From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad31 Jul 2028
44 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Murom lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market31 Jul 2028
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Angusht waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Murom is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Player ratings31 Jul 2028
Successful dribbles: 30. 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.
Market31 Jul 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Murom can pretend not to have heard.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Words exchanged at Murom
Denis Faizullin and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Ruslan Bolov 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.
Market31 Jul 2028
The phone has started ringing about Nikita Zavjalov again, and this time the name on the line is Sevastopol. Murom are listening politely and promising nothing.
Match29 Jul 2028
0‑1 to Dinamo Vladivostok, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad31 Jul 2028
100 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager makes an example of Rasil Asaidulin
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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The dugout
Ruslan Bolov has become a man the manager trusts
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Jul 2028
51 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Murom lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market24 Jul 2028
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Dinamo Vladivostok waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Murom is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Player ratings24 Jul 2028
Successful dribbles: 31. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Market24 Jul 2028
Ruslan Babayan has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Murom they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market24 Jul 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Murom can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings24 Jul 2028
Age has not caught Ruslan Bolov yet — 7.96
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.96 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad24 Jul 2028
At 23 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.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Tempers go at Murom
Denis Faizullin 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 Jul 2028
A move Andrey Laptev would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Andrey Laptev is living that version at Murom, and it tends to show in the first month.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 Jul 2028
Philipp Dvoretskov damages knee ligaments — 58 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 58 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market17 Jul 2028
“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 Murom, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market17 Jul 2028
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Murom have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Player ratings17 Jul 2028
Successful dribbles: 26. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Boardroom17 Jul 2028
The board have signed the man in the dugout to a longer contract, which says more than any statement of support. Stability is easy to promise and costly to keep.
Squad17 Jul 2028
At 23 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.
Squad17 Jul 2028
At 24 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Ulugbek Abdullaev has just signed for Murom, and for once the answer mattered.
Boardroom17 Jul 2028
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Murom
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Jul 2028
65 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Murom lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market10 Jul 2028
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Murom people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market10 Jul 2028
Artur Nechaev hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Murom can pretend not to have heard.
Squad10 Jul 2028
At 22 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.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Ruslan Bolov 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.
Squad10 Jul 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Murom this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market10 Jul 2028
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Konstantin Fyodorov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Jul 2028
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Foma Mamaev has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The dugout10 Jul 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Jul 2028
72 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Murom lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market3 Jul 2028
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Znamya Truda waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Murom is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market3 Jul 2028
“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 Murom, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market3 Jul 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bogdan Kondramashin will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Murom the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market3 Jul 2028
The name of Ruslan Babayan has come up in conversations Murom were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Words exchanged at Murom
Denis Faizullin 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.
Squad3 Jul 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Thomas Daehli and Murom agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Boardroom3 Jul 2028
Intake day at the Murom academy
4 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.
The dugout3 Jul 2028
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Jun 2028
79 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Murom lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market26 Jun 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Murom is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market26 Jun 2028
The bid was some way short and Murom did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Tempers go at Murom
Denis Faizullin 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 dugout26 Jun 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Denis Faizullin, and the manager let it.
The dugout26 Jun 2028
Ruslan Bolov gets picked when it counts
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 Ruslan Bolov is on it.
Boardroom26 Jun 2028
Nobody arrives at Murom until somebody leaves
The club is not barred from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every name linked with Murom this window arrives with a name leaving in the same sentence.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Words at Murom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artur Nechaev 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.
Market26 Jun 2028
The Ruslan Bolov story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ruslan Bolov signs something — a contract at Murom or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Jun 2028
86 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Murom lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match19 Jun 2028
Nobody above Murom
First, on 28 points. The table is a fact and a fact is allowed to be enjoyed, which is as far as anybody at the club is prepared to go in public.
Market19 Jun 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Murom is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad19 Jun 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Murom this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
Denis Faizullin asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
Alexey Yevseev has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Murom 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 dugout19 Jun 2028
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Boardroom19 Jun 2028
Open for business: Murom enter the window
The registration window is open and the phone has started. Between now and the deadline this club will be linked with forty players and sign three, which is the usual ratio.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Murom. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Jun 2028
93 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Murom lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The dugout12 Jun 2028
Rasil Asaidulin: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Murom have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market12 Jun 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Murom is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad12 Jun 2028
A falling-out at Murom
Denis Faizullin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Artur Nechaev 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 dugout12 Jun 2028
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Boardroom5 Jun 2028
Silverware for Murom
They will talk about this season in this town for a long time. The trophy comes home with the squad, and the route is already agreed.
Boardroom5 Jun 2028
Murom are going up
Promotion, confirmed and mathematical, and a town that will not sleep much tonight. Whatever else this season had in it, it ends a division higher than it began.
Squad5 Jun 2028
100 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Murom lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad5 Jun 2028
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Murom had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
Market5 Jun 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Murom they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad5 Jun 2028
8 clean sheets across a season, and the one award on the pitch nobody else is eligible for. Most keepers get through a whole career without a year like it.
The dugout5 Jun 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rasil Asaidulin, and the manager let it.
