Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Chernomorets will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
10 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
5 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.
Ilja Zhigulev 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at Chernomorets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kirill Suslov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Chernomorets will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Chernomorets can tell you which week it ends in.
Ilja Zhigulev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Chernomorets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kirill Suslov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Chernomorets will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Igor Konovalov reports back to Chernomorets with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Chernomorets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Igor Konovalov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Chernomorets can tell you which week it ends in.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Chernomorets will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Chernomorets have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Akron keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Kirill Suslov 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Chernomorets will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The terraces26 Jul 2027
The mood at Chernomorets has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chernomorets can pretend not to have heard.
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Kirill Suslov 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chernomorets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Chernomorets will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Kirill Suslov 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.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at Chernomorets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Igor Konovalov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Chernomorets will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Chernomorets is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Matvey Zakharzhevskiy has, at Chernomorets, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chernomorets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Luki-Energiya will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Igor Kurbanov has pre-agreed a move to Chernomorets, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Chernomorets asked and Lokomotiv Moscow said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 92 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Nikita Kolesin has, at Chernomorets, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Ilja Zhigulev 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.
Khimik will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Andrey Kabaev has pre-agreed a move to Chernomorets, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
15 games, 3 goals, and a squad option that has arrived without a fee attached. The interesting question at Chernomorets now is not whether he plays but who he displaces.
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.
5 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 100 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Chernomorets people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The terraces28 Jun 2027
Supporters organise against the Chernomorets board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Roman Torosyan has, at Chernomorets, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Chernomorets will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The name of Igor Konovalov has come up in conversations Chernomorets were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Timur Alikberov is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Zaur Tarba and Chernomorets agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Kirill Suslov 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Chernomorets will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chernomorets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kirill Suslov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Viktor Zimnin is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Chernomorets know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
The dugoutMaxim Ostrovsky has become a man the manager trusts
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Chernomorets will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chernomorets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Igor Konovalov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kirill Morozov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Maxim Matyusha is on it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Chernomorets will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The terraces31 May 2027
The mood at Chernomorets has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Ilja Zhigulev 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.
Squad31 May 2027
Kirill Suslov 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.
Boardroom31 May 2027
104% of the income goes out in wages at Chernomorets
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Igor Konovalov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Chernomorets will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Kirill Suslov 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.
24 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Chernomorets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zaurbek Pliev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Kirill Suslov 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 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.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Chernomorets know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Chernomorets, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Ilja Zhigulev 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.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Chernomorets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kirill Suslov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Roman Suslov 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Anton Antonov signs something — a contract at Chernomorets or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Zakhar Terpugov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
Loan watchThe goals keep arriving from Dmitry Yakovlev’s exile
Supporters organise against the Chernomorets board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kirill Suslov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom3 May 2027
98% of the income goes out in wages at Chernomorets
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.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Chernomorets than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
Position 18 and 16 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.
Kirill Suslov 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.
Words at Chernomorets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Igor Konovalov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kirill Suslov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Zaurbek Pliev 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.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Zaurbek Pliev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Chernomorets, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody at Chernomorets will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Maxim Matyusha has written the date down.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chernomorets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Zaurbek Pliev 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.
Position 18 and 16 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Chernomorets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kirill Suslov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Zaurbek Pliev 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Chernomorets know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Kirill Suslov 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Zaurbek Pliev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Stanislav Samsonov and Chernomorets agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Zaurbek Pliev 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.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Maxim Matyusha is on it.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Kirill Suslov and Chernomorets agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Kirill Suslov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Stanislav Samsonov 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Arseny Kabanov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Igor Konovalov
BoardroomNobody left the Chernomorets dressing room in a hurry
“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 Chernomorets, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
Deadline passes with 3 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Chernomorets until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Kirill Suslov 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 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Rostov have kept their man, and Chernomorets go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Neftekhimik left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Chernomorets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zaurbek Pliev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“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 Chernomorets, and it is not being withdrawn.
Kirill Suslov 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Zenit have kept their man, and Chernomorets go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Igor Konovalov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom22 Feb 2027
Nobody left the Chernomorets 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager’s verdict
The dugoutThe team sheet said everything about Igor Konovalov
Ilja Zhigulev 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Kirill Suslov 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.
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.
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.47 on the card, and the Chernomorets support went home talking about one name.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Semyon Dulov was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Chernomorets dressing room was either.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Chelyabinsk defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Spartak Kostroma next, and one man in the Chernomorets dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
In brief
The dugoutIgor Konovalov asks for a word with the manager
Georgy Makarov, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.77
A mark of 7.77 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chernomorets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Chernomorets asked and Murom said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Bogdan Osipov 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.
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.
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.
Everything agreed with Lokomotiv Moscow, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Kirill Suslov 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.
“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 Chernomorets, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
Beaten 8 times, 4 saves, and an afternoon that will go on his record whether it was his fault or the defence’s. It is the quiet unfairness of the position.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 8 goals between Chernomorets and Ural, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Kirill Suslov 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.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Chernomorets have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Zaurbek Pliev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Igor Konovalov.
Successful dribbles: 31. 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Chernomorets have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chernomorets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Zenit Penza will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Nikita Kolesin has pre-agreed a move to Chernomorets, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Fedot Smirnov 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.
