From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings11 Nov 2030
Defensive actions: 35. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Match9 Nov 2030
Still nobody has beaten Chaika
The unbeaten run reaches 13. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Market11 Nov 2030
Simón Navarro 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 Chaika can pretend not to have heard.
Market11 Nov 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Chaika is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad11 Nov 2030
Lucas Pazos 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 Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings11 Nov 2030
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 22 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Boardroom11 Nov 2030
Chaika counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Chaika now.
Player ratings11 Nov 2030
A performance of 8.90 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match9 Nov 2030
Three points for Chaika, 1‑0 the final word against Sokol in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match2 Nov 2030
12 unbeaten for Chaika
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 12 matches without defeat is a foundation Chaika did not have in the autumn.
Market4 Nov 2030
“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 The request is on a desk at Chaika, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market4 Nov 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Chaika is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad4 Nov 2030
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Chaika may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad4 Nov 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market4 Nov 2030
The shirt still fits. Artem Sablin is back at Chaika, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Player ratings4 Nov 2030
A performance of 9.60 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match2 Nov 2030
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad4 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
Steady
Market28 Oct 2030
“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 Chaika, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match26 Oct 2030
Still nobody has beaten Chaika
The unbeaten run reaches 11. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Market28 Oct 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Chaika is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad28 Oct 2030
Tempers go at Chaika
Stanislav Biblyk 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.
Squad28 Oct 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lucas Pazos, and the manager let it.
Player ratings28 Oct 2030
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 19 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings28 Oct 2030
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings28 Oct 2030
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 18 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Boardroom28 Oct 2030
99% of the income goes out in wages at Chaika
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match19 Oct 2030
Still nobody has beaten Chaika
The unbeaten run reaches 10. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Market21 Oct 2030
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Chaika they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market21 Oct 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 Chaika can pretend not to have heard.
Squad21 Oct 2030
Lucas Pazos 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 Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match19 Oct 2030
A 3‑2 win over Dinamo Makhachkala, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad21 Oct 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to David Gagua, and the manager let it.
Player ratings21 Oct 2030
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.45, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad21 Oct 2030
The medical room confirms 103 days on the sidelines for Alexey Pipo, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Player ratings21 Oct 2030
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Oct 2030
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market14 Oct 2030
“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 Chaika, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match12 Oct 2030
Whatever happens, Chaika do not lose
9 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Player ratings14 Oct 2030
Defensive actions: 25. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Market14 Oct 2030
Artilio Shehi has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Chaika they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad14 Oct 2030
Tempers go at Chaika
David Gagua 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 ratings14 Oct 2030
Defensive actions: 22, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Boardroom14 Oct 2030
The numbers do not look good at Chaika
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Player ratings14 Oct 2030
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 18 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Oct 2030
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Rinat Shakerov: 2 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Match5 Oct 2030
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Artem Krutovskikh obliged against Rodina. 2‑2 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Chaika.
Match2 Oct 2030
Cup progress for Chaika
A 0‑0 win over Rodina, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Market7 Oct 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.
Market7 Oct 2030
Only the photograph left for Pavel Golubkov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Pavel Golubkov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Chaika the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match5 Oct 2030
Still nobody has beaten Chaika
The unbeaten run reaches 8. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad7 Oct 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings7 Oct 2030
Marked 9.26 — 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.
Squad7 Oct 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
Market30 Sep 2030
“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 Chaika, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad30 Sep 2030
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Chaika may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market30 Sep 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Chaika is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Player ratings30 Sep 2030
Defensive actions: 26, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad30 Sep 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match28 Sep 2030
Whatever happens, Chaika do not lose
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Player ratings30 Sep 2030
A defender's afternoon for Simón Navarro
Defensive actions: 20. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Match28 Sep 2030
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Alexandr Pomalyuk. 1‑0 against Akron, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings30 Sep 2030
A performance of 8.00 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Sep 2030
“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 ratings23 Sep 2030
Defensive actions: 27, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Market23 Sep 2030
“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 Chaika, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market23 Sep 2030
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Chaika they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Player ratings23 Sep 2030
Defensive actions: 26, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad23 Sep 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings23 Sep 2030
Marked 8.96 — 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.
Match21 Sep 2030
Chaika get the job done against Ural
A 1‑0 win over Ural, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad23 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market16 Sep 2030
“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 Chaika, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad16 Sep 2030
14 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Market16 Sep 2030
Only the photograph left for Artilio Shehi
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Artilio Shehi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Chaika the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Player ratings16 Sep 2030
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings16 Sep 2030
Defensive actions: 23. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad16 Sep 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom16 Sep 2030
The numbers do not look good at Chaika
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Player ratings16 Sep 2030
Defensive actions: 20, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad16 Sep 2030
“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
Steady
Market9 Sep 2030
Stefan Stanciu has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Chaika they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad9 Sep 2030
Tempers go at Chaika
Stanislav Biblyk 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
“The easiest signature of my career.” Alexey Pavlishin and Chaika agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad9 Sep 2030
The manager makes an example of Rinat Shakerov
“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 ratings9 Sep 2030
Marked 8.59 — 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 ratings9 Sep 2030
A performance of 8.35 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Market9 Sep 2030
Akron are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Chaika will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Match7 Sep 2030
It needed Artem Krutovskikh to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Volga, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Player ratings9 Sep 2030
Shots: 4, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market2 Sep 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.
Player ratings2 Sep 2030
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 30 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Market2 Sep 2030
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Chaika they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad2 Sep 2030
Tempers go at Chaika
Nikita Posmashny 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.
Squad2 Sep 2030
“The easiest signature of my career.” Alexey Pavlishin and Chaika agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings2 Sep 2030
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.