Squad5 Jun 2028
A falling-out at Murom
Daniil Konovalov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout5 Jun 2028
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 Philipp Dvoretskov is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad29 May 2028
107 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Murom lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market29 May 2028
Only the photograph left for Ruslan Babayan
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ruslan Babayan will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Murom the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad29 May 2028
5 injured: the Murom squad is stretched
Every club has a bad month for injuries and this is the one. 5 unavailable, a bench with academy names on it, and a manager who has stopped asking the medical staff for dates.
Squad29 May 2028
A row about effort at Murom
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ruslan Bolov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad29 May 2028
Words exchanged at Murom
Rasil Asaidulin and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout29 May 2028
Ruslan Bolov gets picked when it counts
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 Ruslan Bolov is on it.
Boardroom29 May 2028
Murom have to sell first
The manager has a list and the board has a condition attached to it. That is not a crisis — half of football works this way — but it decides which of the two of them gets his way in August.
The dugout29 May 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Islamitdin Abdullaev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout29 May 2028
A promise honoured at Murom
Something was said to Grigory Pavlyuchenko and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 May 2028
115 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Murom lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match22 May 2028
Nobody above Murom
First, on 28 points. The table is a fact and a fact is allowed to be enjoyed, which is as far as anybody at the club is prepared to go in public.
Market22 May 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nikita Zavjalov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Murom the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad22 May 2028
A falling-out at Murom
Rasil Asaidulin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout22 May 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout22 May 2028
Alexey Yevseev has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Murom 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 May 2028
123 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Murom lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market15 May 2028
Only the photograph left for Artur Nechaev
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Artur Nechaev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Murom the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad15 May 2028
A falling-out at Murom
Denis Faizullin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 May 2028
A row about effort at Murom
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Philipp Dvoretskov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout15 May 2028
Danil Shatalov knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Danil Shatalov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout15 May 2028
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 Rasil Asaidulin is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 May 2028
29 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Murom lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market8 May 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Murom is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad8 May 2028
Words exchanged at Murom
Denis Faizullin 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.
Squad8 May 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Alexey Yevseev commits to Murom for another 2 years.
Squad8 May 2028
Words at Murom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Philipp Dvoretskov 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 dugout8 May 2028
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 May 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Shamil Gasanov
36 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Murom lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market1 May 2028
Ruslan Babayan has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Murom they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad1 May 2028
Tempers go at Murom
Denis Faizullin 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 dugout1 May 2028
Ruslan Bolov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Murom 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 dugout1 May 2028
The manager makes an example of Ruslan Babayan
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Boardroom1 May 2028
Nobody arrives at Murom until somebody leaves
The club is not barred from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every name linked with Murom this window arrives with a name leaving in the same sentence.
The dugout1 May 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Murom, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market1 May 2028
The Ruslan Bolov story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ruslan Bolov signs something — a contract at Murom or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad1 May 2028
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Murom than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Apr 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Shamil Gasanov
43 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Murom lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match24 Apr 2028
28 points and nobody above them. The word is not being said around the ground yet, and it is being thought in every seat.
Market24 Apr 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Murom they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad24 Apr 2028
A row about effort at Murom
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Philipp Dvoretskov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rasil Asaidulin, and the manager let it.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
Alexey Yevseev has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Murom 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.
Market24 Apr 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Rasil Asaidulin signs something — a contract at Murom or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
Ruslan Babayan knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ruslan Babayan trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad24 Apr 2028
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Apr 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Shamil Gasanov
50 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Murom lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market17 Apr 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Murom is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad17 Apr 2028
A falling-out at Murom
Denis Faizullin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 Apr 2028
A row about effort at Murom
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Philipp Dvoretskov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Murom, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Apr 2028
57 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Murom lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market10 Apr 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Murom they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words at Murom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Denis Faizullin 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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Tempers go at Murom
Nikita Sergeev 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 dugout10 Apr 2028
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Apr 2028
65 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Murom lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market3 Apr 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Murom is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Words at Murom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Philipp Dvoretskov 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 dugout3 Apr 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Danil Shatalov, and the manager let it.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Tempers go at Murom
Leonid Kuznetsov 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 dugout3 Apr 2028
Ruslan Bolov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Murom 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.
Boardroom3 Apr 2028
Nobody arrives at Murom until somebody leaves
The club is not barred from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every name linked with Murom this window arrives with a name leaving in the same sentence.
Squad3 Apr 2028
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Murom will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Market3 Apr 2028
The Ruslan Bolov story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ruslan Bolov signs something — a contract at Murom or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad27 Mar 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Shamil Gasanov
72 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Murom lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match27 Mar 2028
Nobody above Murom
First, on 28 points. The table is a fact and a fact is allowed to be enjoyed, which is as far as anybody at the club is prepared to go in public.
Market27 Mar 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Murom they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad27 Mar 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Murom this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Words at Murom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Philipp Dvoretskov 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 dugout27 Mar 2028
Danil Shatalov knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Danil Shatalov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
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.
Market27 Mar 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Rasil Asaidulin signs something — a contract at Murom or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market27 Mar 2028
The clock does Ruslan Babayan’s negotiating for him
4 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Murom could ask drops and the wages Ruslan Babayan can ask rise.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad20 Mar 2028
Shamil Gasanov damages knee ligaments — 79 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 79 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market20 Mar 2028
Artur Nechaev has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Murom they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Words exchanged at Murom
Shamil Gasanov 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.
