7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Dinamo Makhachkala has to find a result from somewhere.
Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad 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 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.
50 for the club now, each one filed in somebody’s memory with a date and a scoreline. Numbers like this are what supporters argue about in twenty years.
The dugout29 Dec 2031
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 Interim Coach to a room that had heard them before.
“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 Dinamo Makhachkala know it.
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Dinamo Makhachkala has to find a result from somewhere.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladimir Khubulov 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.
Temirkan Sundukov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings22 Dec 2031
Yegor Smelov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.15. 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.
“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.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Dinamo Makhachkala know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Makhachkala this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Beaten 5 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.
8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Dinamo Makhachkala and Zenit in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Yegor Smelov and Dinamo Makhachkala agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vladimir Khubulov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
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.
Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad 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 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: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout1 Dec 2031
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 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Interim Coach to a room that had heard them before.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Dinamo Makhachkala know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against CSKA Moscow in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
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 Teodoro Fortunato is on it.
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.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Makhachkala this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladimir Khubulov 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.
8.23. 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.
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Gamid Agalarov had Dinamo Makhachkala level again within 1 minutes, and Nizhniy Novgorod never got to play with a lead at all.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladimir Khubulov 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.
Marked 8.12 — 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.
Beaten 5 times, with 4 saves for company. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines on their record whoever actually caused them, which is the quiet injustice of the job.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Interim Coach on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Makhachkala this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 20. 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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Kamil Lewandowski and Dinamo Makhachkala agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout3 Nov 2031
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 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Interim Coach to a room that had heard them before.
The captaincy has been taken off Gamid Agalarov. Dinamo Makhachkala will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
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.
Successful dribbles: 24. 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.
Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad 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.
9.63. 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Kamil Lewandowski has just signed for Dinamo Makhachkala, and for once the answer mattered.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vladimir Khubulov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Makhachkala 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 Vladimir Khubulov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Interim Coach on a 3‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Dinamo Makhachkala told Vebjørn Molund something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout13 Oct 2031
The manager has not finished forgetting Vebjørn Molund's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Houssem Mrezigue signs something — a contract at Dinamo Makhachkala 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.
Rodina M go through and Dinamo Makhachkala go home, 1‑3 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Evgeniy Malashevich had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Orenburg were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Gamid Agalarov and Dinamo Makhachkala agree another 3 years.
Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad 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 had been thinking. Vladimir Khubulov 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.
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.
Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladimir Khubulov 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Interim Coach on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
18 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Dinamo Makhachkala lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Makhachkala this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
25 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Dinamo Makhachkala lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
Temirkan Sundukov 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.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Dinamo Makhachkala will try again when the window opens; Dinamo Moscow may not be selling by then.
“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 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.
32 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Dinamo Makhachkala lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Transfer targets8 Sep 2031
$650.0K settles it between the clubs for Domnan Panse
Dinamo Moscow have accepted the money. What Dinamo Makhachkala do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 15 arrived, 22 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Baltika is saying, and nobody at Dinamo Makhachkala is enjoying the guessing.
Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad 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 Vladimir Khubulov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Soslan Kagermazov and Dinamo Makhachkala agree another 1 years.
39 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Dinamo Makhachkala lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Transfer targets1 Sep 2031
$17.0K settles it between the clubs for Karim Giraev
Fakel have accepted the money. What Dinamo Makhachkala do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Mukhamednazim Arslankhanov is living that version at Dinamo Makhachkala, and it tends to show in the first month.
Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad 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.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Mukhamednazim Arslankhanov is a Dinamo Makhachkala player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
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.
Dinamo Makhachkala and Baltika have settled on $210.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Makhachkala 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 Vladimir Khubulov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Dinamo Makhachkala interviewed the field and appointed the corridor: Interim Coach keeps the job he had been doing in all but title. Sometimes the safest pair of hands is the one already holding the wheel.
The clubs have shaken hands with Akhmat Grozny; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Dinamo Makhachkala and CSKA Moscow, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladimir Khubulov 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.92 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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.
Everything agreed with Dinamo Moscow, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad 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.
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Andrey Mazurin and Dinamo Makhachkala agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
In brief
Player ratingsGamid Agalarov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Nizhniy Novgorod the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Dinamo Makhachkala will enjoy reviewing.