Squad2 Sep 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to David Gagua, and the manager let it.
Match31 Aug 2030
SKA Khabarovsk made Chaika work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings2 Sep 2030
A performance of 8.32 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings26 Aug 2030
A defender's afternoon for Simón Navarro
Defensive actions: 27. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Market26 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.
Market26 Aug 2030
Pavel Golubkov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Chaika they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Player ratings26 Aug 2030
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad26 Aug 2030
David Gagua 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 Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Aug 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lucas Pazos, and the manager let it.
Player ratings26 Aug 2030
Marked 7.78 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Chaika had the best player on the pitch.
Squad26 Aug 2030
David Gagua 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.
Match24 Aug 2030
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Chelyabinsk will be the happier side with the point.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market19 Aug 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 Chaika can pretend not to have heard.
Market19 Aug 2030
Artilio Shehi has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Chaika they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom19 Aug 2030
The numbers do not look good at Chaika
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad19 Aug 2030
Tempers go at Chaika
Oleksandr Rosputko 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 ratings19 Aug 2030
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match17 Aug 2030
Chaika come up short against Ufa
Ufa left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad19 Aug 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gevork Sarkisyan, and the manager let it.
Player ratings19 Aug 2030
Shots: 13. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
The terraces19 Aug 2030
Everybody has an opinion about Rinat Shakerov
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match10 Aug 2030
4‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Squad12 Aug 2030
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Player ratings12 Aug 2030
Defensive actions: 24, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad12 Aug 2030
Tempers go at Chaika
Stanislav Biblyk 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 Aug 2030
A performance of 9.72 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings12 Aug 2030
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.75, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad12 Aug 2030
“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 ratings12 Aug 2030
Shots: 12, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Squad12 Aug 2030
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad5 Aug 2030
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad5 Aug 2030
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Chaika may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market5 Aug 2030
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Chaika they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market5 Aug 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 Chaika can pretend not to have heard.
Squad5 Aug 2030
Tempers go at Chaika
Nikita Posmashny 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 ratings5 Aug 2030
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.04, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad5 Aug 2030
28 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Boardroom5 Aug 2030
94% of the income goes out in wages at Chaika
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.
Match3 Aug 2030
A 1‑1 draw with Akhmat leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market29 Jul 2030
Only the photograph left for Stefan Stanciu
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Stefan Stanciu will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Chaika the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad29 Jul 2030
Tempers go at Chaika
Stanislav Biblyk 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.
Match27 Jul 2030
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Stanislav Biblyk. 3‑1 against Rotor, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings29 Jul 2030
Marked 8.96 — 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 ratings29 Jul 2030
A performance of 8.80 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad29 Jul 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.
Player ratings29 Jul 2030
Marked 8.37 — 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 ratings29 Jul 2030
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.22, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad29 Jul 2030
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Chaika have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
From our football correspondent
Steady
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 given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad22 Jul 2030
15 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Market22 Jul 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Chaika is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad22 Jul 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market22 Jul 2030
The shirt still fits. Roman Fokin is back at Chaika, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Market22 Jul 2030
The shirt still fits. Denis Zhuravlev is back at Chaika, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Boardroom22 Jul 2030
The numbers do not look good at Chaika
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Match20 Jul 2030
1‑2 to Torpedo Moscow, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market15 Jul 2030
“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 Chaika, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market15 Jul 2030
Only the photograph left for Anton Gurylev
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Anton Gurylev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Chaika the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad15 Jul 2030
David Gagua 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 Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Jul 2030
“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 Chaika know it.
Squad15 Jul 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.
Squad15 Jul 2030
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Artem Krutovskikh trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market8 Jul 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.
Market8 Jul 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Chaika is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad8 Jul 2030
Tempers go at Chaika
Oleksandr Rosputko 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.
Squad8 Jul 2030
56 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Boardroom8 Jul 2030
Wages eat 85% of everything Chaika 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.
Squad8 Jul 2030
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Chaika, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market1 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 Chaika can pretend not to have heard.
Market1 Jul 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Chaika is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad1 Jul 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market1 Jul 2030
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Stanislav Biblyk signs something — a contract at Chaika or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad1 Jul 2030
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alexey Pavlishin trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad1 Jul 2030
A season on the outside for Simón Navarro
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Chaika has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad24 Jun 2030
“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.
Market24 Jun 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.
Squad24 Jun 2030
43 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad24 Jun 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom24 Jun 2030
The numbers do not look good at Chaika
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Market24 Jun 2030
“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
Upbeat
Market17 Jun 2030
Simón Navarro 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 Chaika can pretend not to have heard.
Market17 Jun 2030
Only the photograph left for Anton Gurylev
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Anton Gurylev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Chaika the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad17 Jun 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market17 Jun 2030
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Gevork Sarkisyan has his answer from Chaika; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Squad17 Jun 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.
Squad17 Jun 2030
David Gagua 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
Market10 Jun 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Chaika is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad10 Jun 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Jun 2030
“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 Chaika know it.
Squad10 Jun 2030
The medical room confirms 84 days on the sidelines for Matthew Grech, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad10 Jun 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kirill Zakharov, and the manager let it.
Market10 Jun 2030
The Lucas Pazos story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Lucas Pazos signs something — a contract at Chaika or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market3 Jun 2030
“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 Chaika, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad3 Jun 2030
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 Chaika have had the benefit of it.
Squad3 Jun 2030
Tempers go at Chaika
Stanislav Biblyk was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad3 Jun 2030
Rinat Shakerov 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 Rinat Shakerov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market3 Jun 2030
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Stanislav Biblyk signs something — a contract at Chaika or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad3 Jun 2030
Pavel Golubkov has seen what the next man earns
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Chaika that is a harder question to answer.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad27 May 2030
Tempers go at Chaika
Arseny Osadchiy 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.