Squad20 Mar 2028
A row about effort at Murom
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Denis Faizullin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Denis Faizullin, and the manager let it.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
Rasil Asaidulin has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Murom 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad13 Mar 2028
Shamil Gasanov damages knee ligaments — 86 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 86 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market13 Mar 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Murom is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad13 Mar 2028
A falling-out at Murom
Shamil Gasanov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad13 Mar 2028
A row about effort at Murom
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Philipp Dvoretskov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
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 Philipp Dvoretskov is on it.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
Denis Faizullin asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad6 Mar 2028
93 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Murom lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market6 Mar 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Murom is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom6 Mar 2028
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Ruslan Babayan has agreed terms with Orenburg for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad6 Mar 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Shamil Gasanov and Murom agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Tempers go at Murom
Denis Faizullin 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.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Words at Murom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Philipp Dvoretskov 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 dugout6 Mar 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rasil Asaidulin, and the manager let it.
The dugout6 Mar 2028
Ruslan Bolov gets picked when it counts
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 Ruslan Bolov is on it.
Boardroom6 Mar 2028
Nobody arrives at Murom until somebody leaves
The club is not barred from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every name linked with Murom this window arrives with a name leaving in the same sentence.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Feb 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Shamil Gasanov
101 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Murom lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match28 Feb 2028
The view from the top for Murom
28 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
Boardroom28 Feb 2028
Murom close the window on a squad of their own making
0 in and 5 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Words at Murom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Denis Faizullin 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.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Tempers go at Murom
Daniil Konovalov 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 dugout28 Feb 2028
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Murom, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market28 Feb 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Rasil Asaidulin signs something — a contract at Murom or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market28 Feb 2028
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Valentin Kokorin leaves Murom the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Feb 2028
108 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Murom lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Philipp Dvoretskov 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.
Squad21 Feb 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Murom this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market21 Feb 2028
The phone has started ringing about Artur Nechaev again, and this time the name on the line is Znamya Truda. Murom are listening politely and promising nothing.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad21 Feb 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Roman Fomin and Murom agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
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 Rasil Asaidulin is on it.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
Rasul Guseinov knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Murom, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market21 Feb 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Nikita Zheimo signs something — a contract at Murom or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Feb 2028
Shamil Gasanov damages knee ligaments — 115 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 115 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market14 Feb 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Murom can pretend not to have heard.
Market14 Feb 2028
Uralets-TS come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Murom did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market14 Feb 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bogdan Kondramashin will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Murom the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words at Murom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ruslan Bolov 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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Tempers go at Murom
Rasil Asaidulin 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 dugout14 Feb 2028
The manager makes an example of Danil Shatalov
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout14 Feb 2028
Nobody at Murom 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 dugout14 Feb 2028
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Feb 2028
Shamil Gasanov damages knee ligaments — 122 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 122 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market7 Feb 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nikita Zavjalov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Murom the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Words at Murom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ruslan Bolov 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.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Words exchanged at Murom
Nikita Sergeev and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout7 Feb 2028
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.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Murom can only buy what they sell
Nobody has barred the club from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every incoming name comes with an outgoing one attached.
The dugout7 Feb 2028
Danil Shatalov asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad7 Feb 2028
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Murom will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Market7 Feb 2028
The Ruslan Bolov story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ruslan Bolov signs something — a contract at Murom or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 Jan 2028
Shamil Gasanov damages knee ligaments — 129 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 129 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Match31 Jan 2028
The view from the top for Murom
28 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
Squad31 Jan 2028
The medical room confirms 21 days on the sidelines for Pyotr Ushakov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Tempers go at Murom
Shamil Gasanov 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.
Boardroom31 Jan 2028
The numbers do not look good at Murom
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad31 Jan 2028
A row about effort at Murom
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Philipp Dvoretskov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout31 Jan 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Denis Faizullin trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout31 Jan 2028
Alexey Yevseev has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Murom 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 dugout31 Jan 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Jan 2028
136 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Murom lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market24 Jan 2028
Artur Nechaev has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Murom they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad24 Jan 2028
A falling-out at Murom
Denis Faizullin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Philipp Dvoretskov 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 dugout24 Jan 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Murom, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout24 Jan 2028
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Jan 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Shamil Gasanov
143 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Murom lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market17 Jan 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bogdan Kondramashin will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Murom the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Words at Murom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Denis Faizullin 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 dugout17 Jan 2028
The manager makes an example of Rasil Asaidulin
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
Nobody at Murom 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.
Market17 Jan 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Nikita Kozlovskiy signs something — a contract at Murom or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Jan 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nikita Zavjalov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Murom the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Words at Murom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Philipp Dvoretskov 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 dugout10 Jan 2028
The manager makes an example of Rasul Guseinov
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout10 Jan 2028
Ruslan Bolov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Murom 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.
Squad10 Jan 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Murom this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout10 Jan 2028
Rasil Asaidulin asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match3 Jan 2028
28 points and nobody above them. The word is not being said around the ground yet, and it is being thought in every seat.
Squad3 Jan 2028
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Murom have had the benefit of it.
