From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad8 Feb 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 20 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
Yegor Guziev: 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.
Market8 Feb 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chaika can pretend not to have heard.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Tempers go at Chaika
Claudinho 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.
Match6 Feb 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Market8 Feb 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Yuriy Dulov has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to James Dadge, and the manager let it.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Foma Arkhipov to a room that had heard them before.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match1 Feb 2027
Chaika are in real trouble now
Position 17, 22 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Match30 Jan 2027
Chaika win it in stoppage time
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 92th minute. Chelyabinsk will replay every second of the added time for a week.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
James Dadge: 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.
Market1 Feb 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Nart waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Chaika is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 27 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market1 Feb 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Claudinho 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.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
Salyut wanted more than $44.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
The terraces1 Feb 2027
Chaika supporters have found a favourite in Daniil Zorin
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Daniil Zorin has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad25 Jan 2027
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Chaika will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market25 Jan 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chaika can pretend not to have heard.
Market25 Jan 2027
Chaika say no — this time
The offer from Spartak Myjava for Arseny Filev 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.
Match23 Jan 2027
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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Chaika
Claudinho and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
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.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
Diego Rosa left out for the big one
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Diego Rosa will call it something else in private.
Boardroom25 Jan 2027
Wages swallow 100% of the Chaika income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad18 Jan 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market18 Jan 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chaika can pretend not to have heard.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Chaika will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match16 Jan 2027
The wait goes on for Chaika
4 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.
Market18 Jan 2027
The phone has started ringing about Arseny Filev again, and this time the name on the line is Spartak Myjava. Chaika are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Chaika
Claudinho and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Match16 Jan 2027
Stanislav Biblyk scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Rodina, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
The team sheet said everything about Carlos Ibargüen
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 Carlos Ibargüen.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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Player ratings
Daniil Zorin runs at them all day
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Squad
Bookings catch up with Daniil Zorin
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market11 Jan 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Chaika will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
“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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Chaika
Stanislav Biblyk and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match9 Jan 2027
The goals have deserted Chaika
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Chaika can tell you which week it ends in.
Match9 Jan 2027
Chaika come up short against Ural
Ural left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Market11 Jan 2027
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Sergey Belyakov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market4 Jan 2027
James Dadge 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.
Match4 Jan 2027
Chaika are in real trouble now
Position 16, 18 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Chaika will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Chaika
Stanislav Biblyk and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Market4 Jan 2027
A season away well spent by David Gagua
17 games, 14 goals, and a squad option that has arrived without a fee attached. The interesting question at Chaika now is not whether he plays but who he displaces.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Diego Rosa
“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 Jan 2027
David Gagua is the month’s best young player
At 19 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Chaika will try not to make too much of it.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
A promise honoured at Chaika
Something was said to Abdullo Djebov and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Nobody on the pitch touched Pavel Maslov
7.41, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Chaika had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Dec 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Chaika will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market28 Dec 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Chaika may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad28 Dec 2026
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.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Wages swallow 169% of the Chaika income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Loan watch28 Dec 2026
17 appearances at Salyut and the goals keep coming. Chaika are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad28 Dec 2026
100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Dec 2026
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Chaika will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
7.93, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Chaika
Claudinho and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Claudinho beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The terraces21 Dec 2026
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Carlos Ibargüen
“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.
Match19 Dec 2026
Volga made Chaika work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Loan watch21 Dec 2026
16 appearances at Salyut and the goals keep coming. Chaika are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Foma Arkhipov on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market14 Dec 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Chaika
Claudinho 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.
Match12 Dec 2026
0‑2 to SKA Khabarovsk, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Market14 Dec 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Stepan Muratov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
There was one mistake and it ended in the net. Defenders are judged on the worst thing they did rather than on the eighty-nine minutes either side of it, which is unfair and is also the job.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alexandr Gapechkin, and the manager let it.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
The plan did not have a place for Carlos Ibargüen
Nobody at Chaika is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
Squad14 Dec 2026
One booking too many, and a game watched from the stand. Chaika lose him for the most avoidable reason in the sport.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match7 Dec 2026
Chaika sink to position 16
13 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.85, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 29. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Claudinho 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.
Match5 Dec 2026
The drought breaks for Chaika
6 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Chernomorets were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Match5 Dec 2026
A 2‑1 win over Chernomorets, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The terraces7 Dec 2026
He is 20 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to James Dadge, and the manager let it.
Loan watch7 Dec 2026
14 appearances away from home and 11 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match28 Nov 2026
6 matches without a win for Chaika
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Chaika are no longer polite ones.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad30 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Chaika
Claudinho and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Wages swallow 162% of the Chaika income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Abdullo Djebov, and the manager let it.
Looking ahead30 Nov 2026
Both clubs in the mire, one fixture between them, and a ground that will be louder and more frightened than at any point in the season. Chaika know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
Match28 Nov 2026
Late, late show earns Chaika a point
Minute 87, against Ufa, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
Loan watch30 Nov 2026
13 appearances at Salyut and the goals keep coming. Chaika are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Chaika told Edwin Martinez something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match21 Nov 2026
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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Carlos Ibargüen
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match23 Nov 2026
Halfway: Chaika sit in position 17
9 points at the turn. The first half of a season is a promise; the second is a bill, and the town is about to find out which of the two this one was.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Chaika are still strangers to each other
7 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Foma Arkhipov after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Match21 Nov 2026
Chaika and KAMAZ cancel each other out
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. KAMAZ came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market16 Nov 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Match14 Nov 2026
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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Chaika
Stanislav Biblyk and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match14 Nov 2026
Stanislav Biblyk scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑3 to Rotor, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Diego Rosa, and the manager let it.
