From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom29 Nov 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Murom
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Murom is running low.
Boardroom29 Nov 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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
A row about effort at Murom
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Shamil Gasanov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom29 Nov 2027
236% 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
“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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Tempers go at Murom
Maxim Boichenko 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 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
Nikita Sergeev 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.
Market29 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Nov 2027
17 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Loan watch22 Nov 2027
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Murom, and 2 appearances in 10 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad22 Nov 2027
A falling-out at Murom
Leonid Kuznetsov 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
“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.
The dugout22 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 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market15 Nov 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.
Market15 Nov 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Rasil Asaidulin will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Murom the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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
Shamil Gasanov 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.
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 not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Murom told Mikhail Strelnik something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout15 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 Bogdan Kondramashin is on it.
Market15 Nov 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Philipp Dvoretskov signs something — a contract at Murom or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad15 Nov 2027
The table has started to be checked before the results are in, and that is always the tell. Nobody at Murom says the word out loud, and everybody in the building is thinking it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
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.
Market8 Nov 2027
Only the photograph left for Rasul Guseinov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Rasul Guseinov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Murom the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Shamil Gasanov 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
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 dugout8 Nov 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.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
Ruslan Babayan 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 dugout8 Nov 2027
Andrey Sorokin is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Market8 Nov 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.
Match8 Nov 2027
Continental football is in reach for Murom
16 points from position 5. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match1 Nov 2027
Full time on the season at Murom
Position 5 on 16 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Player ratings1 Nov 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.53, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Boardroom1 Nov 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Murom
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Match30 Oct 2027
The wait goes on for Murom
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Boardroom1 Nov 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.
Match30 Oct 2027
Murom leaking at the back
4 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Boardroom1 Nov 2027
187% 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.
Squad1 Nov 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 dugout1 Nov 2027
The manager makes an example of Nikita Zheimo
“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
Crisis
Player ratings25 Oct 2027
Age has not caught Alexey Yevseev yet — 7.81
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.81 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Market25 Oct 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.
Match23 Oct 2027
4 matches without a win for Murom
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Murom are no longer polite ones.
Match23 Oct 2027
Ruslan Bolov among the goals in a wild afternoon
6 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 Dinamo Kirov.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Shamil Gasanov 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.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Tempers go at Murom
Rasul Guseinov 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 dugout25 Oct 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.
Loan watch25 Oct 2027
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Murom, and 2 appearances in 6 say he has earned the hearing.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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The dugout
The manager has not finished forgetting Mikhail Strelnik's mistake
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The dugout
Rasul Guseinov gets picked when it counts
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad18 Oct 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 10 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match16 Oct 2027
A hiding for Murom
Beaten 2‑5 by Dinamo Vladivostok, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match13 Oct 2027
The small margins put Murom out
Out, 0‑3 to Krasnodar, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Market18 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.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 7.87, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
The terraces18 Oct 2027
A cup hiding at Krasnodar leaves Murom explaining themselves
0-3, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.
Market18 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.
The terraces18 Oct 2027
The stands have turned
“Enough is enough. We have watched this for months.” 5 of the 25 senior players walked off to it, and the message was not aimed at any one of them.
Match16 Oct 2027
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Murom and Dinamo Vladivostok, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market11 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.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ruslan Babayan, and the manager let it.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words exchanged at Murom
Maxim Boichenko 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 dugout11 Oct 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 dugout11 Oct 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 Ruslan Babayan is on it.
Market11 Oct 2027
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Murom has been clear about where Leonid Kuznetsov stands, which is more than many ever get.
Looking ahead11 Oct 2027
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Rasil Asaidulin’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Murom needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Market11 Oct 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Philipp Dvoretskov’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Match11 Oct 2027
Murom in the hunt for Europe
Position 5, 15 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad4 Oct 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ruslan Bolov and Murom agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Boardroom4 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.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Shamil Gasanov 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.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
180% 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 dugout4 Oct 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.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.62 on the card, and the Murom support went home talking about one name.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Tempers go at Murom
Maxim Boichenko 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.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
At 33 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.98, and nobody on the pitch better.
Match25 Sep 2027
A 3‑2 win over Rostov 2, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad27 Sep 2027
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.
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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Goalkeepers do not get to make mistakes; they get to make goals. He made one, he knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 3‑2, already talking about the next one.