308 appearances across 10 seasons in one shirt. Careers like that are not built on purpose any more, and Dinamo Makhachkala know exactly what they have.
Everything agreed with Akhmat Grozny, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad 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.
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Gamid Agalarov provided it, and the 9.37 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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 rules permit it and it stings anyway. Francisco Lino has agreed terms with Torpedo Vladimir for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Dinamo Makhachkala and Krylya Sovetov in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vladimir Khubulov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Temirkan Sundukov 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.
13 days since the seat came open, a list of names doing the rounds, and nobody has signed anything. Every week this drags on the shortlist gets shorter.
In brief
Player ratingsVladimir Khubulov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
Not an interim appointment — an institution with an empty coaching office. Somebody unfamiliar will run the sessions this week, and the question of how a club gets into this state is one the board will be asked and will not answer.
“I am not thinking past Saturday, and I would advise nobody else to.” The caretaker’s first rule is to pretend the job is small; Interim Coach recited it perfectly.
The deal with Lokomotiv Moscow is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Marked 9.77 — 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.
Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad 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.
Dinamo Makhachkala have gone to Legion with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladimir Khubulov 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.
Dinamo Makhachkala have made the call to Ural. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Nobody at Dinamo Makhachkala 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.
In brief
The dugoutVebjørn Molund asks for a word with the manager
Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad 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 Vladimir Khubulov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 28 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Egor Gusev 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. Danil Yashin 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. Stepan Shevchenko 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Daniil Kuznetsov 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 easiest signature of my career.” Soslan Kagermazov and Dinamo Makhachkala agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Dinamo Makhachkala have gone to Legion with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Kirill Zinovich and Dinamo Makhachkala agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Dinamo Makhachkala have made the call to Ural. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Vladimir Khubulov signs something — a contract at Dinamo Makhachkala or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Dinamo Makhachkala. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Roman Lobanov leaves Dinamo Makhachkala the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Innokentiy Sevastianov leaves Dinamo Makhachkala the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Dmitry Silaev leaves Dinamo Makhachkala the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Dinamo Makhachkala is running low.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Dinamo Makhachkala have done the hard part with Ural, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Makhachkala this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 Sam Taylor is on it.
Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladimir Khubulov 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.
Dinamo Makhachkala asked and Koper said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Dinamo Makhachkala know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
A month in which every rumour is possible and most of them are nonsense. The manager has a list, the board has a number, and neither is telling the other the whole of it.
In brief
SquadThe training reports on Timofey Kuksa are not good
Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad 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 at Dinamo Makhachkala 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladimir Khubulov 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Vladimir Khubulov signs something — a contract at Dinamo Makhachkala or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Yegor Smelov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I will know when it is time. I am not there yet.” Soslan Kagermazov is 34, with 307 appearances behind him, and Dinamo Makhachkala will have to plan for whichever answer comes.
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Gamid Agalarov plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
The words a physio says slowly. 56 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Dinamo Makhachkala is running low.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Makhachkala this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladimir Khubulov 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Yegor Smelov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
64 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Dinamo Makhachkala lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Dinamo Makhachkala have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad 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 makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Dinamo Makhachkala will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Dinamo Makhachkala know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
71 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Dinamo Makhachkala lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad 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 Vladimir Khubulov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Dinamo Makhachkala have no good answer.
In brief
The dugoutTimofey Kuksa asks for a word with the manager
78 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Dinamo Makhachkala lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Hazem Mastouri and Dinamo Makhachkala agree another 2 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vladimir Khubulov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Vladimir Khubulov signs something — a contract at Dinamo Makhachkala or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A new partner, a signature and a photograph nobody will remember. It funds a fortnight of wages, which is more than most headlines on this page can say for themselves.
85 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Dinamo Makhachkala lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Makhachkala this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Amir Batyrev 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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Dinamo Makhachkala told Kirill Pluzhnikov something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The words a physio says slowly. 92 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladimir Khubulov 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Dinamo Makhachkala know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
100 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Dinamo Makhachkala lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Dinamo Makhachkala have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad 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 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.
