Marked for Pascal Loretz
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market24 May 2032
Pascal Loretz 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 Rubin can pretend not to have heard.
Market24 May 2032
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Rubin is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad24 May 2032
A falling-out at Rubin
Fedor Chalov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 May 2032
A move Ilja Gorbachev 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. Ilja Gorbachev is living that version at Rubin, and it tends to show in the first month.
Boardroom24 May 2032
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Queensy Menig has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Rubin have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
The dugout24 May 2032
news_b_old_wounds_reopened
Squad24 May 2032
Nikolay Poyarkov 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 May 2032
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ilja Gorbachev and Rubin agree another 3 years.
The dugout24 May 2032
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 Vladislav Saus is on it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market17 May 2032
Alexandr Filin has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Rubin they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The dugout17 May 2032
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad17 May 2032
Words exchanged at Rubin
Fedor Chalov 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 May 2032
Dmitry Vorobjov 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 May 2032
news_b_old_wounds_reopened
The dugout17 May 2032
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 May 2032
The clock does Vladislav Saus’s negotiating for him
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Rubin could ask drops and the wages Vladislav Saus can ask rise.
Market17 May 2032
Danil Ladokha is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Rubin has been clear about where Danil Ladokha stands, which is more than many ever get.
Squad17 May 2032
No place for Rasul Gystarov in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Rubin are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market26 Apr 2032
Pascal Loretz 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 Rubin can pretend not to have heard.
Market26 Apr 2032
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nikolay Poyarkov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Rubin the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad26 Apr 2032
A falling-out at Rubin
Fedor Chalov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Apr 2032
A row about effort at Rubin
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dmitry Vorobjov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout26 Apr 2032
news_b_old_wounds_reopened
The dugout26 Apr 2032
Vladislav Saus has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Rubin 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 dugout26 Apr 2032
“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.
Market26 Apr 2032
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Rubin know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad26 Apr 2032
Aleksa Janković 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 Rubin have no good answer.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market19 Apr 2032
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Rubin is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout19 Apr 2032
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad19 Apr 2032
A falling-out at Rubin
Dmitry Vorobjov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout19 Apr 2032
news_b_old_wounds_reopened
Squad19 Apr 2032
Words at Rubin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikolay Poyarkov 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 dugout19 Apr 2032
Veldin Hodža has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Rubin 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 dugout19 Apr 2032
Veldin Hodža 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.
Market19 Apr 2032
1 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Rubin money.
Market19 Apr 2032
The Veldin Hodža talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Rubin know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market29 Mar 2032
Pascal Loretz 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 Rubin can pretend not to have heard.
Squad29 Mar 2032
A falling-out at Rubin
Fedor Chalov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom29 Mar 2032
Zenit Penza will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Michel Ayvazyan has pre-agreed a move to Rubin, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Squad29 Mar 2032
A row about effort at Rubin
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dmitry Vorobjov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout29 Mar 2032
news_b_old_wounds_reopened
The dugout29 Mar 2032
Vladislav Saus has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Rubin 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.
Squad29 Mar 2032
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Rubin will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
The dugout29 Mar 2032
“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.
Market29 Mar 2032
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Rubin know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market22 Mar 2032
“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 dugout22 Mar 2032
“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.
Market22 Mar 2032
Papa Diouf has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Rubin they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The dugout22 Mar 2032
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad22 Mar 2032
Words exchanged at Rubin
Fedor Chalov 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 dugout22 Mar 2032
news_b_old_wounds_reopened
Squad22 Mar 2032
Words at Rubin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikolay Poyarkov 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 dugout22 Mar 2032
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.
Market22 Mar 2032
2 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Rubin could get for him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match8 Mar 2032
Rubin refuse to drop out of the race
Position 2, 65 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Market8 Mar 2032
“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.
Squad8 Mar 2032
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Fedor Chalov and Rubin agree another 2 years.
Boardroom8 Mar 2032
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Tikhon Zhemchuzhnikov has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad8 Mar 2032
Tempers go at Rubin
Fedor Chalov 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 targets8 Mar 2032
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.
Loan watch8 Mar 2032
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Rubin, and 5 appearances in 36 say he has earned the hearing.
Transfer targets8 Mar 2032
The clock did what Spartak Moscow would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Market8 Mar 2032
“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
Upbeat
Squad1 Mar 2032
37 goals and a season average of 7.78. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Market1 Mar 2032
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Veldin Hodža had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Match25 Feb 2032
Rubin bow out of the cup
Spartak Moscow go through and Rubin go home, 1‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Market1 Mar 2032
“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.