Boardroom27 May 2030
The numbers do not look good at Chaika
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad27 May 2030
“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; Chaika are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad27 May 2030
The manager makes an example of Vadim Gapeev
“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.
Market27 May 2030
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ruslan Chobanov’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad27 May 2030
Anton Gurylev 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 Chaika, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market20 May 2030
Only the photograph left for Anton Gurylev
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Anton Gurylev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Chaika the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market20 May 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 Chaika can pretend not to have heard.
Squad20 May 2030
David Gagua 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 Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 May 2030
The medical room confirms 14 days on the sidelines for Ivan Nikin, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad20 May 2030
“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; Chaika are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Boardroom20 May 2030
Wages eat 90% of everything Chaika 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market13 May 2030
“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 Chaika, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad13 May 2030
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Chaika may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad13 May 2030
Tempers go at Chaika
Nikita Posmashny 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.
Squad13 May 2030
112 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad13 May 2030
The manager makes an example of Simón Navarro
“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.
Loan watch13 May 2030
“I watch every Chaika game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Rotor runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad6 May 2030
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Chaika may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market6 May 2030
Artilio Shehi 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 Chaika can pretend not to have heard.
Market6 May 2030
Only the photograph left for Vadim Gapeev
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vadim Gapeev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Chaika the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad6 May 2030
Tempers go at Chaika
Stanislav Biblyk 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 May 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Oleksandr Rosputko, and the manager let it.
Loan watch6 May 2030
“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 Chaika, and 2 appearances in 10 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad29 Apr 2030
Tempers go at Chaika
Nikita Posmashny 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.
Boardroom29 Apr 2030
The numbers do not look good at Chaika
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad29 Apr 2030
The manager makes an example of Pavel Golubkov
“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
Upbeat
Market22 Apr 2030
Anton Gurylev has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Chaika they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad22 Apr 2030
Tempers go at Chaika
Stanislav Biblyk 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.
Squad22 Apr 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kirill Zakharov, and the manager let it.
Boardroom22 Apr 2030
91% of the income goes out in wages at Chaika
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.
Squad22 Apr 2030
Rinat Shakerov 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.
Market22 Apr 2030
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with David Gagua’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market15 Apr 2030
“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 Chaika, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad15 Apr 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Apr 2030
The medical room confirms 140 days on the sidelines for Matthew Grech, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Loan watch15 Apr 2030
“I watch every Chaika game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Rotor runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad15 Apr 2030
Rinat Shakerov 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.
Market15 Apr 2030
The Lucas Pazos story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Lucas Pazos signs something — a contract at Chaika or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad8 Apr 2030
“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.
Market8 Apr 2030
“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 Chaika, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market8 Apr 2030
Only the photograph left for Vadim Gapeev
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vadim Gapeev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Chaika the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad8 Apr 2030
David Gagua 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 Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Apr 2030
“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; Chaika are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Loan watch8 Apr 2030
“I watch every Chaika game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Volga runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad1 Apr 2030
Tempers go at Chaika
David Gagua 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.
Boardroom1 Apr 2030
The numbers do not look good at Chaika
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad1 Apr 2030
Ivan Nikin 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.
Market1 Apr 2030
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ruslan Chobanov’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad1 Apr 2030
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Chaika would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Market1 Apr 2030
“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
Market25 Mar 2030
Anton Gurylev has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Chaika they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad25 Mar 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Mar 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alexey Pavlishin, and the manager let it.
Boardroom25 Mar 2030
Wages eat 92% of everything Chaika 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.
Squad25 Mar 2030
Simón Navarro 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.
Market25 Mar 2030
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with David Gagua’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad18 Mar 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Mar 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.
Loan watch18 Mar 2030
“I watch every Chaika game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Rotor runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Market18 Mar 2030
The Lucas Pazos story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Lucas Pazos signs something — a contract at Chaika or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad18 Mar 2030
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Chaika, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market18 Mar 2030
3 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Chaika could get for him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad11 Mar 2030
Defences have started doubling up on Nikita Posmashny
14 goals and a season average of 7.51 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Market11 Mar 2030
Vadim Gapeev has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Chaika they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market11 Mar 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 Chaika can pretend not to have heard.
Match9 Mar 2030
Chaika cannot stop winning
3 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.
Squad11 Mar 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings11 Mar 2030
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.28, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match9 Mar 2030
A 2‑1 win over Torpedo Moscow, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings11 Mar 2030
A performance of 8.97 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad11 Mar 2030
The manager makes an example of Kirill Zakharov
“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
Upbeat
Match2 Mar 2030
No mercy from Chaika
Sokol will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Chaika were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Squad4 Mar 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.
Player ratings4 Mar 2030
Defensive actions: 25, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad4 Mar 2030
13 goals and a season average of 7.48. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Player ratings4 Mar 2030
Defensive actions: 24, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad4 Mar 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom4 Mar 2030
The numbers do not look good at Chaika
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Player ratings4 Mar 2030
Marked 9.02 — 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 ratings4 Mar 2030
A performance of 9.02 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match23 Feb 2030
4‑1, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Market25 Feb 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 Chaika can pretend not to have heard.
Squad25 Feb 2030
“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.
Squad25 Feb 2030
Defences have started doubling up on Nikita Posmashny
12 goals and a season average of 7.44 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad25 Feb 2030
Tempers go at Chaika
Stanislav Biblyk 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.