Squad16 Nov 2026
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
James Dadge 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 ratings16 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 13. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match9 Nov 2026
Every point is an argument now for Chaika
Position 17 and 8 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Chaika can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Chaika
Stanislav Biblyk and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Match7 Nov 2026
Chaika cannot find the net
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Match7 Nov 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Foma Arkhipov left the room before anybody could ask which.
Loan watch9 Nov 2026
11 appearances at Salyut and the goals keep coming. Chaika are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Yegor Guziev gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Abdullo Djebov 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 Abdullo Djebov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match31 Oct 2026
Chastening afternoon for Chaika
A 0‑3 beating by Arsenal Tula was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
An order from above at Chaika: somebody has to go
Balance sheets do not care about form or about who the manager was planning to build around. The board have decided a sale is required, and the only question left is which name ends up carrying it.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Chaika
Claudinho and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Wages swallow 162% of the Chaika income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Squad2 Nov 2026
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Chaika know it.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Nobody left the Chaika dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑3 Foma Arkhipov left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Chaika
Claudinho and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Match24 Oct 2026
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.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
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.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
A promise honoured at Chaika
Something was said to Daniil Zorin and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Too much change too quickly at Chaika
19 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Foma Arkhipov left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Edwin Martinez dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A Chaika teenager takes the young player award
Yegor Gulyaev is 18, and for one weekend he was the best of everybody his age in the division. Nobody should build a career on it and everybody quietly does.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match17 Oct 2026
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Yegor Gulyaev scored in the 85th minute, Neftekhimik had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Chaika took the lot.
Market19 Oct 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chaika can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Yegor Gulyaev, 18, steals the show — 7.92
Marked 7.92 at 18, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Chaika may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Chaika
Claudinho was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The terraces19 Oct 2026
He is 18 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Match17 Oct 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Yegor Gulyaev’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Chaika.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Foma Arkhipov on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Oct 2026
Every point is an argument now for Chaika
Position 17 and 5 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Claudinho 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.
Market12 Oct 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Mikhail Spiridonov has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match10 Oct 2026
0‑1 to Spartak Kostroma, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Foma Arkhipov to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Chaika told Nikita Karabashev something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Loan watch12 Oct 2026
7 appearances at Salyut and the goals keep coming. Chaika are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match30 Sep 2026
The cup run ends for Chaika
0‑3 against Spartak Kostroma, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
The terraces5 Oct 2026
0-3. Going out of a cup is one afternoon; going out like that is a week of phone-ins, and the manager will hear every one of them.
Match3 Oct 2026
At last: Chaika win one
10 matches without a win, and then this, against Chelyabinsk. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Squad5 Oct 2026
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.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages eat 208% 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.
The terraces5 Oct 2026
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Match3 Oct 2026
It finished 2‑0, and it was Daniil Zorin’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Chaika.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Chaika's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Chaika has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad28 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match26 Sep 2026
3 matches without a goal for Chaika
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
Diego Rosa 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
Yenisey left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad28 Sep 2026
19 new faces, and Chaika are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Foma Arkhipov to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
James Dadge 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 James Dadge trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad28 Sep 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Sep 2026
Nowhere to hide for Chaika
0‑3 against Rodina, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Match19 Sep 2026
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.
Market21 Sep 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chaika can pretend not to have heard.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Chaika
Stanislav Biblyk and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Sep 2026
The medical room confirms 16 days on the sidelines for Dmitry Ivannikov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nikita Karabashev, and the manager let it.
Boardroom21 Sep 2026
Nobody left the Chaika dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. 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
Match12 Sep 2026
0‑4 to Ural, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Match12 Sep 2026
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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
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.
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
Window shuts: 24 in, 0 out at Chaika
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 24 arrived, 0 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Claudinho 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
The formation has left Edwin Martinez behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Chaika will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
Doors closed at Chaika
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Market14 Sep 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Foma Arkhipov after 0‑4, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match5 Sep 2026
6 matches without a win for Chaika
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Chaika are no longer polite ones.
Squad7 Sep 2026
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.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Chaika
Claudinho and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match5 Sep 2026
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Zenit have kept their man, and Chaika go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
“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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Vitaly Dunay (Karpenko) has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market31 Aug 2026
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Arseny Filev had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Match29 Aug 2026
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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Chaika
Claudinho and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vitaly Dunay (Karpenko), and the manager let it.
Match29 Aug 2026
Shinnik left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad31 Aug 2026
No place for Diego Rosa in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Chaika are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Daniil Zorin beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad31 Aug 2026
16 new faces, and Chaika are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Daniil Zorin beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 25. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match22 Aug 2026
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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Chaika
Claudinho 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Roman Graschenkov has just signed for Chaika, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Nikita Pavlov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match22 Aug 2026
Chaika come up short against Volga
Volga left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Foma Arkhipov to a room that had heard them before.
Market24 Aug 2026
He is 20, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 Aug 2026
9 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Market17 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Chaika have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Chaika
Stanislav Biblyk and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Chaika asked and Khimik said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match15 Aug 2026
Level with 87 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Chaika had all but put away. SKA Khabarovsk will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
Squad17 Aug 2026
No place for Claudinho in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Chaika are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Spartak Moscow have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Match15 Aug 2026
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Chaika had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Dinamo St Petersburg, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Abdullo Djebov and Chaika agree another 4 years.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad10 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chaika this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Artem Polivanov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Evgeni Medvedev is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Dmitry Medvedev has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Vladlen Yefimov has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Aug 2026
“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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
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 ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Shinnik have kept their man, and Chaika go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market3 Aug 2026
“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 Stanislav Biblyk.
Market3 Aug 2026
61 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
Squad3 Aug 2026
9 new faces, and Chaika are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Marked 7.61 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Chaika had the best player on the pitch.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Dinamo Makhachkala have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.