Squad27 Sep 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 dugout27 Sep 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.
The dugout27 Sep 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 Rasul Guseinov is on it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match18 Sep 2027
Murom taken apart
0‑3 to Saturn, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Market20 Sep 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
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.
Transfer targets20 Sep 2027
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad20 Sep 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Gadjimurad Abdullaev and Murom agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Transfer targets20 Sep 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.
Squad20 Sep 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.
Match18 Sep 2027
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 4 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad13 Sep 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market13 Sep 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.
Match11 Sep 2027
Nobody wants to play Murom right now
4 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.
Market13 Sep 2027
Only the photograph left for Rasul Guseinov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Rasul Guseinov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Murom the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom13 Sep 2027
Murom close the window on a squad of their own making
8 in and 11 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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Mattia Weder is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Transfer targets13 Sep 2027
Murom asked and Chaika said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad13 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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market6 Sep 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.
Market6 Sep 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.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Murom counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Murom now.
Squad6 Sep 2027
The medical room confirms 15 days on the sidelines for Islamitdin Abdullaev, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Transfer targets6 Sep 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Yenisey have kept their man, and Murom go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad6 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.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Wages eat 151% 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.
Squad6 Sep 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Ruslan Bolov makes the team of the month
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market30 Aug 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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
8 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.
Match28 Aug 2027
There were 86 minutes on the clock and Textilschik had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Murom did not stop to explain themselves.
Market30 Aug 2027
Murom say no — this time
The offer from Zenit Penza for Rasil Asaidulin 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.
Market30 Aug 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.
Match28 Aug 2027
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.
Squad30 Aug 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.
Transfer targets30 Aug 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sokol have kept their man, and Murom go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match28 Aug 2027
A 2‑1 win over Textilschik, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match18 Aug 2027
Cup progress for Murom
A 1‑0 win over Dinamo Barnaul, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Squad23 Aug 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.79, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.55 for the rest of it.
Market23 Aug 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.
Transfer targets23 Aug 2027
The deal with Leningradets 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.
Transfer targets23 Aug 2027
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Leningradets is saying, and nobody at Murom is enjoying the guessing.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
Mattia Weder beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 23. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Transfer targets23 Aug 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. SKA Khabarovsk have kept their man, and Murom go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match16 Aug 2027
Every point is an argument now for Murom
Position 8 and 2 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market16 Aug 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.
Market16 Aug 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.
Match14 Aug 2027
No end in sight to Murom's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Murom has to find a result from somewhere.
Market16 Aug 2027
Rasul Guseinov 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.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2027
Everything agreed with KAMAZ, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2027
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Volgar is saying, and nobody at Murom is enjoying the guessing.
Market16 Aug 2027
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Bogdan Kondramashin reports back to Murom with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Match14 Aug 2027
The goals have deserted Murom
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Murom can tell you which week it ends in.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market9 Aug 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.
Market9 Aug 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Torpedo Vladimir waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Murom is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market9 Aug 2027
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Match7 Aug 2027
The wait goes on for Murom
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Murom may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Murom have done the hard part with Volgar, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Shamil Gasanov commits to Murom for another 2 years.
Squad9 Aug 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market2 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.
Market2 Aug 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Amkar waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Murom is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Match31 Jul 2027
5 matches without a win for Murom
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Murom are no longer polite ones.
The dugout2 Aug 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.
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.
Transfer targets2 Aug 2027
Murom asked and Chaika said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad2 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.
Squad2 Aug 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 dugout2 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nikita Zheimo, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market26 Jul 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.
Player ratings26 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 24. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
The deal with Volgar 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.
Match24 Jul 2027
The wait goes on for Murom
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
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.
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.
Match24 Jul 2027
A bad afternoon for Murom against Saturn
0‑1 to Saturn, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Fedot Stepanov after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
Philipp Dvoretskov is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Jul 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Murom may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
Age has not caught Ruslan Bolov yet — 7.82
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.82 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Market19 Jul 2027
Only the photograph left for Rasul Guseinov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Rasul Guseinov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Murom the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad19 Jul 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.
Boardroom19 Jul 2027
3 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.
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
Murom offered $10.0K; Avangard 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 targets19 Jul 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dinamo Kirov have kept their man, and Murom go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market12 Jul 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.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
Murom asked and SKA Khabarovsk said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad12 Jul 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.
Squad12 Jul 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.