Market25 Feb 2030
The fee is $120.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Mashuk drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Market25 Feb 2030
Chaika get their man
The chase for Rinat Shakerov ended with $78.0K changing hands and Kaluga out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Player ratings25 Feb 2030
A performance of 8.77 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings25 Feb 2030
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.66, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market18 Feb 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 Chaika can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings18 Feb 2030
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad18 Feb 2030
Tempers go at Chaika
Nikita Posmashny 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.
Market18 Feb 2030
Rostov pay $430.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Match16 Feb 2030
Spartak Kostroma left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad18 Feb 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ruslan Chobanov, and the manager let it.
Player ratings18 Feb 2030
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.01, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Market18 Feb 2030
The Lucas Pazos story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Lucas Pazos signs something — a contract at Chaika or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad18 Feb 2030
Anton Gurylev 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 Chaika, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Feb 2030
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.
Match9 Feb 2030
9 unbeaten for Chaika
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 9 matches without defeat is a foundation Chaika did not have in the autumn.
Market11 Feb 2030
Volga come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Chaika did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market11 Feb 2030
The phone has started ringing about Maxim Kriushichev again, and this time the name on the line is Rostov. Chaika are listening politely and promising nothing.
Player ratings11 Feb 2030
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market11 Feb 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.
Squad11 Feb 2030
Tempers go at Chaika
Nikita Posmashny 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.
Squad11 Feb 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Stanislav Biblyk, and the manager let it.
Player ratings11 Feb 2030
Ten men and a goalkeeper behind him, and it still finished in the net. He knew before anybody told him, and nobody at Chaika needed to.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings4 Feb 2030
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market4 Feb 2030
“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 Chaika, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match2 Feb 2030
Whatever happens, Chaika do not lose
8 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad4 Feb 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom4 Feb 2030
Chaika counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Chaika now.
Squad4 Feb 2030
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Alexey Pavlishin commits to Chaika for another 2 years.
Squad4 Feb 2030
“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; Chaika are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Match2 Feb 2030
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Stanislav Biblyk. 2‑1 against Yenisey, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad4 Feb 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Arseny Osadchiy, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad28 Jan 2030
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.
Market28 Jan 2030
“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 Chaika, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match26 Jan 2030
7 unbeaten for Chaika
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation Chaika did not have in the autumn.
Squad28 Jan 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Jan 2030
10 goals and a season average of 7.40. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Match26 Jan 2030
It finished 2‑1, and it was Nikita Posmashny’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Chaika.
Player ratings28 Jan 2030
Marked 8.88 — 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 ratings28 Jan 2030
A performance of 8.15 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings28 Jan 2030
Marked 8.05 — 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market21 Jan 2030
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Maxim Kriushichev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Chaika the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad21 Jan 2030
He is 21, he is averaging 7.11, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Squad21 Jan 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match19 Jan 2030
Whatever happens, Chaika do not lose
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Player ratings21 Jan 2030
A performance of 9.10 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings21 Jan 2030
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.14, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad21 Jan 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.
Match19 Jan 2030
Honours even between Chaika and Rotor
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Player ratings21 Jan 2030
Shots: 9, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad14 Jan 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.
Market14 Jan 2030
Only the photograph left for Stepan Pyankov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Stepan Pyankov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Chaika the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad14 Jan 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Jan 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Stanislav Biblyk, and the manager let it.
Player ratings14 Jan 2030
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.43, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings14 Jan 2030
A performance of 8.29 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad14 Jan 2030
“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 Chaika know it.
Match12 Jan 2030
It needed Maxim Kriushichev to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Fakel, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Player ratings14 Jan 2030
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad7 Jan 2030
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 Chaika have had the benefit of it.
Match5 Jan 2030
Chaika cannot stop winning
4 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.
Squad7 Jan 2030
Matthew Grech: 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.” Chaika have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market7 Jan 2030
“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 Chaika, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 Jan 2030
Tempers go at Chaika
Stanislav Biblyk 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.
Boardroom7 Jan 2030
Chaika counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Chaika now.
Player ratings7 Jan 2030
A performance of 9.17 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match5 Jan 2030
It finished 2‑1, and it was Maxim Kriushichev’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Chaika.
Player ratings7 Jan 2030
A performance of 8.83 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market31 Dec 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chaika can pretend not to have heard.
Match29 Dec 2029
Chaika make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Chaika have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad31 Dec 2029
Tempers go at Chaika
Nikita Posmashny 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.
Match29 Dec 2029
Chaika get the job done against Volga
A 3‑2 win over Volga, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings31 Dec 2029
Marked 8.74 — 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.
Squad31 Dec 2029
Defences have started doubling up on Nikita Posmashny
9 goals and a season average of 7.32 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Player ratings31 Dec 2029
A performance of 8.48 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings31 Dec 2029
Marked 8.22 — 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.
Boardroom31 Dec 2029
Wages eat 107% of everything Chaika 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market24 Dec 2029
Matthew Grech 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 Chaika can pretend not to have heard.
Squad24 Dec 2029
“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.
Squad24 Dec 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Dec 2029
A season average of 7.02 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Chaika know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Squad24 Dec 2029
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Chaika know it.
Match22 Dec 2029
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Nikita Posmashny. 2‑1 against SKA Khabarovsk, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings24 Dec 2029
Marked 8.89 — 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 Dec 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.77, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings24 Dec 2029
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market17 Dec 2029
Simón Navarro 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 Chaika can pretend not to have heard.
Squad17 Dec 2029
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.
Market17 Dec 2029
Only the photograph left for Stepan Pyankov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Stepan Pyankov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Chaika the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad17 Dec 2029
Tempers go at Chaika
Nikita Posmashny 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 Dec 2029
Marked 9.04 — 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.
Match15 Dec 2029
It finished 2‑1, and it was Nikita Posmashny’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Chaika.