Nobody at Dinamo Makhachkala 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.
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
108 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Dinamo Makhachkala lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Amir Batyrev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Vladimir Khubulov signs something — a contract at Dinamo Makhachkala or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Dinamo Makhachkala, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Dinamo Makhachkala. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
In brief
SquadQuestions about Andrey Mazurin on the training pitch
115 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Dinamo Makhachkala lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Makhachkala this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 Sam Taylor is on it.
122 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Dinamo Makhachkala lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Dinamo Makhachkala know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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 Kirill Zinovich is on it.
129 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Dinamo Makhachkala lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad17 Mar 2031
Amir Batyrev 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 easiest signature of my career.” Yuri Smolnikov and Dinamo Makhachkala agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
136 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Dinamo Makhachkala lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Dinamo Makhachkala will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladimir Khubulov 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Vladimir Khubulov signs something — a contract at Dinamo Makhachkala or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Dinamo Makhachkala, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Dinamo Makhachkala spent the window trying to move Amir Batyrev on and nobody came. He trains with a squad that has already told him he is not part of it, and both sides now wait for the next one.
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Vitaly Frantsuzov leaves Dinamo Makhachkala the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Dinamo Makhachkala will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Dinamo Makhachkala have done the hard part with Manchester United, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Makhachkala 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 Vladimir Khubulov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The money the manager was told he had is now money the manager used to have. $2.7M, gone from the table without a statement, and a dressing room that understands what it means.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 29 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
4 in and 8 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad 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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Sam Taylor and Dinamo Makhachkala agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
A loan enquiry to Manchester United: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Dinamo Makhachkala know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Dinamo Makhachkala will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
He is 18, he is averaging 6.52, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vladimir Khubulov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. German Alyoshin 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. Prokhor Okulov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Daniil Fedoseev 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. Lev Leskov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Dinamo Makhachkala will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Position 8 on 33 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Two goals and a mark of 8.51 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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 deal with Debrecen is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
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. Dinamo Makhachkala will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at PSV is saying, and nobody at Dinamo Makhachkala is enjoying the guessing.
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Makhachkala this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Dinamo Makhachkala will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Two goals and a mark of 8.51 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“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 Dinamo Makhachkala, and it is not being withdrawn.
Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad 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.
Marked 8.63 — 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.
Minute 92, against Orenburg, 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.
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.
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Dinamo Makhachkala will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad 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 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 8.15 — 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 team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑1, Alexey Nikiforov could afford to be generous.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 73 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Temirkan Sundukov 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valentijn van der Velde 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Timofey Kuksa and Dinamo Makhachkala agree another 5 years.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 80 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Makhachkala this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings6 Jan 2031
Gamid Agalarov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.53. 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.
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Gamid Agalarov had Dinamo Makhachkala level again within 1 minutes, and Lokomotiv Moscow never got to play with a lead at all.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 87 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Valentijn van der Velde 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad. 1‑0 against Ural, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
8.03. 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.
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.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 94 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Dinamo Makhachkala has to find a result from somewhere.
Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad 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 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.
Rostov left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout23 Dec 2030
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 Alexey Nikiforov to a room that had heard them before.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Vebjørn Molund
The dugoutYegor Lyubakov asks for a word with the manager
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Dinamo Makhachkala will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
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 point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Alexey Nikiforov after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Nobody at Dinamo Makhachkala 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.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Dinamo Makhachkala will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Makhachkala 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 Vladimir Khubulov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Islam Mikhteev, and the manager let it.
The dugout9 Dec 2030
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 Alexey Nikiforov to a room that had heard them before.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 115 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valentijn van der Velde 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.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Temirkan Sundukov has come out of that comparison in the side, and Dinamo Makhachkala have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Successful dribbles: 14. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout2 Dec 2030
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Alexey Nikiforov chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 122 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Dinamo Makhachkala have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Valentijn van der Velde 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 Vladimir Khubulov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Dinamo Makhachkala will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dinamo Makhachkala can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladimir Khubulov 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 easiest signature of my career.” Amin Khachaev and Dinamo Makhachkala agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
7.80, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Dinamo Makhachkala had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout18 Nov 2030
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Alexey Nikiforov was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Dinamo Makhachkala dressing room was either.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Dinamo Makhachkala will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
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: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout11 Nov 2030
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 2‑3 Alexey Nikiforov left the room before anybody could ask which.