Market1 Mar 2032
CSKA Moscow come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Rubin did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market1 Mar 2032
The deal that would have taken Dardan Shabanhaxhaj to Zenit has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Rubin with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Transfer targets1 Mar 2032
$290.0K settles it between the clubs for Daniil Lukin
Spartak Moscow have accepted the money. What Rubin do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Boardroom1 Mar 2032
Deadline passes with 10 signed and 15 gone
That is the business done at Rubin 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.
Squad1 Mar 2032
Words exchanged at Rubin
Fedor Chalov 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
Upbeat
Market23 Feb 2032
Add another name to the list: BATE have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Veldin Hodža. The answer from Rubin has not changed — yet.
Market23 Feb 2032
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rubin can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout23 Feb 2032
“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.
Squad23 Feb 2032
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Christopher Redenstrand is living that version at Rubin, and it tends to show in the first month.
Market23 Feb 2032
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Rubin is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market23 Feb 2032
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
The dugout23 Feb 2032
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Boardroom23 Feb 2032
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad23 Feb 2032
A falling-out at Rubin
Fedor Chalov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market9 Feb 2032
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Rubin have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Match9 Feb 2032
Full time on the season at Rubin
Position 2 on 65 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Match9 Feb 2032
Rubin refuse to drop out of the race
Position 2, 65 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Market9 Feb 2032
The bid was some way short and Rubin did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad9 Feb 2032
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.
Market9 Feb 2032
“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 targets9 Feb 2032
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad9 Feb 2032
Tempers go at Rubin
Fedor Chalov 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 Feb 2032
16 goals and a season average of 7.27. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Market26 Jan 2032
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rubin can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings26 Jan 2032
A brace, and Vladislav Saus takes the afternoon — 8.26
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Vladislav Saus provided it, and the 8.26 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Match24 Jan 2032
Nobody wants to play Rubin right now
6 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad26 Jan 2032
Defences have started doubling up on Fedor Chalov
14 goals and a season average of 7.46 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Market26 Jan 2032
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Rubin they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The dugout26 Jan 2032
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad26 Jan 2032
A falling-out at Rubin
Fedor Chalov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match24 Jan 2032
It finished 2‑0, and it was Vladislav Saus’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Rubin.
Match24 Jan 2032
Rubin are at home on the road
3 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad12 Jan 2032
A season average of 7.72 with 31 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Match7 Jan 2032
Rubin through in the cup
A 3‑1 win over Akron, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Player ratings12 Jan 2032
A brace, and Dardan Shabanhaxhaj takes the afternoon — 8.88
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Dardan Shabanhaxhaj provided it, and the 8.88 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market12 Jan 2032
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Rubin is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match12 Jan 2032
Rubin are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 56 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Match10 Jan 2032
Nobody wants to play Rubin right now
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Market12 Jan 2032
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Squad12 Jan 2032
Tempers go at Rubin
Fedor Chalov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings12 Jan 2032
A hand in 2 of them from Maxim Khokhlov — 7.97
Marked 7.97. There is a kind of forward whose value only shows up when you count what he was involved in rather than what he finished, and this is the day that argument makes itself.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings22 Dec 2031
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.43, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
The dugout22 Dec 2031
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Rubin may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market22 Dec 2031
“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 Rubin, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad22 Dec 2031
14 goals and a season average of 7.47. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad22 Dec 2031
Fedor Chalov 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 Rubin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match20 Dec 2031
Still nobody has beaten Rubin
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 dugout22 Dec 2031
The manager makes an example of Pascal Loretz
“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.
Squad22 Dec 2031
Semyon Stolbov 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 ratings22 Dec 2031
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Dec 2031
25 goals and a season average of 7.64 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Player ratings15 Dec 2031
Two goals and a mark of 9.99 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Match13 Dec 2031
A 2-goal lead gone for Rubin
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Zenit kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Rubin will be asked about the last half hour all week.
Match15 Dec 2031
Rubin are in among the leaders
Position 2 and 46 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Player ratings15 Dec 2031
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.92, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market15 Dec 2031
Only the photograph left for Yegor Teslenko
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Yegor Teslenko will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Rubin the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market15 Dec 2031
“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 Rubin, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market15 Dec 2031
Pascal Loretz wants to know where this is going
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Rubin hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Boardroom15 Dec 2031
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match19 Nov 2031
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Nikita Yershov obliged against Shinnik. 1‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Rubin.