Player ratings17 Dec 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.40, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad17 Dec 2029
Defences have started doubling up on Nikita Posmashny
8 goals and a season average of 7.25 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad17 Dec 2029
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market10 Dec 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chaika can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings10 Dec 2029
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad10 Dec 2029
Tempers go at Chaika
Stanislav Biblyk 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.
Match8 Dec 2029
Ufa take the points off Chaika
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad10 Dec 2029
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Boardroom10 Dec 2029
Chaika counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Chaika now.
Player ratings10 Dec 2029
Shots: 12. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Squad10 Dec 2029
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alexey Pavlishin trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market10 Dec 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Stanislav Biblyk signs something — a contract at Chaika or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market3 Dec 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Chaika is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad3 Dec 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match1 Dec 2029
Nikita Posmashny scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to KAMAZ, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad3 Dec 2029
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Chaika know it.
Squad3 Dec 2029
“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 ratings3 Dec 2029
Marked 8.41 — 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.
Boardroom3 Dec 2029
106% of the income goes out in wages at Chaika
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.
Squad3 Dec 2029
Defences have started doubling up on Nikita Posmashny
7 goals and a season average of 7.20 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Player ratings3 Dec 2029
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Nov 2029
“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.
Market26 Nov 2029
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market26 Nov 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Islam Magomedov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Chaika the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad26 Nov 2029
Tempers go at Chaika
Stanislav Biblyk was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad26 Nov 2029
At 21, Maxim Kriushichev is already the best thing here
An average of 7.03 in a first team he is several years too young for. Chaika have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Match24 Nov 2029
Akron made Chaika work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑2 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings26 Nov 2029
Marked 8.58 — 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 ratings26 Nov 2029
A performance of 8.59 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad26 Nov 2029
“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 Nov 2029
9 matches without a win for Chaika
The run now stands at 9, and the questions being asked around Chaika are no longer polite ones.
Match19 Nov 2029
Every point is an argument now for Chaika
Position 16 and 14 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 Nov 2029
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad19 Nov 2029
Vadim Gapeev: 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.” Chaika have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market19 Nov 2029
Only the photograph left for Stepan Pyankov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Stepan Pyankov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Chaika the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad19 Nov 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match17 Nov 2029
Simón Navarro scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to Ural, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Player ratings19 Nov 2029
A performance of 8.76 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings19 Nov 2029
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match10 Nov 2029
No end in sight to Chaika's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Chaika has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad12 Nov 2029
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Chaika have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market12 Nov 2029
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad12 Nov 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Nov 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Arseny Osadchiy, and the manager let it.
Player ratings12 Nov 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.16, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match10 Nov 2029
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Boardroom12 Nov 2029
Chaika counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Chaika now.
Player ratings12 Nov 2029
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market5 Nov 2029
Simón Navarro 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 Chaika can pretend not to have heard.
Match3 Nov 2029
No end in sight to Chaika's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Chaika has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad5 Nov 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Chaika may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market5 Nov 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Artem Nagaitsev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Chaika the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad5 Nov 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings5 Nov 2029
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match3 Nov 2029
A bad afternoon for Chaika against Sokol
0‑1 to Sokol, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad5 Nov 2029
The manager makes an example of Simón Navarro
“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.
Boardroom5 Nov 2029
102% of the income goes out in wages at Chaika
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad29 Oct 2029
Alexey Pavlishin: 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.” Chaika have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match27 Oct 2029
The wait goes on for Chaika
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.
Market29 Oct 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Islam Magomedov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Chaika the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad29 Oct 2029
Tempers go at Chaika
Ruslan Chobanov 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 ratings29 Oct 2029
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.
Match27 Oct 2029
1‑2 to Neftekhimik, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings29 Oct 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.88, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad29 Oct 2029
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad29 Oct 2029
46 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match20 Oct 2029
5 matches without a win for Chaika
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Chaika are no longer polite ones.
Market22 Oct 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Chaika is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad22 Oct 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match20 Oct 2029
Spartak Kostroma left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings22 Oct 2029
A performance of 8.45 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad22 Oct 2029
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad22 Oct 2029
Ruslan Khagur 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 Chaika, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market22 Oct 2029
1 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Chaika could get for him.
Player ratings22 Oct 2029
Shots: 10, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market15 Oct 2029
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Match13 Oct 2029
No end in sight to Chaika's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Chaika has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad15 Oct 2029
Tempers go at Chaika
Stanislav Biblyk 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 ratings15 Oct 2029
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings15 Oct 2029
A performance of 8.12 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad15 Oct 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matthew Grech, and the manager let it.
Squad15 Oct 2029
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Arseny Osadchiy knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Match13 Oct 2029
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Boardroom15 Oct 2029
Chaika counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Chaika now.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match3 Oct 2029
The cup run ends for Chaika
0‑1 against Shinnik, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Market8 Oct 2029
Simón Navarro 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 Chaika can pretend not to have heard.
The terraces8 Oct 2029
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 10 of the 30 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Player ratings8 Oct 2029
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market8 Oct 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Chaika is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad8 Oct 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Lucas Pazos and Chaika agree another 4 years.
Squad8 Oct 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match6 Oct 2029
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad8 Oct 2029
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market1 Oct 2029
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market1 Oct 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Islam Magomedov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Chaika the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad1 Oct 2029
Tempers go at Chaika
Stanislav Biblyk 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.
Squad1 Oct 2029
“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; Chaika are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Player ratings1 Oct 2029
Marked 8.73 — 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.
Squad1 Oct 2029
“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.
