From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market30 Aug 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 The request is on a desk at Avangard, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market30 Aug 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Avangard is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad30 Aug 2027
A falling-out at Avangard
Alexey Sukharev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets30 Aug 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Nart have kept their man, and Avangard go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Danila Knyazev 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 dugout30 Aug 2027
Nobody at Avangard 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 dugout30 Aug 2027
Rustam Berzegov 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.
Market30 Aug 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Avangard know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match21 Aug 2027
15 matches without a win for Avangard
The run now stands at 15, and the questions being asked around Avangard are no longer polite ones.
Squad23 Aug 2027
There were 9 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.
Match18 Aug 2027
Sevastopol ended it 0‑1. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Market23 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.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.79, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
At 33 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.90, and nobody on the pitch better.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad23 Aug 2027
Danila Knyazev 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 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match14 Aug 2027
The wait goes on for Avangard
13 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
The terraces16 Aug 2027
The mood at Avangard has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Match16 Aug 2027
Avangard are in real trouble now
Position 7, 1 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad16 Aug 2027
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.
Market16 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 Avangard can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.10 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Match14 Aug 2027
Bohdan Shmyhelskyi scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to Murom, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
The dugout16 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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Avangard
Yefrem Ushakov 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.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
-
Squad
A row about effort at Avangard
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Boardroom
Avangard counting the cost
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match7 Aug 2027
No end in sight to Avangard's wait for a win
12 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Avangard has to find a result from somewhere.
Market9 Aug 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 Avangard, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Avangard
Alexey Sukharev and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad9 Aug 2027
A row about effort at Avangard
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Danila Knyazev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match7 Aug 2027
0‑1 to Dinamo Vladivostok, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad9 Aug 2027
The medical room confirms 28 days on the sidelines for Daniil Sedov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Yegor Yunusov, and the manager let it.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Market9 Aug 2027
“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
Crisis
Match31 Jul 2027
The wait goes on for Avangard
11 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Market2 Aug 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 Avangard, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market2 Aug 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Avangard they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad2 Aug 2027
A falling-out at Avangard
Alexey Sukharev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets2 Aug 2027
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.
Match31 Jul 2027
Dmitry Zakharov scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Irtysh, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
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.
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Yefim Barkov after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match24 Jul 2027
The wait goes on for Avangard
10 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Match24 Jul 2027
Chastening afternoon for Avangard
A 0‑5 beating by Kaluga was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
Everything agreed with Dinamo St Petersburg, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Match24 Jul 2027
The goals have deserted Avangard
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Avangard can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad26 Jul 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Avangard this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
Avangard asked and Chaika 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 dugout26 Jul 2027
“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.
Boardroom26 Jul 2027
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.
In brief
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Boardroom
Wages eat 95% of everything Avangard earn
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
-
Squad
Beaten 5 times: a bad day for Yegor Skorobogatko
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces19 Jul 2027
Supporters organise against the Avangard board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Match17 Jul 2027
No end in sight to Avangard's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Avangard has to find a result from somewhere.
Market19 Jul 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 Avangard, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Alexey Sukharev 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.
Boardroom19 Jul 2027
Graduation day at Avangard
1 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
Veles wanted more than $4.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
Avangard asked and Dinamo Vladivostok said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match17 Jul 2027
The goals have deserted Avangard
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Avangard can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad19 Jul 2027
A row about effort at Avangard
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Danila Knyazev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Jul 2027
Avangard are in real trouble now
Position 7, 9 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market12 Jul 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 Avangard can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
Avangard had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Yenisey, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
$2.0K on the table at Leningradets. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words exchanged at Avangard
Alexey Sukharev 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
The medical room confirms 56 days on the sidelines for Daniil Sedov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
Kaluga have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Market12 Jul 2027
The name of Bohdan Shmyhelskyi keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Avangard say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Avangard, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Yefim Barkov has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
Crisis meeting at Avangard
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
Market5 Jul 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 Avangard, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
$160.0K settles it between the clubs for Timur Nikolaev
Dinamo Vladivostok have accepted the money. What Avangard do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Market5 Jul 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Avangard is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad5 Jul 2027
At 24 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at Avangard training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sarmat Khubezhov 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.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
Avangard sign 3 boys into the academy
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad28 Jun 2027
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Ufa keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
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Squad28 Jun 2027
Rustam Berzegov has improved at 24, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
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.