A clause somebody insisted on years ago, in a negotiation nobody remembers, has just paid Dinamo Makhachkala $360.0K. Miro left a long time ago; the paperwork stayed.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 144 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vladimir Khubulov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Islam Mikhteev and Dinamo Makhachkala agree another 4 years.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 11 combined actions and a mark of 6.98, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Player ratings4 Nov 2030
Gamid Agalarov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.31. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
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.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 40 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad 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 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 8.28 — 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.
Position 11, 16 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
In brief
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than Yegor Lyubakov
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Dinamo Makhachkala 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 team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad 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 Valentijn van der Velde was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 54 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad 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 makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Dinamo Makhachkala will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
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 8.01 — 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Dinamo Makhachkala will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Volgar go through and Dinamo Makhachkala go home, 1‑4 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Evgeniy Malashevich provided it, and the 9.43 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
1-4, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.
1 for Alexey Dolya, marked 7.69, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Makhachkala this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Temirkan Sundukov and Dinamo Makhachkala agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladimir Khubulov 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.
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Dinamo Makhachkala will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valentijn van der Velde 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Dinamo Makhachkala has been clear about where Amir Batyrev stands, which is more than many ever get.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Dinamo Makhachkala will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Valentijn van der Velde 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 had been thinking. Vladimir Khubulov 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.
Something was said to Valentijn van der Velde and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Dinamo Makhachkala will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladimir Khubulov 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 Dinamo Makhachkala will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Rostov will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Dinamo Makhachkala were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
10 in and 6 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Makhachkala this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Dinamo Makhachkala asked and Ajax said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valentijn van der Velde was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
8.40. 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.
Marked 8.10 — 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.
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Dinamo Makhachkala will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
0‑3 to Zenit, 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladimir Khubulov 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.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Dinamo Makhachkala will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
0‑6 to CSKA Moscow, 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.
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.
“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 Dinamo Makhachkala, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at PSV is saying, and nobody at Dinamo Makhachkala is enjoying the guessing.
Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad 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 Aug 2030
Nobody could stop scoring
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Dinamo Makhachkala and CSKA Moscow in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vladimir Khubulov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 111 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
A performance of 8.09 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout19 Aug 2030
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 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Alexey Nikiforov to a room that had heard them before.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 118 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Makhachkala this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Slavia Prague have kept their man, and Dinamo Makhachkala go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
8.00. 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.
8.02. 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.
Dinamo Makhachkala have made the call to RB Leipzig. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Dinamo Makhachkala will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
$46.0K was the most the club would pay and Dinamo St Petersburg were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladimir Khubulov 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.
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.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Rotor have kept their man, and Dinamo Makhachkala go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 132 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Kamil Tashtemirov has agreed terms with Volgar for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Dinamo Makhachkala and Spartak Moscow, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Dinamo Makhachkala offered $150.0K; Spartak Tambov said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Dinamo Makhachkala asked and Krylya Sovetov said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Rostov will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Evgeny Morev has pre-agreed a move to Dinamo Makhachkala, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Dinamo Makhachkala 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. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad 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.
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Koper have kept their man, and Dinamo Makhachkala go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Oleg Kabanov 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. Gavriil Karpov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Dinamo Makhachkala will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Dinamo Makhachkala and Krylya Sovetov have settled on $160.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Makhachkala this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Kirill Pluzhnikov has just signed for Dinamo Makhachkala, and for once the answer mattered.
Druzhba will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Tamirlan Khakhov has pre-agreed a move to Dinamo Makhachkala, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Dinamo Makhachkala have made the call to Koper. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
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.
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Dinamo Makhachkala will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Alexey Nikiforov has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
The deal with AZ is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
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 medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Dinamo Makhachkala have done the hard part with Racing Club, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad 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 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Feyenoord have kept their man, and Dinamo Makhachkala go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Alexey Dolya and Dinamo Makhachkala agree another 3 years.
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 Alexey Dolya is on it.