Match29 Sep 2029
Chaika and Rodina take a point apiece
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Player ratings1 Oct 2029
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad1 Oct 2029
“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
Player ratings24 Sep 2029
A defender's afternoon for Simón Navarro
Defensive actions: 25. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Market24 Sep 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Chaika is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad24 Sep 2029
Tempers go at Chaika
Nikita Posmashny 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 ratings24 Sep 2029
Marked 9.44 — 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.
Match22 Sep 2029
Rotor made Chaika work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad24 Sep 2029
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings24 Sep 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.30, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings24 Sep 2029
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad24 Sep 2029
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings17 Sep 2029
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad17 Sep 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Sep 2029
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match15 Sep 2029
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings17 Sep 2029
Shots: 11, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
Market17 Sep 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Stanislav Biblyk signs something — a contract at Chaika or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Player ratings17 Sep 2029
5.71 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.
Squad17 Sep 2029
Vadim Gapeev has had enough of the bench
“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 Chaika will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Squad17 Sep 2029
Lucas Pazos unhappy with how he is being used
Asked to play a role that is not his, or taken off before the hour once too often — Lucas Pazos has let it be known that he does not like the way Chaika are using him. Managers hear this long before the press does.
In brief
-
Market
Window shut, Ruslan Khagur still here
-
Boardroom
The Chaika production line keeps running
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market10 Sep 2029
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market10 Sep 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Artem Nagaitsev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Chaika the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad10 Sep 2029
Tempers go at Chaika
Nikita Posmashny 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.
Boardroom10 Sep 2029
The numbers do not look good at Chaika
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Player ratings10 Sep 2029
A performance of 8.85 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings10 Sep 2029
Marked 8.62 — 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 ratings10 Sep 2029
A performance of 8.28 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings10 Sep 2029
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad10 Sep 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Simón Navarro, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market3 Sep 2029
The deal that would have taken Ruslan Khagur to Alania has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Chaika with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Market3 Sep 2029
Anton Gurylev 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 Chaika can pretend not to have heard.
Market3 Sep 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Chaika they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad3 Sep 2029
Tempers go at Chaika
Stanislav Biblyk 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 Sep 2029
The phone has started ringing about Alexandr Pomalyuk again, and this time the name on the line is Nomme Kalju. Chaika are listening politely and promising nothing.
Match1 Sep 2029
A bad afternoon for Chaika against Volga
1‑2 to Volga, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad3 Sep 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Stanislav Biblyk, and the manager let it.
Player ratings3 Sep 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.40, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings3 Sep 2029
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market27 Aug 2029
Baltika come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Chaika did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad27 Aug 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match25 Aug 2029
Three points for Chaika, 3‑2 the final word against SKA Khabarovsk in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings27 Aug 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.94, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad27 Aug 2029
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings27 Aug 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.37, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings27 Aug 2029
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market27 Aug 2029
2 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Chaika money.
Squad27 Aug 2029
Every debut is a small story about the future: Stepan Pyankov, 18 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market20 Aug 2029
Only the photograph left for Ruslan Khagur
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ruslan Khagur will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Chaika the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Player ratings20 Aug 2029
Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match18 Aug 2029
The wait goes on for Chaika
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad20 Aug 2029
Tempers go at Chaika
Stanislav Biblyk 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 ratings20 Aug 2029
A performance of 8.45 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad20 Aug 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matthew Grech, and the manager let it.
Match18 Aug 2029
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad20 Aug 2029
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
Player ratings20 Aug 2029
Shots: 12. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad13 Aug 2029
Gevork Sarkisyan: 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.” Chaika have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings13 Aug 2029
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market13 Aug 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Artem Nagaitsev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Chaika the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match11 Aug 2029
4 matches without a win for Chaika
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Chaika are no longer polite ones.
Squad13 Aug 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings13 Aug 2029
Marked 9.04 — 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.
Squad13 Aug 2029
Ivan Nikin 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.
Match11 Aug 2029
Chaika share the spoils with Ufa
A 1‑1 draw with Ufa leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Boardroom13 Aug 2029
The numbers do not look good at Chaika
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market6 Aug 2029
Anton Gurylev 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 Chaika can pretend not to have heard.
Squad6 Aug 2029
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.
Market6 Aug 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Chaika they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad6 Aug 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings6 Aug 2029
Defensive actions: 21, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad6 Aug 2029
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Chaika know it.
Squad6 Aug 2029
The manager makes an example of David Gagua
“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 ratings6 Aug 2029
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market6 Aug 2029
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Chaika, another week without a signature from Maxim Kriushichev.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Jul 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Jul 2029
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Chaika know it.
Squad30 Jul 2029
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings30 Jul 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.18, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings30 Jul 2029
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match28 Jul 2029
Chaika and Akron take a point apiece
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Squad30 Jul 2029
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
Market30 Jul 2029
The Lucas Pazos talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Chaika know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market30 Jul 2029
3 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Chaika money.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market23 Jul 2029
Baltika arrived with $1.3M and left with the best player in the building. The board will call it business; the queue at the ticket office will use other words.
Market23 Jul 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Chaika is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market23 Jul 2029
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad23 Jul 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ruslan Chobanov commits to Chaika for another 3 years.
Squad23 Jul 2029
Tempers go at Chaika
Ruslan Chobanov 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.
Squad23 Jul 2029
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match21 Jul 2029
A bad afternoon for Chaika against Ural
0‑1 to Ural, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad23 Jul 2029
Alexey Pavlishin 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.
Player ratings23 Jul 2029
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market16 Jul 2029
Ivan Nikin 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 Chaika can pretend not to have heard.
Market16 Jul 2029
The name of Vitaly Dunay (Karpenko) has come up in conversations Chaika were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Market16 Jul 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Chaika is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market16 Jul 2029
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.