Boardroom28 Jun 2027
95% of the income goes out in wages at Avangard
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Squad28 Jun 2027
A falling-out at Avangard
Yefrem Ushakov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
Alexey Sukharev 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.
Market28 Jun 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Dmitry Zakharov signs something — a contract at Avangard or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces21 Jun 2027
Anger at Avangard spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Boardroom21 Jun 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Avangard
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Avangard is running low.
Market21 Jun 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 Avangard, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Denis Traigel is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Alexey Sukharev 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 Jun 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kvant have kept their man, and Avangard go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad21 Jun 2027
A row about effort at Avangard
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Danila Knyazev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market21 Jun 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Avangard, another week without a signature from Danila Knyazev.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
A loan move for Ilja Tikhomirov is in the works
Avangard have made the call to Spartak Tambov. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match14 Jun 2027
Avangard sink to position 7
9 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market14 Jun 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Maxim Slobodchikov and Avangard agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words exchanged at Avangard
Alexey Sukharev 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
The table has started to be checked before the results are in, and that is always the tell. Nobody at Avangard says the word out loud, and everybody in the building is thinking it.
Market14 Jun 2027
The name of Bohdan Shmyhelskyi keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Avangard say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
Crisis meeting at Avangard
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
Market7 Jun 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Yegor Skorobogatko will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Avangard the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad7 Jun 2027
A falling-out at Avangard
Alexey Sukharev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Yegor Balitskiy, and the manager let it.
The dugout7 Jun 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 Yegor Balitskiy is on it.
Market7 Jun 2027
Avangard have made Alexey Sukharev available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Squad7 Jun 2027
The table is being checked before the results are in, which is always the tell. Nobody at Avangard says the word and every senior player in the building is thinking it.
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
Avangard were not finished after all
Written off a fortnight ago, the squad has closed ranks and answered on the pitch. Something was said behind that door, and so far it is holding.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The dugout31 May 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad31 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Avangard this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom31 May 2027
Wages swallow 95% of the Avangard income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces24 May 2027
Supporters organise against the Avangard board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Boardroom24 May 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Avangard
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market24 May 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 Avangard can pretend not to have heard.
Squad24 May 2027
Alexey Sukharev 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 dugout24 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alexandr Khrebtov, and the manager let it.
Boardroom24 May 2027
Avangard counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Avangard now.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match17 May 2027
Every point is an argument now for Avangard
Position 7 and 9 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market17 May 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.
The dugout17 May 2027
Alexey Sukharev asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout17 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sarmat Khubezhov, and the manager let it.
Market17 May 2027
The name of Bohdan Shmyhelskyi keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Avangard say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad17 May 2027
Yegor Yunusov is not doing himself any favours
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market10 May 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Avangard is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad10 May 2027
32 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Avangard training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Danila Knyazev 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 dugout10 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Danila Knyazev
“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.
Squad10 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Avangard this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout10 May 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alexey Sukharev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom3 May 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Yefim Barkov has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
The dugout3 May 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad3 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Avangard this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom3 May 2027
Wages swallow 92% of the Avangard income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The dugout3 May 2027
Valerii Yurchuk loses the manager who believed in him
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Valerii Yurchuk's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
The dugout3 May 2027
Danila Knyazev knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Danila Knyazev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market3 May 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Dmitry Zakharov signs something — a contract at Avangard or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad3 May 2027
Nerves in the Avangard squad
Dmitry Polukhin has been around long enough to know what the spring feels like when it goes wrong, and he can feel it. A dressing room that is frightened plays like one.
Boardroom3 May 2027
Avangard were not finished after all
Written off a fortnight ago, the squad has closed ranks and answered on the pitch. Something was said behind that door, and so far it is holding.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces26 Apr 2027
Supporters organise against the Avangard board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Boardroom26 Apr 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Avangard
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Avangard is running low.
Market26 Apr 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 Avangard, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Alexey Sukharev 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.
Boardroom26 Apr 2027
Belts tighten at Avangard
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Avangard, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout26 Apr 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 Bohdan Shmyhelskyi is on it.
Market26 Apr 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Vikenty Schipachev signs something — a contract at Avangard or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad26 Apr 2027
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Apr 2027
Every point is an argument now for Avangard
Position 7 and 9 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market19 Apr 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 Avangard, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Alexey Sukharev 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market12 Apr 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Yegor Skorobogatko will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Avangard the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad12 Apr 2027
61 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad12 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Avangard this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Avangard told Daniil Sedov something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout12 Apr 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 Yegor Balitskiy is on it.
