Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Arseny Lavrentjev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Irkutsk the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The deal with Pobeda 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.
Dmitry Pytlev 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Astrakhan have kept their man, and Irkutsk go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Gleb Zakharov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Arseny Lavrentjev is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Dmitry Ikovanyuk trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
He is 14, he is averaging 7.22, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Irkutsk have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Andrey Lomash will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Irkutsk the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Irkutsk and Druzhba have settled on $41.0K. 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 Irkutsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Irkutsk asked and Dinamo St Petersburg 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 Mahboob was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There were 89 minutes on the clock and Kolomna had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Irkutsk did not stop to explain themselves.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Dmitry Ikovanyuk will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Irkutsk the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“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 Irkutsk, 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.” Irkutsk have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The deal with Kaluga 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Vladislav Kuznetsov 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Irkutsk is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Nadir El Majdoub did not need any: 7.98, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kuban have kept their man, and Irkutsk go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Irkutsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexandr Seraskhov 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 is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Nadir El Majdoub 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Nadir El Majdoub. 1‑0 against Chertanovo, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The phone has started ringing about Anatoly Bolshakov again, and this time the name on the line is Textilschik. Irkutsk are listening politely and promising nothing.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Irkutsk they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Dmitry Pytlev 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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 season average of 7.23 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Irkutsk know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Irkutsk they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Andrey Lomash has agreed terms with Sokol for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Alexei Zyuzin after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer 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 Irkutsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Yakov Shevtsov provided it, and the 8.93 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Irkutsk is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alexandr Seraskhov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ruslan Ulyanov 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.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Andrey Marjanov at his very best
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Yegor Perevoznikov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Irkutsk the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Yegor Perevoznikov has agreed terms with SKA Khabarovsk for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Dmitry Pytlev and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
3 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.
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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Klim Perekalskiy is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Dmitry Pytlev 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 Gleb Zakharov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alexey Naidenov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody at Irkutsk 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.
Tver next, and one man in the Irkutsk dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Irkutsk know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
0‑3 to Dinamo Vologda, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Irkutsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexandr Seraskhov 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Irkutsk, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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 Irkutsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Alexei Zyuzin after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Irkutsk, another week without a signature from Dmitry Ikovanyuk.
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Dinamo Vologda.
Nobody at Irkutsk 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.
Dmitry Pytlev 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Andrey Marjanov 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Irkutsk, another week without a signature from Yegor Perevoznikov.
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Alexei Zyuzin kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Vladislav Kuznetsov is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Successful dribbles: 21. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Irkutsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexandr Seraskhov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Platon Artemyev 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 at Irkutsk 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.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
He is 14, he is averaging 7.24, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Grigory Sorokin, 15, plays like he has been here for years — 7.71
A mark of 7.71 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 15-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Irkutsk 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 Alexandr Seraskhov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Dmitry Pytlev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Gleb Zakharov 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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Alexei Zyuzin could afford to be generous.
Dmitry Pytlev 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 Alexandr Seraskhov 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. Danil Toporov 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Irkutsk, another week without a signature from Alexey Naidenov.
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.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
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.” Alexei Zyuzin chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Successful dribbles: 34. 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.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Yakov Shevtsov, 14, plays like he has been here for years — 9.63
A mark of 9.63 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 14-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alexandr Seraskhov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 14-year-old it feels ownership of. Yakov Shevtsov 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 particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Nadir El Majdoub provided it, and the 8.31 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
A mark of 8.84 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Nadir El Majdoub. 5‑3 against Kolomna, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 8 goals between Irkutsk and Kolomna, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Dmitry Pytlev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Irkutsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexandr Seraskhov 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.
13 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.
Something was said to Gleb Zakharov and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Alexei Zyuzin was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Irkutsk dressing room was either.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Chertanovo defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Yakov Shevtsov, 14, plays like he has been here for years — 7.75
A mark of 7.75 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 14-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
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 spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Valery Ustinov 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. Evgeni Savinov 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Irkutsk, another week without a signature from Yegor Perevoznikov.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
There was one mistake and it ended in the net. Defenders are judged on the worst thing they did rather than on the eighty-nine minutes either side of it, which is unfair and is also the job.
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Dmitry Pytlev 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 14-year-old it feels ownership of. Yakov Shevtsov 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.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Irkutsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Nadir El Majdoub. 3‑1 against Zvezda, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.29, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Alexei Zyuzin, on a 3‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
In brief
The dugoutMahboob has become a man the manager trusts
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alexandr Seraskhov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A point taken on 88 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
13 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
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.” Alexei Zyuzin chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Irkutsk can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 23 signed and 8 gone
That is the business done at Irkutsk until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Aleksandr Shapovalov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
A loan enquiry to Dinamo Bryansk: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Klim Perekalskiy 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Irkutsk, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Successful dribbles: 29. 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.
“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 Irkutsk, and it is not being withdrawn.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. KDV Tomsk have kept their man, and Irkutsk go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alexandr Seraskhov 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 Alexandr Seraskhov, and the manager let it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Yakov Shevtsov is the division's best young player this month
At 14 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. Irkutsk will try very hard not to make too much of it.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Ali Al-Memari has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
“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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Irkutsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Irkutsk asked and Zvezda said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
He is 14 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
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.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Alexei Zyuzin kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
In brief
The dugoutMahboob has become a man the manager trusts
A mark of 7.92 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this 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 Irkutsk, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deal with Tver 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.
Irkutsk asked and Sokol said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
12 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.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Nikita Khlusov is in the works
Yakov Shevtsov, 14, plays like he has been here for years — 7.93
A mark of 7.93 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 14-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
The offer went to Ryazan this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Dmitry Pytlev 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.
Irkutsk asked and Luki-Energiya said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
2 on the scoresheet on his first appearance and a mark of 8.64 beside it. Most debuts are got through; this one was enjoyed, by him and by everybody watching it.
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Yenisey 2 the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Irkutsk will enjoy reviewing.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Akhjad Garisultanov and Irkutsk agree another 1 years.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Alexey Naidenov is a Irkutsk player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
$86.0K on the table at KDV Tomsk. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Irkutsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Khimik have kept their man, and Irkutsk go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Irkutsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ali Al-Memari 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 went to Salyut this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Dmitry Pytlev 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.
Torpedo Vladimir have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Irkutsk, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Daniil Kankharey has his answer from Irkutsk; what he does with it is the next window’s story.