Squad16 Jul 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom16 Jul 2029
The numbers do not look good at Chaika
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market9 Jul 2029
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market9 Jul 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Islam Magomedov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Chaika the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad9 Jul 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Alexey Pavlishin and Chaika agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Tempers go at Chaika
Stanislav Biblyk 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.
Market9 Jul 2029
Nikolay Ischenko has left for Rostov in a $700.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad9 Jul 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nikita Posmashny, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad2 Jul 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Alexey Pavlishin and Chaika agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad2 Jul 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market2 Jul 2029
Everyone has stopped pretending: Rostov will make the call about Nikolay Ischenko this week. Chaika have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Squad2 Jul 2029
“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.
Squad2 Jul 2029
“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.
Market2 Jul 2029
The clock runs on Matthew Grech's contract
11 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market25 Jun 2029
Ruslan Khagur has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Chaika they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market25 Jun 2029
“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 Chaika, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Tempers go at Chaika
Stanislav Biblyk 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.
Market25 Jun 2029
Add another name to the list: Rostov have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Nikolay Ischenko. The answer from Chaika has not changed — yet.
Squad25 Jun 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ivan Nikin, and the manager let it.
Market25 Jun 2029
Vadim Gapeev is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Chaika has been clear about where Vadim Gapeev stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market18 Jun 2029
“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 Chaika, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad18 Jun 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom18 Jun 2029
The numbers do not look good at Chaika
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad18 Jun 2029
“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.
Market18 Jun 2029
Chaika have made Ivan Nikin available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Market18 Jun 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Vitaly Dunay (Karpenko)’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad11 Jun 2029
Tempers go at Chaika
Ruslan Chobanov 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.
Squad11 Jun 2029
“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.
Squad11 Jun 2029
The manager makes an example of Artilio Shehi
“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.
Market11 Jun 2029
At 33, he has seen every situation this season can produce, twice. The legs will be managed; the head is the purchase.
Market11 Jun 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ruslan Chobanov signs something — a contract at Chaika or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market11 Jun 2029
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Chaika, another week without a signature from Vadim Gapeev.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market4 Jun 2029
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad4 Jun 2029
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 Chaika have had the benefit of it.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Tempers go at Chaika
Nikita Posmashny 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.
Squad4 Jun 2029
The manager makes an example of Denis Terekhov
“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.
Squad4 Jun 2029
37 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Market4 Jun 2029
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market28 May 2029
Ruslan Khagur has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Chaika they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad28 May 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 May 2029
“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; Chaika are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad28 May 2029
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market28 May 2029
He is 18, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Market28 May 2029
He is 19, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market21 May 2029
“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 Chaika, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad21 May 2029
Tempers go at Chaika
Stanislav Biblyk 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.
Boardroom21 May 2029
Chaika counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Chaika now.
Squad21 May 2029
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market21 May 2029
Nils Tankovic is 19, and Chaika have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Market21 May 2029
He is 18, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market14 May 2029
Anton Gurylev 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 Chaika can pretend not to have heard.
Squad14 May 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 May 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ruslan Chobanov, and the manager let it.
Market14 May 2029
Raymond Marie is 19, and Chaika have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Squad14 May 2029
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Vitaly Dunay (Karpenko) trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market14 May 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ruslan Chobanov’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad7 May 2029
Tempers go at Chaika
Stanislav Biblyk 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.
Squad7 May 2029
The manager makes an example of Denis Terekhov
“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.
Squad7 May 2029
The medical room confirms 65 days on the sidelines for Artem Nagaitsev, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market30 Apr 2029
“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 Chaika, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Tempers go at Chaika
Nikita Posmashny was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad30 Apr 2029
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad23 Apr 2029
The medical room confirms 28 days on the sidelines for Alexey Pavlishin, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad23 Apr 2029
The medical room confirms 20 days on the sidelines for Ruslan Khagur, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Tempers go at Chaika
Ruslan Chobanov 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.
Squad23 Apr 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alexey Pavlishin, and the manager let it.
Boardroom23 Apr 2029
Chaika counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Chaika now.
Market23 Apr 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Vitaly Dunay (Karpenko) signs something — a contract at Chaika or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad16 Apr 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Chaika may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market16 Apr 2029
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad16 Apr 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad9 Apr 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Chaika may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market9 Apr 2029
Simón Navarro 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 Chaika can pretend not to have heard.
Squad9 Apr 2029
Tempers go at Chaika
Stanislav Biblyk 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
Upbeat
Market2 Apr 2029
“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 Chaika, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad2 Apr 2029
“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.
Market2 Apr 2029
Vadim Roldugin has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Chaika they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad2 Apr 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad2 Apr 2029
“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; Chaika are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad2 Apr 2029
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Vitaly Dunay (Karpenko) trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market26 Mar 2029
“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 Chaika, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad26 Mar 2029
The medical room confirms 56 days on the sidelines for Alexey Pavlishin, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad26 Mar 2029
48 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market19 Mar 2029
“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 Chaika, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad19 Mar 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom19 Mar 2029
90% of the income goes out in wages at Chaika
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad12 Mar 2029
“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.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Tempers go at Chaika
Ruslan Chobanov 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.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Ivan Nikin 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market5 Mar 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chaika can pretend not to have heard.
Market5 Mar 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Chaika is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match3 Mar 2029
Nobody wants to play Chaika right now
3 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.
Squad5 Mar 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Stanislav Biblyk and Chaika agree another 4 years.
Player ratings5 Mar 2029
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad5 Mar 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings5 Mar 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.76, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad5 Mar 2029
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match3 Mar 2029
It finished 1‑0, and it was Artem Krutovskikh’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Chaika.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market26 Feb 2029
The phone has started ringing about Artem Krutovskikh again, and this time the name on the line is FC Cincinnati. Chaika are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad26 Feb 2029
The medical room confirms 84 days on the sidelines for Alexey Pavlishin, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad26 Feb 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match24 Feb 2029
It finished 2‑1, and it was Vitaly Dunay (Karpenko)’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Chaika.
