26 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 shirt still fits. Abdulpasha Djabrailov is back at Dinamo Makhachkala, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
The enquiry everybody at Dinamo Makhachkala was hoping would not arrive has arrived. He has never pretended he did not want to go back, and now there is somewhere to go back to.
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 report came back at 40 per cent conviction, which for a scouting department is close to shouting. Dinamo Makhachkala listened, moved, and got Félix Villacorta before anybody else had finished reading.
33 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.
Brian Mansilla 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.
Sochi paid $520.0K and Dinamo Makhachkala took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oumar Sako 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.
6 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
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.
40 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.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Alan Pinheiro 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.
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. Alan Pinheiro 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 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.
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.
Brian Mansilla 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. Oumar Sako 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.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Dinamo Makhachkala will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
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.
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.
Squad29 May 2028
Oumar Sako 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.
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. Jan Đapo 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 watch every Dinamo Makhachkala game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Dinamo Moscow runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
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.
Squad15 May 2028
Oumar Sako 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.
“I watch every Dinamo Makhachkala game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Sochi runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Brian Mansilla 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. Oumar Sako 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 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.
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.
“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.
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.
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. Oumar Sako 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 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.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Oumar Sako 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.
Brian Mansilla 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. Jan Đapo 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 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.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Oumar Sako 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.
Ural will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Nikita Yeremenko 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.
Brian Mansilla 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. Oumar Sako 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 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.
“I watch every Dinamo Makhachkala game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Sochi runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
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. Oumar Sako 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 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 shirt still fits. Maxim Khramtsov is back at Dinamo Makhachkala, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Temirkan Sundukov and Dinamo Makhachkala agree another 4 years.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Oumar Sako 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.
1 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
The offer from Rubin for Temirkan Sundukov was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
“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.
Brian Mansilla 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. Jan Đapo 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.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Nikita Karabashev reports back to Dinamo Makhachkala with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
“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.
“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.
Add another name to the list: Rubin have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Temirkan Sundukov. The answer from Dinamo Makhachkala has not changed — 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.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Oumar Sako 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.
Brian Mansilla 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. Oumar Sako 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 Zainudin Zainudinov stands, which is more than many ever get.
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.
What was a back-page story is now a matter for the terraces, and the terraces do not do nuance. Dinamo Makhachkala would like it dealt with before it becomes the only question anybody asks.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Fakel kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Dinamo Makhachkala will be asked about the last half hour all week.
“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.
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.
He is going to Spartak Moscow, the club has $2.1M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
Spartak Moscow paid $2.1M and Dinamo Makhachkala took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all 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.
Lokomotiv Moscow pay $390.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
“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.
5 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.
Brian Mansilla was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Alexandr Reiz has just signed for Dinamo Makhachkala, and for once the answer mattered.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oumar Sako 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.
Sokol will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Sultan Al-Shammari 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.
2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Razhab Magomedov will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Dinamo Makhachkala escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Mohamed Azzi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Oumar Sako 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.
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. Jan Đapo 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 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.
“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.
“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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Idar Shumakhov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dinamo Makhachkala the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Idar Shumakhov has agreed terms with Rostov for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
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.
Razhab Magomedov scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to Akron, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Oumar Sako falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Makhachkala this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Oumar Sako falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
A 2‑0 win over Nizhniy Novgorod, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 18 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Yegor Smelov is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The offer from Rosario Central for Gamid Agalarov was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
“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.
Brian Mansilla 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. Jan Đapo 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 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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Oumar Sako 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.
Chelyabinsk will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Baba N'Diaye 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.
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. Oumar Sako 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 paperwork is done long before the player is. Danila Polshikov has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Dinamo Makhachkala have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
20 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Brian Mansilla. 1‑0 against Rubin, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“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.
Mohamed Azzi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
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 month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Houssem Mrezigue is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 27 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
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. Oumar Sako 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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 18 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
18 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
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.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Zenit defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
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.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Oumar Sako 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.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
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.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against CSKA Moscow? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Dinamo Makhachkala scored in the 90th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Brian Mansilla 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. Jan Đapo 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.