Boardroom3 Jan 2028
Murom counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Murom now.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Philipp Dvoretskov 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.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Words exchanged at Murom
Rasil Asaidulin and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout3 Jan 2028
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout3 Jan 2028
Alexey Yevseev has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Murom 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 dugout3 Jan 2028
Rasul Guseinov asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market3 Jan 2028
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market27 Dec 2027
Artur Nechaev has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Murom they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad27 Dec 2027
A row about effort at Murom
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Denis Faizullin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Words exchanged at Murom
Leonid Kuznetsov 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.
Boardroom27 Dec 2027
Wages eat 92% of everything Murom earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
The manager makes an example of Ruslan Babayan
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Islamitdin Abdullaev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout20 Dec 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Murom may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market20 Dec 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Murom is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad20 Dec 2027
A row about effort at Murom
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Philipp Dvoretskov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad20 Dec 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Murom this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
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 Philipp Dvoretskov is on it.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
Danil Shatalov knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Danil Shatalov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout13 Dec 2027
Nikita Zavjalov: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Murom have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market13 Dec 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Murom they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad13 Dec 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Murom this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Dec 2027
A row about effort at Murom
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Philipp Dvoretskov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
Ruslan Bolov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Murom 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 dugout13 Dec 2027
Denis Faizullin asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match6 Dec 2027
The view from the top for Murom
28 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
Squad6 Dec 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Murom this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom6 Dec 2027
Belts tighten at Murom
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Words at Murom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Denis Faizullin 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 dugout6 Dec 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nikita Sergeev, and the manager let it.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Murom, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Denis Faizullin has moved up it.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Alexey Yevseev is on it.
Market6 Dec 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Murom, another week without a signature from Ruslan Babayan.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout29 Nov 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Market29 Nov 2027
Artur Nechaev has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Murom they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad29 Nov 2027
A row about effort at Murom
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Philipp Dvoretskov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom29 Nov 2027
146% of the income goes out in wages at Murom
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 dugout29 Nov 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Murom, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market22 Nov 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Murom is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Philipp Dvoretskov 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.
Squad22 Nov 2027
A falling-out at Murom
Denis Faizullin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
Nobody at Murom 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 dugout22 Nov 2027
Rasul Guseinov knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Murom, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout15 Nov 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad15 Nov 2027
The medical room confirms 32 days on the sidelines for Ruslan Bolov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Market15 Nov 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nikita Zavjalov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Murom the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Islamitdin Abdullaev, and the manager let it.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words at Murom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Denis Faizullin 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
A falling-out at Murom
Nikita Sergeev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
Rasul Guseinov knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Murom, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market15 Nov 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ruslan Bolov’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match8 Nov 2027
28 points and nobody above them. The word is not being said around the ground yet, and it is being thought in every seat.
Market8 Nov 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at Murom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Philipp Dvoretskov 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words exchanged at Murom
Rasil Asaidulin 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Islam Orazaev
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Islam Orazaev has come out of that comparison in the side, and Murom have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Boardroom8 Nov 2027
Belts tighten at Murom
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Alexey Yevseev is on it.
Market8 Nov 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Rasil Asaidulin’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market1 Nov 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Murom is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words at Murom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Philipp Dvoretskov 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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words exchanged at Murom
Denis Faizullin and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Danil Shatalov, and the manager let it.
Boardroom1 Nov 2027
Wages swallow 122% of the Murom income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
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.
Market1 Nov 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Nikita Zheimo’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad1 Nov 2027
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Murom would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
Danil Afanasyev asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market25 Oct 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Murom they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Words exchanged at Murom
Shamil Gasanov 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.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Denis Faizullin 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 dugout25 Oct 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nikita Zavjalov, and the manager let it.
Market25 Oct 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Nikita Kozlovskiy’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 36. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market18 Oct 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Murom is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Tempers go at Murom
Shamil Gasanov 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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words at Murom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Philipp Dvoretskov 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.
Match16 Oct 2027
A bad afternoon for Murom against Kuban
0‑1 to Kuban, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Sergei Zyuganov to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
Ruslan Bolov gets picked when it counts
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 Ruslan Bolov is on it.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
Somebody else is better right now than Nikita Sergeev
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match6 Oct 2027
Murom out of the cup
Baltika ended it 0‑0. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Match11 Oct 2027
The view from the top for Murom
28 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
Market11 Oct 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Boardroom11 Oct 2027
The numbers do not look good at Murom
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Match6 Oct 2027
Still nobody has beaten Murom
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
Words at Murom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Philipp Dvoretskov 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Tempers go at Murom
Denis Faizullin 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.