Player ratings26 Feb 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.92, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad26 Feb 2029
10 goals and a season average of 7.32 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad26 Feb 2029
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings26 Feb 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.31, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings26 Feb 2029
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market19 Feb 2029
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Simón Navarro: 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.” Chaika have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad19 Feb 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match17 Feb 2029
Spartak Kostroma made Chaika work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings19 Feb 2029
A performance of 9.01 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad19 Feb 2029
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad19 Feb 2029
A season average of 7.29 with 9 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Boardroom19 Feb 2029
Wages eat 95% of everything Chaika 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.
Market19 Feb 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ruslan Chobanov’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market12 Feb 2029
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market12 Feb 2029
“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 Chaika, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Tempers go at Chaika
Stanislav Biblyk 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 Feb 2029
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad12 Feb 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nikita Posmashny, and the manager let it.
Squad12 Feb 2029
8 goals and a season average of 7.24 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad12 Feb 2029
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Denis Terekhov will call it something else in private.
Loan watch12 Feb 2029
“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 Chaika, and 0 appearances in 29 say he has earned the hearing.
Match10 Feb 2029
A 1‑1 draw with Chelyabinsk leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad5 Feb 2029
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.
Market5 Feb 2029
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market5 Feb 2029
Only the photograph left for Vadim Roldugin
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vadim Roldugin will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Chaika the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad5 Feb 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Feb 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Simón Navarro and Chaika agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad5 Feb 2029
“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 ratings5 Feb 2029
Marked 8.66 — 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 ratings5 Feb 2029
Marked 8.13 — 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.
Match3 Feb 2029
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market29 Jan 2029
“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 Chaika, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad29 Jan 2029
112 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Tempers go at Chaika
Stanislav Biblyk 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.
Squad29 Jan 2029
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match27 Jan 2029
It finished 1‑0, and it was Stanislav Biblyk’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Chaika.
Player ratings29 Jan 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.20, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad29 Jan 2029
7 goals and a season average of 7.21. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Boardroom29 Jan 2029
Chaika counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Chaika now.
Player ratings29 Jan 2029
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad22 Jan 2029
Tempers go at Chaika
Nikita Posmashny 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.
Match20 Jan 2029
2‑3 to Pari Nizhniy Novgorod, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad22 Jan 2029
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Denis Terekhov knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Squad22 Jan 2029
The manager makes an example of Ruslan Chobanov
“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 ratings22 Jan 2029
Marked 8.40 — 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.
Squad22 Jan 2029
The team sheet said everything about Alexey Pavlishin
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 Alexey Pavlishin.
Boardroom22 Jan 2029
88% of the income goes out in wages at Chaika
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.
Market22 Jan 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ruslan Chobanov’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Player ratings22 Jan 2029
Successful dribbles: 11. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match13 Jan 2029
Nobody wants to play Chaika right now
3 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.
Market15 Jan 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Chaika is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad15 Jan 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings15 Jan 2029
Marked 9.03 — 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.
Loan watch15 Jan 2029
“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 Chaika, and 0 appearances in 25 say he has earned the hearing.
Player ratings15 Jan 2029
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad15 Jan 2029
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match13 Jan 2029
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Daniil Kamlashev. 1‑0 against Ural, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings15 Jan 2029
Defensive actions: 19. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market8 Jan 2029
Chaika say no — this time
The offer from Olimpija Ljubljana for Artem Krutovskikh 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.
Market8 Jan 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Chaika is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Tempers go at Chaika
Nikita Posmashny 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 ratings8 Jan 2029
A performance of 9.06 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match6 Jan 2029
Shinnik made Chaika work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad8 Jan 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Stanislav Biblyk, and the manager let it.
Player ratings8 Jan 2029
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad8 Jan 2029
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Alexey Nikitenkov will call it something else in private.
Squad8 Jan 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Chaika, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market1 Jan 2029
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings1 Jan 2029
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 28 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Tempers go at Chaika
Stanislav Biblyk 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.
Match30 Dec 2028
It finished 1‑0, and it was Stanislav Biblyk’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Chaika.
Squad1 Jan 2029
The manager makes an example of Ivan Nikin
“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 ratings1 Jan 2029
A performance of 8.39 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings1 Jan 2029
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings1 Jan 2029
Defensive actions: 16. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Boardroom1 Jan 2029
Chaika counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Chaika now.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market25 Dec 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings25 Dec 2028
Defensive actions: 24, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad25 Dec 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings25 Dec 2028
Defensive actions: 20. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad25 Dec 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings25 Dec 2028
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Boardroom25 Dec 2028
Wages eat 87% of everything Chaika 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.
Squad25 Dec 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nikita Posmashny trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Match23 Dec 2028
Point won or two lost for Chaika?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against SKA Khabarovsk? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad18 Dec 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Chaika may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market18 Dec 2028
Only the photograph left for Mikhail Ryzhov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mikhail Ryzhov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Chaika the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Tempers go at Chaika
Stanislav Biblyk 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.
Match16 Dec 2028
Chernomorets made Chaika work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑2 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings18 Dec 2028
A performance of 9.05 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad18 Dec 2028
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings18 Dec 2028
Marked 8.03 — 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.
Loan watch18 Dec 2028
“I did not go to Spartak Kostroma to sit and watch. I want to come back to Chaika and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 21 matches say the rest.
Squad18 Dec 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nikita Posmashny trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.