Squad24 Nov 2031
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.
The dugout24 Nov 2031
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Rubin have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings24 Nov 2031
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad24 Nov 2031
Fedor Chalov 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 Rubin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom24 Nov 2031
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Eldar Guseinov has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Rubin have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Player ratings24 Nov 2031
Ninety minutes of Nikita Yershov at his very best
Marked 8.27. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Rubin.
The dugout24 Nov 2031
The manager makes an example of Maxim Khokhlov
“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.
Squad24 Nov 2031
Nikita Yershov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match17 Nov 2031
Rubin refuse to drop out of the race
Position 2, 38 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Market17 Nov 2031
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Rubin is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market17 Nov 2031
“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.
Market17 Nov 2031
Pascal Loretz wants to know where this is going
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Rubin hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad17 Nov 2031
Tempers go at Rubin
Fedor Chalov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings17 Nov 2031
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match15 Nov 2031
Lokomotiv Moscow left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad17 Nov 2031
Defences have started doubling up on Fedor Chalov
9 goals and a season average of 7.31 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Looking ahead17 Nov 2031
The fixture the rest of the division is looking forward to more than either of the sides in it. Both know a win changes the season and a defeat does not end it, which is what makes it hard to play.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings27 Oct 2031
Successful dribbles: 41. 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.
Squad27 Oct 2031
14 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Rubin lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Player ratings27 Oct 2031
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.17, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Match25 Oct 2031
Rubin leave it late against Rostov
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 88th, and Rostov spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
Squad27 Oct 2031
18 goals and a season average of 7.51. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Player ratings27 Oct 2031
Age has not caught Fedor Chalov yet — 8.59
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.59 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad27 Oct 2031
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Player ratings27 Oct 2031
Up for the corner, and Stefan Kovač delivers — 7.86
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Stefan Kovač scored, was marked 7.86, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Squad27 Oct 2031
Fedor Chalov 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 Rubin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad20 Oct 2031
Maxim Khokhlov damages knee ligaments — 21 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 21 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 Oct 2031
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Rubin is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market20 Oct 2031
“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 Rubin, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad20 Oct 2031
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match20 Oct 2031
Rubin are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 29 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Squad20 Oct 2031
Tempers go at Rubin
Fedor Chalov 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.
Match18 Oct 2031
The run is over for Rubin
7 matches without defeat, and then Krasnodar. Nobody at the ground pretended it would go on forever; nobody expected it to stop here either.
Match18 Oct 2031
A bad afternoon for Rubin against Krasnodar
1‑3 to Krasnodar, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings20 Oct 2031
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.00, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad13 Oct 2031
Maxim Khokhlov damages knee ligaments — 28 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 28 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.
Match11 Oct 2031
Rubin cannot stop winning
7 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Market13 Oct 2031
Only the photograph left for Stefan Kovač
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Stefan Kovač will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Rubin the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The dugout13 Oct 2031
Denzel Eijken: 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.” Rubin have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market13 Oct 2031
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rubin can pretend not to have heard.
Market13 Oct 2031
Pascal Loretz wants to know where this is going
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Rubin hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad13 Oct 2031
Words exchanged at Rubin
Fedor Chalov 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 dugout13 Oct 2031
The manager makes an example of Yegor Teslenko
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match11 Oct 2031
Akhmat made Rubin work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad6 Oct 2031
A knee injury of the worst kind for Maxim Khokhlov
35 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Rubin lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings6 Oct 2031
Successful dribbles: 35. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match1 Oct 2031
Rubin march on in the cup
Zvezda are out and Rubin go through, 2‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Player ratings6 Oct 2031
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.58, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Match4 Oct 2031
Rubin make it 6 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Rubin have 6 straight wins of it.
Player ratings6 Oct 2031
Fedor Chalov, 33, rolls back the years — 8.54
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.54 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Player ratings6 Oct 2031
7.94, 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.
Squad6 Oct 2031
A falling-out at Rubin
Fedor Chalov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match4 Oct 2031
Three points for Rubin, 3‑1 the final word against Nizhniy Novgorod in a contest settled by the finer margins.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad15 Sep 2031
A knee injury of the worst kind for Maxim Khokhlov
56 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Rubin lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match13 Sep 2031
No mercy from Rubin
Fakel will want this one forgotten quickly: 7‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Rubin were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Squad15 Sep 2031
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Squad15 Sep 2031
3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Market15 Sep 2031
Only the photograph left for Stefan Kovač
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Stefan Kovač will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Rubin the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The dugout15 Sep 2031
“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.