Looking ahead11 Oct 2027
Murom and Kuban meet at the summit
The fixture the rest of the division is looking forward to more than either of the sides in it. Both know a win changes the season and a defeat does not end it, which is what makes it hard to play.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rasil Asaidulin, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market4 Oct 2027
Artur Nechaev has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Murom they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Alexey Yevseev and Murom agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Match2 Oct 2027
Three points for Murom, 2‑0 the final word against Avangard in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
Wages swallow 128% of the Murom income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
Marked 8.17 — 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.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
Denis Faizullin was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.12. 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.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Words at Murom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Denis Faizullin 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 ratings4 Oct 2027
Islam Orazaev ran the middle of the pitch — 7.97
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 9 combined actions and a mark of 7.97, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rasul Guseinov, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market27 Sep 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bogdan Kondramashin will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Murom the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Words at Murom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Philipp Dvoretskov 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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Murom this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
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.” Sergei Zyuganov chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
The manager makes an example of Artur Nechaev
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match25 Sep 2027
Point won or two lost for Murom?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Torpedo Miass? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Looking ahead27 Sep 2027
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Avangard in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Market20 Sep 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Murom is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match18 Sep 2027
Murom make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Murom have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad20 Sep 2027
A row about effort at Murom
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Philipp Dvoretskov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad20 Sep 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Murom this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.74 on the card, and the Murom support went home talking about one name.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Sergei Zyuganov on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match13 Sep 2027
Nobody above Murom
First, on 21 points. The table is a fact and a fact is allowed to be enjoyed, which is as far as anybody at the club is prepared to go in public.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
At 33 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.33, and nobody on the pitch better.
Market13 Sep 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Murom can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom13 Sep 2027
Deadline passes with 7 signed and 4 gone
That is the business done at Murom 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.
Boardroom13 Sep 2027
The numbers do not look good at Murom
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Match11 Sep 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Philipp Dvoretskov. 2‑0 against Irtysh, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Match11 Sep 2027
Murom are at home on the road
3 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
Looking ahead13 Sep 2027
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Murom will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words at Murom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Denis Faizullin 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.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match4 Sep 2027
5‑1, and Philipp Dvoretskov took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Murom tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.26, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market6 Sep 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Zvezda waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Murom is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.17, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
Age has not caught Ruslan Bolov yet — 7.95
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.95 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Market6 Sep 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market6 Sep 2027
Only the photograph left for Artur Nechaev
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Artur Nechaev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Murom the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad6 Sep 2027
A falling-out at Murom
Shamil Gasanov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match4 Sep 2027
6 goals in one match, Philipp Dvoretskov on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Murom and Kaluga.
In brief
-
Squad
Words at Murom training over how hard people work
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Player ratings
A masterclass from Denis Faizullin
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Boardroom
128% of the income goes out in wages at Murom
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
Nikita Zavjalov: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Murom have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market30 Aug 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Murom is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Murom
Shamil Gasanov 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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
A row about effort at Murom
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Philipp Dvoretskov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match28 Aug 2027
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 6 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Match28 Aug 2027
A bad afternoon for Murom against Kuban
0‑1 to Kuban, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Sergei Zyuganov to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match18 Aug 2027
Cup progress for Murom
A 2‑0 win over Spartak Nalchik, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Match18 Aug 2027
Murom cannot stop winning
6 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
The hardest thing about being 17 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Vyacheslav Antonov did not need any: 7.92, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at Murom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ruslan Bolov 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 terraces23 Aug 2027
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.
Looking ahead23 Aug 2027
The big one: Kuban come into view
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Murom will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
Marked 8.03. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Murom.
Squad23 Aug 2027
A falling-out at Murom
Nikita Sergeev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Sergei Zyuganov could afford to be generous.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match14 Aug 2027
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Avangard, and it could have been more.
Match16 Aug 2027
The view from the top for Murom
15 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
Market16 Aug 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Uralets-TS waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Murom is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Match14 Aug 2027
Murom make it 5 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Murom have 5 straight wins of it.
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
Alexey Yevseev, 33, rolls back the years — 8.14
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.14 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market16 Aug 2027
“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 Murom, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom16 Aug 2027
Murom counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Murom now.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Murom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Philipp Dvoretskov 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 ratings16 Aug 2027
Marked 8.34 — 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.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad9 Aug 2027
3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
At 33 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 9.80, and nobody on the pitch better.
Squad9 Aug 2027
7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match7 Aug 2027
Murom make it 4 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Murom have 4 straight wins of it.
Market9 Aug 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Murom is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Shamil Gasanov commits to Murom for another 2 years.
Match7 Aug 2027
Three points for Murom, 4‑3 the final word against Torpedo Miass in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Match7 Aug 2027
Ruslan Bolov among the goals in a wild afternoon
7 goals in one match, Ruslan Bolov on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Murom and Torpedo Miass.
Squad9 Aug 2027
100 goals for the club, every one of them filed away in the memory of a supporter somewhere.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market2 Aug 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Murom is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match31 Jul 2027
Nobody wants to play Murom right now
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad2 Aug 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Shamil Gasanov and Murom agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad2 Aug 2027
A row about effort at Murom
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Denis Faizullin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Four weeks in which nobody in the division did his job better. The award goes on a shelf and the player goes back into the side, which is the order Murom prefer.
Market2 Aug 2027
Nobody at Murom has picked up the phone to Ruslan Bolov
12 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
A mark of 7.83, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
In brief
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Squad
A falling-out at Murom
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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The dugout
Philipp Dvoretskov gets picked when it counts
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match24 Jul 2027
3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings26 Jul 2027
Ruslan Bolov, 33, rolls back the years — 8.01
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.01 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad26 Jul 2027
A row about effort at Murom
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Philipp Dvoretskov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings26 Jul 2027
A performance of 8.09 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad26 Jul 2027
A falling-out at Murom
Nikita Sergeev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
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.” Sergei Zyuganov kept it short after the 3‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
Ruslan Bolov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Murom 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.