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Bakhammad Khadjimusala is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vladimir Khubulov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Dinamo Makhachkala asked and Manchester United said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Dinamo Makhachkala have made the call to Astra. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
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 Evgeniy Malashevich trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Dinamo Makhachkala know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes Yegor Smelov a promise
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dinamo Makhachkala can pretend not to have heard.
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 Amir Batyrev is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Evgeniy Malashevich trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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 Vladimir Khubulov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Kirill Zinovich is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Houssem Mrezigue signs something — a contract at Dinamo Makhachkala or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The table is being checked before the results are in, which is always the tell. Nobody at Dinamo Makhachkala says the word and every senior player in the building is thinking it.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
The whole football department in one room on a weekday morning. Nothing was announced afterwards, which is what a board announces when it has run out of patience.
Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad 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 had been thinking. Vladimir Khubulov 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 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 Alexey Dolya is on it.
Position 14 and 18 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.
Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hazem Mastouri was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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. Dinamo Makhachkala know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Dinamo Makhachkala is running low.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Makhachkala this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Shamil Gadjiev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vladimir Khubulov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Kirill Zinovich is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Houssem Mrezigue signs something — a contract at Dinamo Makhachkala or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Dinamo Makhachkala, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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 Yegor Smelov has written the date down.
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Andrés Alarcón plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Dinamo Makhachkala have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad 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 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 new partner, a signature and a photograph nobody will remember. It funds a fortnight of wages, which is more than most headlines on this page can say for themselves.
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 Alexey Dolya is on it.
Position 14 and 18 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
The 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 Dinamo Makhachkala this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody at Dinamo Makhachkala 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Makhachkala this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladimir Khubulov 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.
“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 Dinamo Makhachkala know it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Dinamo Makhachkala, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Rui Costa
The dugoutAmir Batyrev has become a man the manager trusts
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hazem Mastouri 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 at Dinamo Makhachkala 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Houssem Mrezigue signs something — a contract at Dinamo Makhachkala or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Alexey Nikiforov has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad 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 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Dinamo Makhachkala, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The table is being checked before the results are in, which is always the tell. Nobody at Dinamo Makhachkala says the word and every senior player in the building is thinking it.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Dinamo Makhachkala. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vladimir Khubulov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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. Dinamo Makhachkala know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Dinamo Makhachkala is running low.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Makhachkala 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 Hazem Mastouri was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Amir Batyrev is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Andrey Mazurin trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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 had been thinking. Vladimir Khubulov 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Timofey Kuksa and Dinamo Makhachkala agree another 5 years.
In brief
The dugoutKirill Zinovich has become a man the manager trusts
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.
Dinamo Makhachkala asked and Ural said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Soslan Kagermazov 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 Alexey Dolya is on it.
Yegor Lyubakov has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
Houssem Mrezigue has been around long enough to know what the spring feels like when it goes wrong, and he can feel it. A dressing room that is frightened plays like one.
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 Yegor Smelov has written the date down.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Dinamo Makhachkala have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Hazem Mastouri and Dinamo Makhachkala agree another 2 years.
Dinamo Makhachkala asked and Slavia Prague said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Dinamo Makhachkala ran out of time with Rodina. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hazem Mastouri 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 deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 0 arrived, 0 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Dinamo Makhachkala have done the hard part with Rodina, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Makhachkala this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladimir Khubulov 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ajax have kept their man, and Dinamo Makhachkala go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Nobody at Dinamo Makhachkala 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.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Baltika have kept their man, and Dinamo Makhachkala go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
Dinamo Makhachkala have made the call to Slavia Prague. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Nobody at Dinamo Makhachkala 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Houssem Mrezigue signs something — a contract at Dinamo Makhachkala or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
The dugoutShamil Gadjiev asks for a word with the manager
The dugoutThe manager makes Amir Batyrev a promise
Position 14 on 18 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Dinamo Makhachkala and Rodina have settled on $410.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad 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.
Gamid Agalarov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.49. 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hazem Mastouri 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.
1‑4 to Krasnodar, 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.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Position 14 and 15 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.
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Dinamo Makhachkala has to find a result from somewhere.
Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad 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 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.
Dinamo Makhachkala asked and Bradford City said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Alexey Nikiforov after 1‑4, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.