Player ratings15 Sep 2031
Age has not caught Fedor Chalov yet — 8.40
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.40 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Market15 Sep 2031
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rubin can pretend not to have heard.
Market15 Sep 2031
Pascal Loretz wants to know where this is going
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Rubin hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad18 Aug 2031
84 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Rubin lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match16 Aug 2031
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 4‑1 against Sochi, and it could have been more.
Player ratings18 Aug 2031
Two goals and a mark of 9.58 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings18 Aug 2031
Two goals and a mark of 9.13 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market18 Aug 2031
Rubin say no — this time
The offer from CSKA Moscow for Yegor Teslenko 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.
Player ratings18 Aug 2031
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.
Squad18 Aug 2031
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market18 Aug 2031
Eirik Brekke 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 Rubin can pretend not to have heard.
Market18 Aug 2031
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Rubin heard it as anything else.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad4 Aug 2031
A knee injury of the worst kind for Maxim Khokhlov
98 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Rubin lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match2 Aug 2031
Nowhere to hide for Rubin
0‑4 against Lokomotiv Moscow, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market4 Aug 2031
“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 Rubin, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad4 Aug 2031
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.
Squad4 Aug 2031
277 appearances across 10 seasons in these colours. Careers like that are not built any more, and Rubin know what they have.
Market4 Aug 2031
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Rubin they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad4 Aug 2031
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Fedor Chalov and Rubin agree another 2 years.
Transfer targets4 Aug 2031
The deal with PAOK 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.
Boardroom4 Aug 2031
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Stipe Mušura has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Rubin have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad21 Jul 2031
Maxim Khokhlov damages knee ligaments — 112 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 112 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.
Match19 Jul 2031
4‑1, and Dardan Shabanhaxhaj took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Rubin tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Market21 Jul 2031
Rubin say no — this time
The offer from Krasnodar for Vladislav Saus 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.
Squad21 Jul 2031
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Squad21 Jul 2031
7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Player ratings21 Jul 2031
Age has not caught Fedor Chalov yet — 8.93
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.93 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Market21 Jul 2031
“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 targets21 Jul 2031
The deal with Lokomotiv 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.
Squad21 Jul 2031
Words exchanged at Rubin
Fedor Chalov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market9 Jun 2031
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Rubin is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom9 Jun 2031
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Nikita Vasiljev has agreed terms with Rostov for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad9 Jun 2031
A falling-out at Rubin
Fedor Chalov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Jun 2031
A move Nikita Yershov 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. Nikita Yershov is living that version at Rubin, and it tends to show in the first month.
Boardroom9 Jun 2031
Dinamo Moscow will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Jean Charles Ahoua has pre-agreed a move to Rubin, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
The dugout9 Jun 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Pascal Loretz, and the manager let it.
Market9 Jun 2031
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Rubin, another week without a signature from Yegor Teslenko.
The dugout9 Jun 2031
The manager has not finished forgetting Veldin Hodža's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Squad9 Jun 2031
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nikita Yershov and Rubin agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market2 Jun 2031
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rubin can pretend not to have heard.
Market2 Jun 2031
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Rubin heard it as anything else.
Boardroom2 Jun 2031
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Nikolay Alyoshin has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad2 Jun 2031
Words exchanged at Rubin
Fedor Chalov 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.
Squad2 Jun 2031
Words at Rubin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Veldin Hodža is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad2 Jun 2031
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Rubin have had the benefit of it.
Market2 Jun 2031
29 games, 0 goals, and a squad option that has arrived without a fee attached. The interesting question at Rubin now is not whether he plays but who he displaces.
The dugout2 Jun 2031
“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.
Market2 Jun 2031
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Rubin, another week without a signature from Vladislav Saus.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market5 May 2031
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rubin can pretend not to have heard.
Market5 May 2031
Ilja Gaponov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Rubin they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad5 May 2031
Words exchanged at Rubin
Fedor Chalov 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.
Squad5 May 2031
Veldin Hodža 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 dugout5 May 2031
Veldin Hodža 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.
Market5 May 2031
“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.