Looking ahead26 Jul 2027
Dinamo Vladivostok next, and one man in the Murom dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Market26 Jul 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ruslan Bolov’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market19 Jul 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Murom have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
Ruslan Bolov, 33, rolls back the years — 8.03
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.03 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad19 Jul 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Murom this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
Pobeda wanted more than $27.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Boardroom19 Jul 2027
5 academy graduates step up at Murom
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Boardroom19 Jul 2027
Belts tighten at Murom
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Philipp Dvoretskov 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.
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market12 Jul 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Market12 Jul 2027
Artur Nechaev has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Murom they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad12 Jul 2027
A falling-out at Murom
Shamil Gasanov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
“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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Denis Faizullin 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 dugout12 Jul 2027
Alexey Yevseev has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Murom 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match5 Jul 2027
Murom up to position 3
20 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
Orenburg wanted more than $65.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Philipp Dvoretskov 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.
Market5 Jul 2027
Add another name to the list: Zvezda have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Bogdan Kondramashin. The answer from Murom has not changed — yet.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
Murom sign 3 boys into the academy
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
Rasil Asaidulin has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Murom 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.
Market5 Jul 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Nikita Zheimo signs something — a contract at Murom or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Nikita Kozlovskiy plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market28 Jun 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Murom people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The terraces28 Jun 2027
Gadjimurad Abdullaev has gone, the accounts have $84.0K in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Danil Shatalov is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Market28 Jun 2027
Chernomorets paid $84.0K and Murom took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at Murom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Philipp Dvoretskov 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Murom this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
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.
Market28 Jun 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ruslan Bolov’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market21 Jun 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Chernomorets waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Murom is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
The deal with KAMAZ 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.
Boardroom21 Jun 2027
Murom counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Murom now.
Market21 Jun 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Murom have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at Murom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Denis Faizullin 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 dugout21 Jun 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
Ruslan Bolov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Murom 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 dugout21 Jun 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Murom, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market21 Jun 2027
The name of Nikita Kozlovskiy keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Murom say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Jun 2027
A row about effort at Murom
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Philipp Dvoretskov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words exchanged at Murom
Denis Faizullin and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
Alexey Yevseev has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Murom 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 dugout14 Jun 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Murom, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad14 Jun 2027
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Murom will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
Market14 Jun 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Murom know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match7 Jun 2027
Murom are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 20 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Squad7 Jun 2027
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Murom had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
Market7 Jun 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Murom is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad7 Jun 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Murom this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
The manager makes an example of Evgeny Livadnov
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
Rasil Asaidulin has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Murom 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 May 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Gadjimurad Abdullaev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Murom the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad31 May 2027
Tempers go at Murom
Shamil Gasanov 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 dugout31 May 2027
Nobody at Murom 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 dugout31 May 2027
“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.
Market31 May 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ruslan Bolov’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout31 May 2027
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Evgeny Livadnov has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout24 May 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Murom may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad24 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Murom this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom24 May 2027
Murom counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Murom now.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Murom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Philipp Dvoretskov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout24 May 2027
Ruslan Bolov gets picked when it counts
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 Ruslan Bolov is on it.
The dugout24 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bogdan Kondramashin, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 May 2027
Philipp Dvoretskov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout17 May 2027
Alexey Yevseev has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Murom 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 dugout17 May 2027
Alikadi Saidov asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout17 May 2027
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Evgeny Livadnov has written the date down.
Market17 May 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Murom know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad17 May 2027
Questions about Alikadi Saidov on the training pitch
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match10 May 2027
Murom up to position 3
20 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Market10 May 2027
Only the photograph left for Artur Nechaev
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Artur Nechaev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Murom the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad10 May 2027
A falling-out at Murom
Denis Faizullin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout10 May 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout10 May 2027
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 Rasil Asaidulin is on it.
Market10 May 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Nikita Zheimo signs something — a contract at Murom or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 May 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Murom they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad3 May 2027
Words exchanged at Murom
Danil Shatalov 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.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Murom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Philipp Dvoretskov 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 dugout3 May 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout3 May 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout3 May 2027
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Boardroom26 Apr 2027
The numbers do not look good at Murom
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad26 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Murom
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Philipp Dvoretskov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words exchanged at Murom
Rasil Asaidulin and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Maxim Andreev, and the manager let it.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Murom, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market19 Apr 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Murom can pretend not to have heard.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Tempers go at Murom
Denis Faizullin 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 dugout19 Apr 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Alexey Yevseev is on it.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
Maxim Andreev knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Maxim Andreev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market19 Apr 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Rasil Asaidulin’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad19 Apr 2027
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match12 Apr 2027
Murom are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 20 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market12 Apr 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Murom is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Tempers go at Murom
Shamil Gasanov 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Philipp Dvoretskov 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
The medical room confirms 14 days on the sidelines for Vyacheslav Antonov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
Rasil Asaidulin has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Murom 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.