Player ratings15 Nov 2027
Brian Mansilla was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.09. 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 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Oumar Sako 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.
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 month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Diaa Eddine Mechid is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
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.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Brian Mansilla was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad1 Nov 2027
A last season at home is what Alan Pinheiro is after
It is sentimental, it is completely genuine, and it is the beginning of a departure nobody has announced. The club can be gracious about it or it can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oumar Sako 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.
Position 14 and 14 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Dinamo Makhachkala can tell you which week it ends in.
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.
15 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
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.
One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Yegor Smelov has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.
“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.
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. Oumar Sako 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.” Hazem Mastouri and Dinamo Makhachkala agree another 3 years.
Shots: 10. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Kirill Pomeshkin provided it, and the 8.89 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
27 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 26 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
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 unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Oumar Sako falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Kirill Pomeshkin has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
20 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Brian Mansilla 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.
Marked 8.00 — 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jan Đapo 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 Alan Pinheiro something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Squad4 Oct 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Yegor Smelov
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Yegor Smelov has come out of that comparison in the side, and Dinamo Makhachkala have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad signs something — a contract at Dinamo Makhachkala or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Oumar Sako 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.
“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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Zainudin Zainudinov is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Brian Mansilla 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. Oumar Sako 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.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 17 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.
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
It is the least glamorous business a club does and the reason seasons do not collapse in February. Vohidjon Oqbo'tayev is here for the weeks when three men are injured and somebody still has to play.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 26 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mikhail Maltsev and Dinamo Makhachkala agree another 4 years.
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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Maxim Moskovets has just signed for Dinamo Makhachkala, and for once the answer mattered.
The chase for Mikhail Maltsev ended with $510.0K changing hands and Sokol out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Oumar Sako falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Shamil Isaev has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
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.
8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
“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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jan Đapo 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 49 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Oumar Sako 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 56 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with CSKA Moscow the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Dinamo Makhachkala will enjoy reviewing.
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Brian Mansilla 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. Oumar Sako 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 65 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
He is going to Nizhniy Novgorod, the club has $1.3M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
Nizhniy Novgorod paid $1.3M and Dinamo Makhachkala took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all 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 easiest signature of my career.” Soslan Kagermazov and Dinamo Makhachkala agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
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.
7.98, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Brian Mansilla 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. Oumar Sako 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 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
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 fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Yenisey moved on, David Volk reports back to Dinamo Makhachkala, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Dinamo Makhachkala are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
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 morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Oumar Sako falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Vladimir Zhukov has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Nikolai Smolov 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 88 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.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Alan Pinheiro has his answer from Dinamo Makhachkala; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
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 phone has started ringing about Kirill Zinovich again, and this time the name on the line is Rotor. Dinamo Makhachkala are listening politely and promising nothing.
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.
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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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.
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 accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Miro was one of the reasons people came, and $1.4M does not replace that by itself.
“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.
The fee is $790.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Shinnik drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Nizhniy Novgorod pay $1.4M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
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.
In brief
SquadRamazan Aliev is a better footballer than he was
“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.
The phone has started ringing about Miro again, and this time the name on the line is PAOK. Dinamo Makhachkala are listening politely and promising nothing.
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. Oumar Sako 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.” Gadji Budunov and Dinamo Makhachkala agree another 4 years.
“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.
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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Oumar Sako 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.
“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.
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. Jan Đapo 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 watch every Dinamo Makhachkala game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Akhmat Grozny runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Dinamo Makhachkala told Nikita Matskharashvili something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
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.
“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.
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.
Squad24 May 2027
Oumar Sako 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.
“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.
John Mercado 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. Oumar Sako 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 am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Dinamo Makhachkala, and 0 appearances in 14 say he has earned the hearing.
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.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Dinamo Makhachkala are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
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.
In brief
SquadJan Đapo falls out with a teammate over standards
“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.
John Mercado 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. Oumar Sako 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 am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Dinamo Makhachkala, and 5 appearances in 36 say he has earned the hearing.
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.
“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.