The dugout5 May 2031
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 May 2031
Nobody at Rubin has picked up the phone to Stefan Kovač
10 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
The dugout5 May 2031
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match9 Apr 2031
Rubin bow out of the cup
Lokomotiv Moscow go through and Rubin go home, 0‑3 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Market14 Apr 2031
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rubin can pretend not to have heard.
The terraces14 Apr 2031
0-3. Going out of a cup is one afternoon; going out like that is a week of phone-ins, and the manager will hear every one of them.
Squad14 Apr 2031
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market14 Apr 2031
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Rubin they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad14 Apr 2031
A falling-out at Rubin
Fedor Chalov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings14 Apr 2031
Successful dribbles: 22. 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.
Squad14 Apr 2031
Fedor Chalov is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.28 with 14 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad14 Apr 2031
Words at Rubin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Veldin Hodža 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout7 Apr 2031
“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.
Market7 Apr 2031
“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.
Market7 Apr 2031
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Rubin is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom7 Apr 2031
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Nikita Razdorskikh has agreed terms with Dinamo Makhachkala for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad7 Apr 2031
Words exchanged at Rubin
Fedor Chalov 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.
Squad7 Apr 2031
A row about effort at Rubin
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yegor Teslenko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout7 Apr 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Fedor Chalov, and the manager let it.
Squad7 Apr 2031
“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 Rubin know it.
The dugout7 Apr 2031
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Mar 2031
“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.
Market3 Mar 2031
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Boardroom3 Mar 2031
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Ilja Gaponov has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad3 Mar 2031
Tempers go at Rubin
Fedor Chalov 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.
Market3 Mar 2031
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Rubin can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Transfer targets3 Mar 2031
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.
Loan watch3 Mar 2031
“I watch every Rubin game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Krasnodar runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Market3 Mar 2031
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Yefim Rumyantsev has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Squad3 Mar 2031
“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; Rubin are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad13 Jan 2031
12 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match8 Jan 2031
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Yegor Ushakov obliged against Sochi. 2‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Rubin.
Market13 Jan 2031
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
The dugout13 Jan 2031
“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.
Market13 Jan 2031
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Rubin they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad13 Jan 2031
Words exchanged at Rubin
Fedor Chalov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad13 Jan 2031
Words at Rubin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Saus 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 Jan 2031
The manager makes an example of Pascal Loretz
“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 terraces13 Jan 2031
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match4 Jan 2031
Rubin throw away a 2-goal lead
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with CSKA Moscow the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Rubin will enjoy reviewing.
The dugout6 Jan 2031
Lenar Fattakhov: 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.” Rubin have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad6 Jan 2031
There were 8 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.
Market6 Jan 2031
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Galymzhan Kenzhebek will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Rubin the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad6 Jan 2031
Tempers go at Rubin
Fedor Chalov 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.
Squad6 Jan 2031
Words at Rubin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Saus 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.
Loan watch6 Jan 2031
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Rubin, and 5 appearances in 22 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout6 Jan 2031
The manager makes an example of Alexandr Filin
“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 dugout6 Jan 2031
The team sheet said everything about Daniil Veselov
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Daniil Veselov.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market2 Dec 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Rubin can pretend not to have heard.
Squad2 Dec 2030
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.
Player ratings2 Dec 2030
Successful dribbles: 26. 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.
Market2 Dec 2030
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Rubin heard it as anything else.
Squad2 Dec 2030
Fedor Chalov 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 Rubin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad2 Dec 2030
27 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad2 Dec 2030
A row about effort at Rubin
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vladislav Saus was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match30 Nov 2030
0‑1 to Dinamo Moscow, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout2 Dec 2030
“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
Upbeat
Match20 Nov 2030
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Yegor Ushakov obliged against Shinnik. 2‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Rubin.
Match23 Nov 2030
Nowhere to hide for Rubin
0‑3 against Lokomotiv Moscow, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market25 Nov 2030
“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.
Squad25 Nov 2030
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The dugout25 Nov 2030
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Match23 Nov 2030
After 9 games, Rubin finally taste it again
The first defeat in 9 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Lokomotiv Moscow; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
Squad25 Nov 2030
A falling-out at Rubin
Fedor Chalov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad25 Nov 2030
Vladislav Saus 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 Nov 2030
“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
Squad23 Sep 2030
14 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match21 Sep 2030
A hiding for Rubin
Beaten 0‑5 by CSKA Moscow, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market23 Sep 2030
Yegor Ushakov 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 Rubin can pretend not to have heard.