Squad12 Apr 2027
The table has started to be checked before the results are in, and that is always the tell. Nobody at Avangard says the word out loud, and everybody in the building is thinking it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom5 Apr 2027
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Squad5 Apr 2027
A falling-out at Avangard
Alexey Sukharev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Market5 Apr 2027
The name of Dmitry Zakharov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Avangard say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Nerves in the Avangard squad
Valerii Yurchuk has been around long enough to know what the spring feels like when it goes wrong, and he can feel it. A dressing room that is frightened plays like one.
Squad5 Apr 2027
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Avangard will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces29 Mar 2027
The mood at Avangard has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Boardroom29 Mar 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Avangard
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Avangard is running low.
Boardroom29 Mar 2027
Belts tighten at Avangard
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Avangard, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Nobody at Avangard 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 dugout29 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sarmat Khubezhov, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match22 Mar 2027
Avangard sink to position 7
9 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market22 Mar 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Avangard
Yefrem Ushakov 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 2027
Alexey Sukharev asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“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.
Market22 Mar 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Bohdan Shmyhelskyi signs something — a contract at Avangard or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market15 Mar 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Avangard is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad15 Mar 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Avangard this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Avangard
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Danila Knyazev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Danila Knyazev, and the manager let it.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
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.
Market15 Mar 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Vikenty Schipachev may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
Yefim Barkov has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Avangard can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Valerii Yurchuk and Avangard agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Avangard
Alexey Sukharev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market8 Mar 2027
The name of Yegor Skorobogatko has come up in conversations Avangard were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
Valerii Yurchuk without the man who signed him
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Valerii Yurchuk was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Sarmat Khubezhov 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.
Market8 Mar 2027
The name of Dmitry Zakharov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Avangard say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad8 Mar 2027
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Avangard has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Market8 Mar 2027
The window shut and Vikenty Schipachev is still in the building
Avangard spent a month trying to move him and nobody rang back. He trains with a squad that has told him where he stands, and both sides start counting down to the next one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces1 Mar 2027
Anger at Avangard spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
Pressure builds in the Avangard boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
Deadline passes with 3 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Avangard 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 2027
Words exchanged at Avangard
Alexey Sukharev 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 targets1 Mar 2027
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Avangard will try again when the window opens; Zvezda may not be selling by then.
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
Avangard counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Avangard now.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
The manager's exit leaves Valerii Yurchuk exposed
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Valerii Yurchuk is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
Squad1 Mar 2027
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Dmitry Polukhin is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
The dugout1 Mar 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 Bohdan Shmyhelskyi is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match22 Feb 2027
Avangard are in real trouble now
Position 7, 9 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market22 Feb 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 Avangard can pretend not to have heard.
Market22 Feb 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Kolomna waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Avangard is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Transfer targets22 Feb 2027
$17.0K on the table at Zvezda. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Alexey Sukharev 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 dugout22 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Dmitry Polukhin
“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.
Market22 Feb 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Bohdan Shmyhelskyi signs something — a contract at Avangard or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
Yuri Zaitsev 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 Avangard, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Alexey Sukharev plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market15 Feb 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Avangard is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad15 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Avangard this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Dmitry Polukhin 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.
Market15 Feb 2027
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Valentin Gerasimov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market15 Feb 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Timofey Chaykovsky has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market15 Feb 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Fyodor Gorbachev has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom8 Feb 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Yefim Barkov has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market8 Feb 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.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
Avangard asked and Volgar said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Avangard
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Danila Knyazev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alexandr Khrebtov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market8 Feb 2027
The name of Dmitry Zakharov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Avangard say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Nerves in the Avangard squad
Dmitry Zakharov has been around long enough to know what the spring feels like when it goes wrong, and he can feel it. A dressing room that is frightened plays like one.
Squad8 Feb 2027
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Avangard has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Boardroom8 Feb 2027
A squad written off a fortnight ago has closed ranks. Whatever was said behind that door, it has held so far.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces1 Feb 2027
The mood at Avangard has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Avangard
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market1 Feb 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Avangard have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Avangard training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Danila Knyazev 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 dugout1 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alexey Sukharev, and the manager let it.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Yefrem Ushakov 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 targets1 Feb 2027
A loan move for Kirill Volkov is in the works
Avangard have made the call to Volgar. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
Nobody at Avangard 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match25 Jan 2027
Avangard sink to position 7
9 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market25 Jan 2027
Daniil Sedov 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 Avangard can pretend not to have heard.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Alexey Sukharev 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Avangard training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sarmat Khubezhov 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 dugout25 Jan 2027
“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.