Boardroom12 Jul 2027
Wages eat 100% 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.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
Dinamo Kirov have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
Yenisey have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Market12 Jul 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.
The dugout12 Jul 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
Crisis
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
Fedot Stepanov has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Murom can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Match5 Jul 2027
Murom up to position 3
15 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Market5 Jul 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.
Market5 Jul 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 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.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
A loan enquiry to SKA Khabarovsk: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
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
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 dugout5 Jul 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
Crisis
Boardroom28 Jun 2027
Pressure builds in the Murom boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market28 Jun 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Legion waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Murom is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
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.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
A loan move for Mikhail Shtepa is in the works
Murom have made the call to SKA Khabarovsk. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
A loan enquiry to Yenisey: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout28 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market21 Jun 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.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
$11.0K settles it between the clubs for Vladislav Tereshkin
Avangard have accepted the money. What Murom do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
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
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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words exchanged at Murom
Maxim Boichenko 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.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
A loan move for Anton Roschin is in the works
Murom have made the call to KAMAZ. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout21 Jun 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 dugout21 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market14 Jun 2027
Only the photograph left for Rasul Guseinov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Rasul Guseinov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Murom the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
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.
Boardroom14 Jun 2027
Wages swallow 104% 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.
Market14 Jun 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Evgeny Livadnov has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Murom.
Market14 Jun 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.
The dugout14 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.
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.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
Artur Nechaev 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
Crisis
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Match7 Jun 2027
Murom up to position 3
15 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
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
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.
Market7 Jun 2027
Mattia Weder is 19, and Murom have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Squad7 Jun 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mattia Weder and Murom agree another 3 years.
The dugout7 Jun 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 dugout7 Jun 2027
Ruslan Bolov without the man who signed him
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Ruslan Bolov was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
Squad7 Jun 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. Gadjimurad Abdullaev has moved up it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom31 May 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Murom
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Murom is running low.
Squad31 May 2027
A muscle injury and 14 days out for Denis Faizullin
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Murom will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad31 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.
Squad31 May 2027
Shamil Gasanov 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 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.
The dugout31 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
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.
Squad24 May 2027
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 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.
The dugout24 May 2027
Evgeny Livadnov 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 May 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Philipp Dvoretskov’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market17 May 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.
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.
Boardroom17 May 2027
Wages swallow 123% 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match10 May 2027
Murom are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 15 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market10 May 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.
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
“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 dugout10 May 2027
Artur Nechaev 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 Artur Nechaev is on it.
Market10 May 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.
Squad10 May 2027
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Murom will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
The dugout10 May 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.
Squad10 May 2027
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at Murom the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom3 May 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Murom
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Murom is running low.
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.
Squad3 May 2027
A falling-out at Murom
Maxim Boichenko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout3 May 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.
The dugout3 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 Rasul Guseinov is on it.
Market3 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
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
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 dugout26 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 dugout26 Apr 2027
Evgeny Livadnov 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.
Market26 Apr 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Philipp Dvoretskov’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
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.
Boardroom19 Apr 2027
109% 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 dugout19 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.
Market19 Apr 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.
The dugout19 Apr 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match12 Apr 2027
Murom up to position 3
15 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
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
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
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 dugout12 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nikita Kozlovskiy, and the manager let it.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
Artur Nechaev 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
Uneasy
Boardroom5 Apr 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Murom
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Murom is running low.
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.
Squad5 Apr 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 dugout5 Apr 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
The captaincy has been taken off Alexey Yevseev. Murom will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
The dugout5 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
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.
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.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market22 Mar 2027
Rasul Guseinov 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.
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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Murom
Evgeny Livadnov 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.
Boardroom22 Mar 2027
Wages swallow 108% 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 dugout22 Mar 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.
Market22 Mar 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
Uneasy
Match15 Mar 2027
Murom up to position 3
15 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Market15 Mar 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.
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.
Squad15 Mar 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 dugout15 Mar 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.
The dugout15 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
Uneasy
Squad8 Mar 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ruslan Bolov and Murom agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Shamil Gasanov 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
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.
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.
Market8 Mar 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.
Market8 Mar 2027
Murom have made Evgeny Livadnov available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
Ruslan Babayan 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
Uneasy
Market1 Mar 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Shakhter Donetsk waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Murom is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market1 Mar 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.