Market23 Sep 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Rubin is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad23 Sep 2030
A falling-out at Rubin
Fedor Chalov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad23 Sep 2030
Galymzhan Kenzhebek 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 dugout23 Sep 2030
“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.
Boardroom23 Sep 2030
Inquest at Rubin
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout23 Sep 2030
news_b_old_wounds_reopened
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Sep 2030
There were 13 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.
Market16 Sep 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Rubin is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Transfer targets16 Sep 2030
The clock did what Zenit would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Squad16 Sep 2030
Fedor Chalov 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 Rubin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets16 Sep 2030
Rubin asked and Sporting CP 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 dugout16 Sep 2030
“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.
Match14 Sep 2030
A bad afternoon for Rubin against Zenit
0‑2 to Zenit, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout16 Sep 2030
news_b_old_wounds_reopened
Squad16 Sep 2030
Too much change too quickly at Rubin
12 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
Steady
Transfer targets9 Sep 2030
The clubs have shaken hands with Zenit; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Market9 Sep 2030
BATE come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Rubin did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
The dugout9 Sep 2030
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Rubin may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match7 Sep 2030
Nobody wins at Rubin
13 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Player ratings9 Sep 2030
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 7.36 for the rest of it.
Boardroom9 Sep 2030
Window shuts: 28 in, 32 out at Rubin
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 28 arrived, 32 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad9 Sep 2030
Tempers go at Rubin
Fedor Chalov 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 Sep 2030
A row about effort at Rubin
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Galymzhan Kenzhebek was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets9 Sep 2030
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dinamo Bryansk have kept their man, and Rubin go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings2 Sep 2030
Successful dribbles: 39. 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.
Squad2 Sep 2030
Daniel Barát damages knee ligaments — 15 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 15 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.
Match31 Aug 2030
Rubin strike at the death to beat Orenburg
There were 85 minutes on the clock and Orenburg had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Rubin did not stop to explain themselves.
Squad2 Sep 2030
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 dugout2 Sep 2030
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Market2 Sep 2030
The phone has started ringing about Veldin Hodža again, and this time the name on the line is BATE. Rubin are listening politely and promising nothing.
Player ratings2 Sep 2030
Veldin Hodža goes up and wins it — 7.93
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 7.93 for the rest of it.
Market2 Sep 2030
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Rubin heard it as anything else.
Squad2 Sep 2030
Words exchanged at Rubin
Fedor Chalov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market19 Aug 2030
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Rubin people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Squad19 Aug 2030
A knee injury of the worst kind for Daniel Barát
29 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Rubin lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market19 Aug 2030
The paperwork is done: Pascal Loretz joins from Zenit in a deal worth $4.2M. Now comes the harder part.
Squad19 Aug 2030
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.
Market19 Aug 2030
Ante Bilobrk 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 Rubin can pretend not to have heard.
Market19 Aug 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Rubin is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad19 Aug 2030
Fedor Chalov 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 Rubin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings19 Aug 2030
Successful dribbles: 22. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad19 Aug 2030
Kirill Kistenev gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Kirill Kistenev has just signed for Rubin, and for once the answer mattered.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market19 Aug 2030
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Dinamo Minsk waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Zenit is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market19 Aug 2030
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. João Victor had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Player ratings19 Aug 2030
Successful dribbles: 29. 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.
Transfer targets19 Aug 2030
$1.1M settles it between the clubs for Dmitry Tsypchenko
Dinamo Moscow have accepted the money. What Zenit do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
The dugout19 Aug 2030
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Zenit may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market19 Aug 2030
Business is business: Pascal Loretz goes
Rubin paid $4.2M and Zenit took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad19 Aug 2030
A move Nikita Goilo 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. Nikita Goilo is living that version at Zenit, and it tends to show in the first month.
Market19 Aug 2030
As if he never left: Nikita Goilo returns
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Nikita Goilo is a Zenit player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Squad19 Aug 2030
Danil Glebov 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 Zenit this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market5 Aug 2030
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Fakel waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Zenit is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market5 Aug 2030
Pascal Loretz has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zenit they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market5 Aug 2030
The paperwork is done: Dara O'Shea joins from CSKA Moscow in a deal worth $3.1M. Now comes the harder part.
Market5 Aug 2030
“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.
Squad5 Aug 2030
A move Dara O'Shea 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. Dara O'Shea is living that version at Zenit, and it tends to show in the first month.