Market25 Jan 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Vikenty Schipachev signs something — a contract at Avangard or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad18 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Avangard this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Danila Knyazev 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 dugout18 Jan 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 Yegor Balitskiy is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market11 Jan 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Avangard
Alexey Sukharev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A muscle injury sidelines Yegor Skorobogatko for 16 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Avangard will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces4 Jan 2027
The mood at Avangard has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Avangard
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
Yefim Barkov has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Avangard can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Avangard
Alexey Sukharev 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 dugout4 Jan 2027
The manager's exit leaves Valerii Yurchuk exposed
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Valerii Yurchuk is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Yegor Skorobogatko trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
Avangard were not finished after all
Written off a fortnight ago, the squad has closed ranks and answered on the pitch. Something was said behind that door, and so far it is holding.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Questions about Valerii Yurchuk on the training pitch
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match28 Dec 2026
Every point is an argument now for Avangard
Position 7 and 9 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Alexey Sukharev 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.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Wages eat 158% of everything Avangard earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alexandr Khrebtov, and the manager let it.
Market28 Dec 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Vikenty Schipachev signs something — a contract at Avangard or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad28 Dec 2026
The training reports on Alexandr Khrebtov are not good
A bad Saturday is forgiven; a bad Tuesday is chosen. Standards have slipped and in a building where everybody watches everybody, it has been noticed.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Avangard, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Market21 Dec 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Bohdan Shmyhelskyi’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Dec 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad14 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Avangard this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alexey Sukharev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“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 Dec 2026
The name of Dmitry Zakharov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Avangard say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad14 Dec 2026
The table has started to be checked before the results are in, and that is always the tell. Nobody at Avangard says the word out loud, and everybody in the building is thinking it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces7 Dec 2026
Anger at Avangard spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Boardroom7 Dec 2026
The scrutiny sharpens at Avangard
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Avangard is running low.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Ruslan Aderikhin: 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.” Avangard have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Avangard
Alexey Sukharev 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 Dec 2026
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Alexandr Khrebtov is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
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 Bohdan Shmyhelskyi is on it.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Boardroom7 Dec 2026
$155.4K taken back off the Avangard table
What was available in the summer has quietly gone. Upstairs nobody will call it a change of ambition; downstairs nobody will call it anything else.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Vikenty Schipachev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match30 Nov 2026
Every point is an argument now for Avangard
Position 7 and 9 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Avangard have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Alexey Sukharev 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.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
156% of the income goes out in wages at Avangard
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alexandr Khrebtov, and the manager let it.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Avangard, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market23 Nov 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad23 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Avangard this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Nov 2026
19 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Rustam Berzegov asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
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 Yegor Balitskiy is on it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market16 Nov 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Avangard, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Avangard
Alexey Sukharev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market16 Nov 2026
The name of Dmitry Zakharov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Avangard say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Avangard
Alexey Sukharev 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.
Market9 Nov 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Gleb Sidorenko is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match2 Nov 2026
Every point is an argument now for Avangard
Position 7 and 9 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
156% of the income goes out in wages at Avangard
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Yegor Balitskiy
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Yegor Balitskiy has come out of that comparison in the side, and Avangard have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Oct 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad26 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Avangard this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Alexey Sukharev
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match17 Oct 2026
The wait goes on for Avangard
8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Market19 Oct 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Avangard, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Avangard
Alexey Sukharev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match17 Oct 2026
Dinamo Vladivostok left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Yefim Barkov to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The team sheet said everything about Vikenty Schipachev
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 Vikenty Schipachev.
Market19 Oct 2026
Daniil Sedov is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Avangard has been clear about where Daniil Sedov stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
A promise honoured at Avangard
Something was said to Vikenty Schipachev and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ruslan Aderikhin, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 Oct 2026
8 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.
Match10 Oct 2026
The wait goes on for Avangard
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Avangard
Alexey Sukharev 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.
Match10 Oct 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Looking ahead12 Oct 2026
Two sides from the bottom of the table, three points, and an afternoon that will be described afterwards as a relegation decider by whoever loses it.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad12 Oct 2026
One booking too many, and Dmitry Kumsarov sits out. Avangard lose him for the sort of avoidable reason that makes a manager's week longer.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vladislav Tereshkin, and the manager let it.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Nobody at Avangard 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match30 Sep 2026
Rostov ended it 1‑2. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Match5 Oct 2026
Avangard sink to position 6
9 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad5 Oct 2026
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.