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
Window shuts: 2 in, 6 out at Murom
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 2 arrived, 6 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad1 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.
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. Rodina 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.
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.
Squad1 Mar 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market22 Feb 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.
Market22 Feb 2027
Only the photograph left for Rasul Guseinov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Rasul Guseinov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Murom the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets22 Feb 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Murom have done the hard part with Fakel, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets22 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.
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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
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.
Market22 Feb 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.
Boardroom22 Feb 2027
93% 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.
Transfer targets22 Feb 2027
A loan move for Artur Koloskov is in the works
Murom have made the call to Veles. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match15 Feb 2027
Murom up to position 3
15 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Market15 Feb 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Murom
Ruslan Bolov 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.
Transfer targets15 Feb 2027
Murom asked and Rodina said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Transfer targets15 Feb 2027
A loan enquiry to Rodina: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets15 Feb 2027
A loan move for Ilja Dyatlov is in the works
Murom have made the call to Rodina. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
Maxim Andreev is still paying for one afternoon at Murom
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The dugout15 Feb 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 dugout15 Feb 2027
Artur Nechaev 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 Artur Nechaev is on it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
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
The deal with Shinnik died in the treatment room. Nobody will say what was found and everybody in the game will find out by Friday.
Market8 Feb 2027
So close: Yegor Sedov’s move dies late
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Ryazan moved on, Yegor Sedov reports back to Murom, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Rotor have kept their man, and Murom go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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 Nikita Sergeev, and the manager let it.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
A loan move for Yan Tses' is in the works
Murom have made the call to Yenisey. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
Rasul Guseinov 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.
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market1 Feb 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.
Market1 Feb 2027
Kirill Roschin 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.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
Everything agreed with Shinnik, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
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.
Market1 Feb 2027
The phone has started ringing about Rasul Guseinov again, and this time the name on the line is Strogino. Murom are listening politely and promising nothing.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
Murom asked and Kuban said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
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
109% 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
The manager makes an example of Maxim Andreev
“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 dugout25 Jan 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.
Market25 Jan 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Philipp Dvoretskov’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
Yegor Sedov 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
Uneasy
Match18 Jan 2027
Murom are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 15 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
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.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
Maxim Andreev is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Yegor Sedov, and the manager let it.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
Artur Nechaev 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.
Market18 Jan 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
Uneasy
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.
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.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
Rasul Guseinov 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
Uneasy
Market4 Jan 2027
Kirill Roschin 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 Jan 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 dugout4 Jan 2027
Evgeny Livadnov 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
Uneasy
Squad28 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Murom
Ruslan Bolov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
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 swallow 329% 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 dugout28 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Evgeny Livadnov, and the manager let it.
Market28 Dec 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Philipp Dvoretskov’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Yegor Sedov 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
Uneasy
Match21 Dec 2026
Murom up to position 3
15 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad21 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.
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
“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 Dec 2026
Maxim Andreev is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
Artur Nechaev 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
Uneasy
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Rasul Guseinov: 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
“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 dugout14 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.
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
Uneasy
Market7 Dec 2026
Kirill Roschin 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.
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
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
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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
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.
The dugout7 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
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.
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 eat 369% 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.
Market30 Nov 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Philipp Dvoretskov’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Yegor Sedov 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 Yegor Sedov is on it.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
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
Uneasy
Match23 Nov 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.
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.
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.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Maxim Andreev is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“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.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Artur Nechaev 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
Uneasy
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.
Squad16 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 dugout16 Nov 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 dugout16 Nov 2026
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Murom told Umar Magomedbekov something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Rasul Guseinov 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 dugout16 Nov 2026
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
Uneasy
Market9 Nov 2026
Only the photograph left for Kirill Roschin
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kirill Roschin will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Murom the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Ruslan Bolov in a row with a teammate
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.
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.
The dugout9 Nov 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 Evgeny Livadnov is on it.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Yegor Sedov, and the manager let it.
Market9 Nov 2026
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
Crisis
Squad2 Nov 2026
There were 10 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad2 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Shamil Gasanov 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.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
369% 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.
Match31 Oct 2026
A bad afternoon for Murom against Rodina 2
0‑2 to Rodina 2, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Ruslan Bolov gets it from the manager
“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 dugout2 Nov 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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Fedot Stepanov to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout2 Nov 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.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match26 Oct 2026
Murom up to position 3
15 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
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 dugout26 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Evgeny Livadnov, and the manager let it.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Marked 7.77. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Match24 Oct 2026
It needed Ruslan Bolov to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Dinamo Vladivostok, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Maxim Andreev's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Fedot Stepanov chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Oct 2026
9 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.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
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.