The dugout5 Aug 2030
Yuriy Yefimov: 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.” Zenit have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad5 Aug 2030
Words exchanged at Zenit
Roger Ibañez 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.
Squad5 Aug 2030
Words at Zenit training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pascal Loretz 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 ratings5 Aug 2030
Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings29 Jul 2030
Successful dribbles: 34. 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.
Transfer targets29 Jul 2030
Rubin and Zenit have settled on $4.5M. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Market29 Jul 2030
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Rubin have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market29 Jul 2030
Oleg Smirnov 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 Rubin can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets29 Jul 2030
No thanks: Marcelo Ryan rejects the move
Rubin had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Estudiantes, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad29 Jul 2030
A falling-out at Rubin
Fedor Chalov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 Jul 2030
A row about effort at Rubin
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Galymzhan Kenzhebek was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets29 Jul 2030
Rubin asked and Lokomotiv 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.
Match27 Jul 2030
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Fedor Chalov. 2‑1 against Rostov, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match27 Jul 2030
5‑0, and Kirill Schetinin took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Zenit tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Market29 Jul 2030
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Deportivo Pasto waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Zenit is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Transfer targets29 Jul 2030
$3.1M settles it between the clubs for Dara O'Shea
CSKA Moscow have accepted the money. What Zenit do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Market29 Jul 2030
Kevin Andrade 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 Zenit can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout29 Jul 2030
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Zenit may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad29 Jul 2030
Vitaly Stezhko gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Vitaly Stezhko has just signed for Zenit, and for once the answer mattered.
Market29 Jul 2030
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Transfer targets29 Jul 2030
$320.0K on the table at Dinamo Moscow. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad29 Jul 2030
A row about effort at Zenit
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pascal Loretz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Market22 Jul 2030
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Zenit people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Player ratings22 Jul 2030
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.
Market22 Jul 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zenit can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets22 Jul 2030
Zenit asked and CSKA 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.
Squad22 Jul 2030
Roger Ibañez 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 Zenit this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom22 Jul 2030
6 academy graduates step up at Zenit
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Match20 Jul 2030
Zenit get the job done against Rostov
A 3‑1 win over Rostov, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Market22 Jul 2030
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Yaroslav Gladyshev wants continental football; whether Zenit can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Market22 Jul 2030
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Leonid Zolotov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
In brief
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Player ratings
Yaroslav Gladyshev was on a different afternoon to everybody else
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Squad
Words at Zenit training over how hard people work
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The dugout
Kevin Andrade gets it from the manager
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market15 Jul 2030
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Banfield had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
The dugout15 Jul 2030
Kevin Andrade: 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.” Zenit have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Transfer targets15 Jul 2030
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.
Market15 Jul 2030
Lucas Olaza 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 Zenit can pretend not to have heard.
Market15 Jul 2030
The phone has started ringing about Pascal Loretz again, and this time the name on the line is CSKA Moscow. Zenit are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad15 Jul 2030
Nemanja Stojić arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Nemanja Stojić has, at Zenit, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Boardroom15 Jul 2030
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Market15 Jul 2030
Zenit get their man
The chase for Nemanja Stojić ended with $410.0K changing hands and CSKA Moscow out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Squad15 Jul 2030
Yuriy Yefimov is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 17 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
In brief
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Squad
A row about effort at Zenit
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Squad
A falling-out at Zenit
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The dugout
Juan Musso gets picked when it counts
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market8 Jul 2030
Pascal Loretz 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 Zenit can pretend not to have heard.
Market8 Jul 2030
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Rotor waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Zenit is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Squad8 Jul 2030
Mingiyan Beveev gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Mingiyan Beveev has just signed for Zenit, and for once the answer mattered.
Transfer targets8 Jul 2030
No deal for Matvey Lukin at that price
Zenit offered $920.0K; CSKA Moscow said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Market8 Jul 2030
Add another name to the list: Banfield have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Denis Adamov. The answer from Zenit has not changed — yet.
Squad8 Jul 2030
Words at Zenit training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pascal Loretz 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.
Market8 Jul 2030
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Zenit hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad8 Jul 2030
A falling-out at Zenit
João Victor and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout8 Jul 2030
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
In brief
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Squad
6 new faces, and Zenit are still learning each other
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Boardroom
Zenit sign 9 boys into the academy
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The dugout
Steven Bergwijn asks for a word with the manager