Match3 Oct 2026
The wait goes on for Avangard
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Avangard may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Alexey Sukharev 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.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages swallow 197% of the Avangard income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
A performance of 8.08 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
One lapse, one goal, and ninety minutes of honest work counting for nothing. That is the job at Avangard, and it is a cruel one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Sep 2026
Chastening afternoon for Avangard
A 1‑4 beating by Kuban was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad28 Sep 2026
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.
Match26 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Avangard's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Avangard has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad28 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Avangard this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“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.
Boardroom28 Sep 2026
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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Too much change too quickly at Avangard
10 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.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Yefim Barkov after 1‑4, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Every signing waits for it and every press conference asks about it until it comes. It has come, Avangard have their man off the mark, and the second one is always easier.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market21 Sep 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Avangard, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Avangard
Alexey Sukharev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Marked 8.08 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Match19 Sep 2026
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Yefim Barkov after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Looking ahead21 Sep 2026
A test against the best for Avangard
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Kuban.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Off the academy pitches and onto a senior team sheet at 14. The debut is the easy part; the second appearance is the one every young player has to earn.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Sep 2026
A 2-goal lead gone for Avangard
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Kaluga kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Avangard will be asked about the last half hour all week.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.32, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
Window shuts: 13 in, 0 out at Avangard
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 13 arrived, 0 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Match12 Sep 2026
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Alexey Sukharev
“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.
Looking ahead14 Sep 2026
Avangard face Irtysh in the game that matters most
Two sides from the bottom of the table, three points, and an afternoon that will be described afterwards as a relegation decider by whoever loses it.
Match14 Sep 2026
Avangard at the halfway mark
Half the programme played, position 6, 7 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 2‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Nobody's fault and entirely his: a goal that goes into the book with his name against it and nothing about it intended. Avangard deserved better, and so did he.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match7 Sep 2026
Avangard are in real trouble now
Position 6, 7 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad7 Sep 2026
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.
Match5 Sep 2026
0‑2 to Rodina 2, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad7 Sep 2026
100 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vikenty Schipachev, and the manager let it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Yefrem Ushakov and Avangard agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Yefim Barkov to a room that had heard them before.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Avangard
Yefrem Ushakov 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 dugout7 Sep 2026
Alexey Sukharev asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad31 Aug 2026
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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Avangard this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match29 Aug 2026
It finished 2‑1, and it was Bohdan Shmyhelskyi’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Avangard.
The terraces31 Aug 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Denis Traigel has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Dmitry Zakharov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.31. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Marked 8.06. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Avangard.
Match29 Aug 2026
Avangard hit back inside 4 minutes
Dinamo Vladivostok held the lead for 4 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Avangard answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Avangard are still strangers to each other
10 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Aleksandr Klimov commits to Avangard for another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match19 Aug 2026
Cup progress for Avangard
A 3‑1 win over Strogino, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Squad24 Aug 2026
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Avangard
Danila Knyazev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Marked 9.67 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Avangard asked and Torpedo Miass 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 terraces24 Aug 2026
He is 18 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.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
7.63, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Avangard had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Sergei Cheryshev and Avangard agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match15 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑6 by Murom, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market17 Aug 2026
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Yegor Balitskiy had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Match15 Aug 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Avangard and Murom, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Avangard
Danila Knyazev 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 targets17 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
Nobody left the Avangard 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 dugout17 Aug 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑6 Yefim Barkov left the room before anybody could ask which.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
5.77 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match8 Aug 2026
Nowhere to hide for Avangard
0‑3 against Kuban, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad10 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Avangard this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Prokhor Zabolotsky 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Yakov Fokin has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Vladislav Ershov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Aleksandr Klimov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Valerii Yurchuk, and the manager let it.
Boardroom10 Aug 2026
Nobody left the Avangard 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 dugout10 Aug 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑3 Yefim Barkov left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match1 Aug 2026
Avangard strike at the death to beat Irtysh
There were 86 minutes on the clock and Irtysh had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Avangard did not stop to explain themselves.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
A defender's goal wins it for Avangard — 7.27
1 for Maxim Slobodchikov, marked 7.27, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Valerii Yurchuk and Avangard agree another 2 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Danila Knyazev 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.
Match1 Aug 2026
Irtysh made Avangard work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Squad3 Aug 2026
9 new faces, and Avangard are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Market3 Aug 2026
49 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 dugout3 Aug 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Yefim Barkov could afford to be generous.