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.
Match17 Oct 2026
The drought breaks for Murom
6 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Avangard were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
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.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match17 Oct 2026
A 1‑0 win over Avangard, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 11 actions, 7.78, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Nikita Sergeev
“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
Uneasy
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Murom may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market12 Oct 2026
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 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Murom
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Shamil Gasanov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad12 Oct 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.
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
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Leonid Kuznetsov, and the manager let it.
Looking ahead12 Oct 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Ruslan Bolov’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Murom needing him to play as if none of it matters.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match30 Sep 2026
Murom bow out of the cup
Arsenal Tula go through and Murom go home, 1‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 31. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match3 Oct 2026
The wait goes on for Murom
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match3 Oct 2026
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
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
539% 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
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 dugout5 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Islam Orazaev, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Sep 2026
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.
Match28 Sep 2026
Murom up to position 3
11 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Match26 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Murom's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Murom has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad28 Sep 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 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
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.91 on the card, and the Murom support went home talking about one name.
Match26 Sep 2026
Murom share the spoils with Kuban
A 1‑1 draw with Kuban leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
Maxim Andreev is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The dugout28 Sep 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Murom
Ruslan Bolov 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.
Match19 Sep 2026
Murom come up short against Irtysh
Irtysh left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Looking ahead21 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.
Match21 Sep 2026
Halfway: Murom sit in position 3
10 points at the turn. The first half of a season is a promise; the second is a bill, and the town is about to find out which of the two this one was.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
4.27 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Marked 4.94, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
Murom close the window on a squad of their own making
11 in and 1 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.
Market14 Sep 2026
Only the photograph left for Kirill Roschin
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kirill Roschin will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Murom the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
Match12 Sep 2026
Murom come up short against Kaluga
Kaluga left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
200 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.
Looking ahead14 Sep 2026
The big one: Irtysh 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 ratings14 Sep 2026
Ruslan Bolov beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Fedot Stepanov left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
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.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Fakel keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad7 Sep 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.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Murom asked and Saturn said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
“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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Danil Shatalov 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.
Squad7 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.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Murom counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Murom now.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market31 Aug 2026
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.
Match31 Aug 2026
Murom are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 10 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market31 Aug 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Murom
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Shamil Gasanov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad31 Aug 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.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Alexey Yevseev did the work nobody counts — 6.98
12 combined actions and 6.98. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
The dugout31 Aug 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.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match29 Aug 2026
The run is over for Murom
4 matches without defeat, and then Rodina 2. Nobody at the ground pretended it would go on forever; nobody expected it to stop here either.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match19 Aug 2026
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Artur Nechaev obliged against Torpedo Miass. 2‑1 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Murom.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Marked 8.23 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Market24 Aug 2026
Yegor Sedov 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.
Match22 Aug 2026
Murom cannot stop winning
4 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.
Squad24 Aug 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.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Match22 Aug 2026
A 1‑0 win over Dinamo Vladivostok, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alikadi Saidov, and the manager let it.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Marked 7.80. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match15 Aug 2026
3‑0, and Alexey Yevseev took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Murom tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
The deal with Fakel 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.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Fakel have kept their man, and Murom go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad17 Aug 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.
Squad17 Aug 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Alexey Yevseev in the middle of it, and Avangard unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.27, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Ninety minutes of Alexey Yevseev at his very best
Marked 8.05. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Murom.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Fedot Stepanov on a 3‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market10 Aug 2026
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” KDV Tomsk had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Murom had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Fakel, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad10 Aug 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Gennady Kolesnikov 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Stepan Alyoshin 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Semyon Bobylev 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.
Match8 Aug 2026
Torpedo Miass made Murom work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Marked 7.83. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Squad10 Aug 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match1 Aug 2026
Murom taken apart
1‑4 to Kuban, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ruslan Bolov commits to Murom for another 2 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Murom
Ruslan Bolov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Aug 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.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Shamil Gasanov, and the manager let it.
Boardroom3 Aug 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Market3 Aug 2026
The clock runs on Nikita Zheimo's contract
49 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.