“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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Zaur Tarba 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.
Boardroom11 Jan 2027
Nobody left the Chernomorets 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.
Position 18 and 11 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chernomorets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Kirill Suslov 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.
“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.
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
96% of the income goes out in wages at Chernomorets
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
The dugout4 Jan 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 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Semyon Dulov to a room that had heard them before.
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.
0‑3 to SKA Khabarovsk, 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.
Successful dribbles: 25. 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.
Kirill Suslov 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Zaurbek Pliev 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.
“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.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Nobody left the Chernomorets 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 dugout28 Dec 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 Semyon Dulov left the room before anybody could ask which.
Volga next, and one man in the Chernomorets dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
“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 Chernomorets, and it is not being withdrawn.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
KAMAZ made Chernomorets work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Chernomorets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zaurbek Pliev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Chernomorets can tell you which week it ends in.
Ilja Zhigulev 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Alexandr Dementjev has just signed for Chernomorets, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Kirill Suslov 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Ilya Nikitin 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.
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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Chernomorets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kirill Suslov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
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.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Georgy Makarov has come out of that comparison in the side, and Chernomorets have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
In brief
The dugoutThe view from the dugout
Looking aheadA test against the best for Chernomorets
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.
Kirill Suslov 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.
“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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Zaurbek Pliev 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.
Something was said to Tikhon Kuzin and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
15 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Successful dribbles: 14. 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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chernomorets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kirill Suslov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Half the programme played, position 18, 6 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Krasian Kolev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
15 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.
Ilja Zhigulev 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.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Chernomorets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zaurbek Pliev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Kirill Suslov’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Chernomorets needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Maxim Ostrovsky is on it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chernomorets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Prokhor Zinovyev 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Platon Fedorov 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.
“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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Chernomorets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zaurbek Pliev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Boardroom9 Nov 2026
101% of the income goes out in wages at Chernomorets
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.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.90 for the rest of it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chernomorets this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kirill Suslov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
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.
Ilja Zhigulev 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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Chernomorets can tell you which week it ends in.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Zaurbek Pliev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
11 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Chelyabinsk left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Chernomorets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zaurbek Pliev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout19 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 Semyon Dulov to a room that had heard them before.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Timur Kolmakov and Chernomorets agree another 3 years.
“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 dugout19 Oct 2026
Zaur Tarba is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Spartak Kostroma in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
“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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Chernomorets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kirill Suslov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Boardroom12 Oct 2026
119% of the income goes out in wages at Chernomorets
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.
Georgy Makarov 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.
Amkar go through and Chernomorets go home, 1‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Maxim Matyusha: 1 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
The hardest thing about being 14 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Maxim Ostrovsky did not need any: 8.11, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.86 for the rest of it.
Two of the goals had his name somewhere on them, which is the afternoon a manager wants from anybody asked to both create and finish. 7.97, and 2 involvements.
In brief
MatchDavid Kobesov among the goals in a wild afternoon
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.
Ilja Zhigulev 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 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.
0‑1 to Ural, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Chernomorets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zaur Tarba is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“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 Sep 2026
11 new faces, and Chernomorets 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 Semyon Dulov to a room that had heard them before.
In brief
Looking aheadThe leaders are next for Chernomorets
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.
Ilja Zhigulev 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.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Chernomorets will try again when the window opens; Yenisey may not be selling by then.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Kirill Suslov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The clubs have shaken hands with Yenisey; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Chernomorets has to find a result from somewhere.
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 21 signed and 1 gone
That is the business done at Chernomorets until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Zenit have kept their man, and Chernomorets go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Danil Bocharov 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.
“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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Zaurbek Pliev falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The fee is $160.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Yenisey drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Daniyal Gadjiev has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Chernomorets have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Atletico Nacional have kept their man, and Chernomorets go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Zaur Tarba 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.
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.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Maxim Ignatjev 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.
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.
Yenisey have accepted the money. What Chernomorets do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Maipú is saying, and nobody at Chernomorets is enjoying the guessing.
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.
Chernomorets asked and Al-Ettifaq said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
200 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 clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Yenisey keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Chernomorets asked and Al-Diriyah said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
200 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Chernomorets training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zaurbek Pliev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The 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 Semyon Dulov to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
Krasian Kolev is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Maxim Ignatjev is living that version at Chernomorets, and it tends to show in the first month.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Maxim Ignatjev and Chernomorets agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Zaurbek Pliev 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.
0‑1 to Ufa, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Zaur Tarba falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout17 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 Semyon Dulov to a room that had heard them before.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Zakhar Terpugov is in the works
Ilja Zhigulev 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 paperwork is done long before the player is. Dmitry Serebryakov has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Chernomorets have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sochi have kept their man, and Chernomorets go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Krasian Kolev 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Kirill Putin 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Leonid Nazarov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Yuri Zaytsev 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Ruslan Pronin 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ilja Zhigulev and Chernomorets agree another 2 years.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Shinnik have kept their man, and Chernomorets go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Anton Antonov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.22. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Zaurbek Pliev 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.
Level with 85 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Chernomorets had all but put away. Rotor will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.