Market12 Apr 2027
The name of Nikita Zheimo keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Murom say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad12 Apr 2027
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market5 Apr 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Murom is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words exchanged at Murom
Shamil Gasanov 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Murom
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Philipp Dvoretskov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
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 Philipp Dvoretskov is on it.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Evgeny Livadnov
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Market5 Apr 2027
The Ruslan Bolov talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Murom know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Boardroom29 Mar 2027
Murom counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Murom now.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Murom
Denis Faizullin and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market22 Mar 2027
“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 Murom, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Philipp Dvoretskov 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 dugout22 Mar 2027
Alexey Yevseev has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Murom 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match15 Mar 2027
Murom refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 20 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Market15 Mar 2027
Artur Nechaev has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Murom they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Murom
Danil Shatalov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad15 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Murom
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Philipp Dvoretskov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Islamitdin Abdullaev, and the manager let it.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
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 Rasil Asaidulin is on it.
Market15 Mar 2027
The name of Nikita Zheimo keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Murom say nothing, which says plenty.
Market15 Mar 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Gadjimurad Abdullaev may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Squad15 Mar 2027
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout8 Mar 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Murom may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market8 Mar 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Murom is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Alexey Yevseev and Murom agree another 2 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Murom
Denis Faizullin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
“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.
Market8 Mar 2027
The Ruslan Bolov talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Murom know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
Maxim Andreev knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Maxim Andreev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad8 Mar 2027
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Murom would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market1 Mar 2027
“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 Murom, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
Maxim Andreev: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Murom have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
Window shuts: 0 in, 0 out at Murom
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 0 arrived, 0 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
The numbers do not look good at Murom
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Transfer targets1 Mar 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Nosta have kept their man, and Murom go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Murom
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Philipp Dvoretskov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Murom
Nikita Sergeev 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 dugout1 Mar 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market22 Feb 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Chernomorets waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Murom is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market22 Feb 2027
Murom say no — this time
The offer from Yenisey for Ruslan Bolov 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.
Market22 Feb 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad22 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Murom this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market22 Feb 2027
The name of Artur Nechaev has come up in conversations Murom were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Murom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Philipp Dvoretskov 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 dugout22 Feb 2027
Alexey Yevseev has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Murom 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 dugout22 Feb 2027
Nikita Sergeev knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Murom, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match15 Feb 2027
Murom up to position 3
20 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Tempers go at Murom
Shamil Gasanov 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Evgeny Livadnov 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 dugout15 Feb 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Vladislav Prokhorov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
Rasil Asaidulin has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Murom 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 terraces15 Feb 2027
Supporters make their feelings known about Ruslan Bolov
The speculation has reached the stands, and the stands have answered. Murom would like this settled before it becomes the only thing anybody asks about.
Market15 Feb 2027
Murom have made Umar Magomedbekov available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Squad15 Feb 2027
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Evgeny Livadnov has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market8 Feb 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Murom people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
Murom offered $150.0K; Leningradets said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Philipp Dvoretskov 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 dugout8 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Artyom Trifonov, and the manager let it.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
Nobody at Murom 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.
Market8 Feb 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Nikita Zheimo signs something — a contract at Murom or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Murom will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Market8 Feb 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Maxim Andreev may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market1 Feb 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
The clubs have shaken hands with Leningradets; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Market1 Feb 2027
The name of Artur Nechaev has come up in conversations Murom were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Murom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Philipp Dvoretskov 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Murom
Denis Faizullin 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.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Murom counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Murom now.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
Ruslan Bolov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Murom 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 dugout1 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Nikita Zavjalov
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market25 Jan 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Murom
Denis Faizullin 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.
Boardroom25 Jan 2027
91% of the income goes out in wages at Murom
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 dugout25 Jan 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Alexey Yevseev is on it.
Market25 Jan 2027
The Ruslan Bolov story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ruslan Bolov signs something — a contract at Murom or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
The manager makes Maxim Andreev a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Murom. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Loan watch25 Jan 2027
20 starts and a season average of 6.62. The loan is doing exactly what it was arranged to do.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Murom, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match18 Jan 2027
Murom refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 20 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
Evgeny Livadnov: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Murom have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Murom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Philipp Dvoretskov 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Murom this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
Rasil Asaidulin has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Murom 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 dugout18 Jan 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Murom, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match6 Jan 2027
The small margins put Murom out
Out, 0‑1 to Zenit, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Murom
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Philipp Dvoretskov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Murom
Denis Faizullin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Sergei Zyuganov after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
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 Philipp Dvoretskov is on it.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Every debut is a small story about the future: Eduard Polivanov, 15 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Jan 2027
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Murom have had the benefit of it.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Murom
Shamil Gasanov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
Ruslan Bolov gets picked when it counts
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 Ruslan Bolov is on it.
Squad4 Jan 2027
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
Market4 Jan 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Nikita Kozlovskiy signs something — a contract at Murom or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Murom this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Murom
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Philipp Dvoretskov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Wages eat 256% of everything Murom earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Murom, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Alexey Yevseev is on it.
