goals on loan for Mark Mokin
15 appearances at Arsenal Dzerzhinsk and the goals keep coming. Baltika are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Match31 Jul 2027
Lokomotiv Moscow left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout2 Aug 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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
A row about effort at Baltika
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Stefan Kovač was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
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 1‑2 Valery Kashirin left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Jul 2027
93 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Baltika lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market12 Jul 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market12 Jul 2027
The bid was some way short and Baltika did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
Baltika asked and Orenburg said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad12 Jul 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Maxim Rudakov commits to Baltika for another 3 years.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Fahd Moufi 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 Baltika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market12 Jul 2027
Dinamo Makhachkala pay $800.0K, 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.
Market12 Jul 2027
Orenburg are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Baltika will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Squad12 Jul 2027
A row about effort at Baltika
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Stefan Kovač was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.