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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Oumar Sako 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.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mehdi Moubarik trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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. Jorge Rojas 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 am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Dinamo Makhachkala, and 0 appearances in 10 say he has earned the hearing.
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.
“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. Oumar Sako is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Dinamo Makhachkala, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Oumar Sako 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.
“I watch every Dinamo Makhachkala game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Akhmat Grozny runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
“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.
John Mercado was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Jorge Rojas 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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Dinamo Makhachkala, and 0 appearances in 33 say he has earned the hearing.
“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.
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.
In brief
SquadOumar Sako falls out with a teammate over standards
“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.
“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.
John Mercado 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. Oumar Sako 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 long career reaches the week the player starts thinking about the last one. He would like it to be at the club that first put him on a pitch, and Dinamo Makhachkala now know that too.
“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.
“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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Brian Mansilla and Dinamo Makhachkala agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about 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.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Dinamo Makhachkala are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The fee is $970.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Rostov drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
“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.
John Mercado was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A last season at home is what Alan Pinheiro is after
It is sentimental, it is completely genuine, and it is the beginning of a departure nobody has announced. The club can be gracious about it or it can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oumar Sako is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Dinamo Makhachkala, and it is not being withdrawn.
Mohamed Azzi 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. Jorge Rojas 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 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.
“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.
John Mercado was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Jorge Rojas 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.
“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.
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.
“I did not go to Akhmat Grozny to sit and watch. I want to come back to Dinamo Makhachkala and fight for my place.” 5 appearances in 24 matches say the rest.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Dinamo Makhachkala has been clear about where Serder Serderov stands, which is more than many ever get.
The phone has started ringing about Miro again, and this time the name on the line is Sochi. Dinamo Makhachkala are listening politely and promising nothing.
John Mercado 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.
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Manuel Falón 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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Dinamo Makhachkala, and 0 appearances in 25 say he has earned the hearing.
“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.
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. Manuel Falón 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 offer from Al Shabab for Miro was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
John Mercado 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.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Houssem Mrezigue.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Dinamo Makhachkala, and 0 appearances in 18 say he has earned the hearing.
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.
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: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad11 Jan 2027
John Mercado 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.
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.
“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. John Mercado 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 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.
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.
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.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
The 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. John Mercado 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.
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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Dinamo Makhachkala, and 0 appearances in 14 say he has earned the hearing.
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.
“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.
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. Manuel Falón is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Dinamo Makhachkala, and it is not being withdrawn.
John Mercado 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.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
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: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad30 Nov 2026
John Mercado 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.
John Mercado 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.
23 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Defensive actions: 22. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Manuel Falón 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.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Mohamed Azzi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
It is the quietest kind of dressing-room problem and the one that lasts longest, because nobody has done anything anyone can be disciplined for. 2 players sit outside all 3 groups entirely, which is the detail that tends to matter.
19 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
16 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take 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.
“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.
“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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. John Mercado 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 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.
5 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.
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. Manuel Falón 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.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
John Mercado 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 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.
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 hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Joaquín Freitas did not need any: 7.67, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
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: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad19 Oct 2026
John Mercado 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.
9 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The 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.
John Mercado 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 unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Manuel Falón 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.
“I watch every Dinamo Makhachkala game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at KAMAZ runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Dinamo Makhachkala told John Mercado something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 16 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
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.
22 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Kirill Zinovich has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
“I watch every Dinamo Makhachkala game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Akhmat Grozny runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The 85th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Andrés Alarcón decided nobody was going anywhere. Nizhniy Novgorod had no time left to answer.
Miro 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. John Mercado 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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 12 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
“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.
8 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.
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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
John Mercado 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.
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.
John Mercado 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. Nikita Glushkov 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.
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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
John Mercado 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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Manuel Falón 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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 17 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
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.
Mohamed Azzi 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.
18 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
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.
15 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 14 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
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.
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Brian Mansilla from Akhmat Grozny for $3.1M, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Manuel Falón 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.
At 19 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Nobody sells a season ticket on a signing like this. Every manager who has been through a bad October wants one anyway, and Dinamo Makhachkala have gone and got theirs early.