Market28 Dec 2026
The Ruslan Bolov story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ruslan Bolov signs something — a contract at Murom or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Loan watch28 Dec 2026
18 starts now, an average of 6.59, and the team sheet at Kuban Holding has stopped being a question. Exactly what everybody signed up for.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Dec 2026
Ilja Soldatov damages knee ligaments — 16 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 16 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Match21 Dec 2026
Murom refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 20 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Murom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Philipp Dvoretskov 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 dugout21 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Artyom Trifonov
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Gadjimurad Abdullaev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Dec 2026
23 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Murom lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Artur Nechaev: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Murom have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad14 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Murom
Denis Faizullin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Nobody at Murom 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.
Market14 Dec 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Nikita Zheimo signs something — a contract at Murom or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Dec 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Ilja Soldatov
31 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Murom lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Murom have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Philipp Dvoretskov 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Murom
Nikita Sergeev 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Maxim Andreev 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 dugout7 Dec 2026
Ruslan Bolov gets picked when it counts
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 Ruslan Bolov is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Ilja Soldatov
38 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Murom lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Philipp Dvoretskov 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.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Wages swallow 313% of the Murom income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Murom
Denis Faizullin 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 dugout30 Nov 2026
Alexey Yevseev has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Murom 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 dugout30 Nov 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Islamitdin Abdullaev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 40. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad23 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Ilja Soldatov
45 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Murom lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match18 Nov 2026
Murom through in the cup
A 1‑0 win over Spartak Moscow, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Market23 Nov 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Match23 Nov 2026
Murom up to position 3
20 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Murom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Shamil Gasanov 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Murom this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces23 Nov 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Rasil Asaidulin 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.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Marked 8.16 — 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Murom
Shamil Gasanov 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Murom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Philipp Dvoretskov 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 dugout16 Nov 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Murom
Shamil Gasanov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Murom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Philipp Dvoretskov 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Wages swallow 313% of the Murom income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Evgeny Livadnov 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Nikita Kozlovskiy
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Nikita Kozlovskiy has come out of that comparison in the side, and Murom have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Murom than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market26 Oct 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Match26 Oct 2026
Murom up to position 3
20 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Murom training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Philipp Dvoretskov 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Too much change too quickly at Murom
19 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
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 Rasil Asaidulin is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Oct 2026
Philipp Dvoretskov 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Murom
Denis Faizullin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Marked 8.07 — 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.
Match17 Oct 2026
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 dugout19 Oct 2026
Nobody at Murom 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 dugout19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Umar Magomedbekov, and the manager let it.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
The substitution nobody applauded turned out to be the whole story. Murom were going nowhere until he came on.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Murom
Denis Faizullin and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Marked 7.84. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Maxim Andreev will call it something else in private.
Boardroom12 Oct 2026
Murom counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Murom now.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Sergei Zyuganov after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
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.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match30 Sep 2026
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Ruslan Bolov obliged against Ural. 3‑2 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Murom.
Match30 Sep 2026
Ruslan Bolov wins it after the whistle should have gone
113 minutes played. Ruslan Bolov found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Ural went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.96, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Murom
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Philipp Dvoretskov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
432% of the income goes out in wages at Murom
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 terraces5 Oct 2026
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Match3 Oct 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Nikita Kozlovskiy. 2‑0 against Avangard, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Market5 Oct 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Dmitry Nesterov 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.
Market5 Oct 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Danil Ibragimov 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market28 Sep 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Match28 Sep 2026
Murom refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 15 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Murom
Shamil Gasanov 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Philipp Dvoretskov 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.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match26 Sep 2026
0‑1 to Torpedo Miass, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad28 Sep 2026
19 new faces, and Murom are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Sergei Zyuganov to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nikita Sergeev, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match19 Sep 2026
Nowhere to hide for Murom
0‑4 against Kuban, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match19 Sep 2026
After 8 games, Murom finally taste it again
The first defeat in 8 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Kuban; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Murom
Shamil Gasanov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Boardroom21 Sep 2026
Nobody left the Murom dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑4 defeat, delivered by Sergei Zyuganov to a room that had heard them before.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Beaten 4 times, with 2 saves for company. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines on their record whoever actually caused them, which is the quiet injustice of the job.
Squad21 Sep 2026
The division's best last weekend was a Murom man
It is a small honour and it is not nothing: somebody watched every match in the division and decided that Ruslan Bolov was the best thing in any of them.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match12 Sep 2026
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 5‑1 against Irtysh, and it could have been more.
Squad14 Sep 2026
3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 12 signed and 2 gone
That is the business done at Murom 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.
Match12 Sep 2026
Murom cannot stop winning
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Match12 Sep 2026
6 goals as Murom and Irtysh go for it
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Murom and Irtysh, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Ninety minutes of Ruslan Bolov at his very best
Marked 9.75. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Murom.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Philipp Dvoretskov 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.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Nikita Kozlovskiy was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.41. 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.
Looking ahead14 Sep 2026
Top-of-the-table clash for Murom
Kuban next, and the two sides the division is watching meet each other. Whoever wins will be told nothing is decided in the same breath as being congratulated.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad7 Sep 2026
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Market7 Sep 2026
“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 Murom, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match5 Sep 2026
7 unbeaten for Murom
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation Murom did not have in the autumn.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Philipp Dvoretskov 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.
Match5 Sep 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ruslan Bolov. 2‑1 against Kaluga, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad7 Sep 2026
200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Ninety minutes of Denis Faizullin at his very best
Marked 8.08. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Murom.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Islam Orazaev 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.