“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Tyumen have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vitaly Shitov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
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 Vitaly Shitov is on it.
Vitaly Shitov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tyumen this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ivan Zazvonkin trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
What was a back-page story is now a matter for the terraces, and the terraces do not do nuance. Tyumen would like it dealt with before it becomes the only question anybody asks.
Vitaly Shitov 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.
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 Alexandr Bem is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Tyumen, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Gleb Zakharov'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.
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
In brief
SquadAlexandr Bem is training like a man with a point to make
“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 Tyumen, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Tyumen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitaly Shitov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Dinamo Moscow 2 held the lead for 4 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Tyumen answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
Krystian Mucha 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Artem Anoshin is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
“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 Tyumen, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
“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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Damir Talikin falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody at Tyumen will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
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.” Nazar Kotov chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
In brief
The dugoutVitaly Shitov asks for a word with the manager
0‑6 against Zenit, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
The terraces23 Nov 2026
A cup hiding at Zenit leaves Tyumen explaining themselves
0-6, 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.
The terraces23 Nov 2026
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 5 of the 25 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Alexandr Bem 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.
Match18 Nov 2026
Nobody could stop scoring
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Tyumen and Zenit in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
“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.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Maxim Dmitriev was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.44. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Alexandr Bem was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vitaly Shitov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The fixture the rest of the division is looking forward to more than either of the sides in it. Both know a win changes the season and a defeat does not end it, which is what makes it hard to play.
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 Alexandr Bem is on it.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Vladlen Babaev’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Tyumen needing him to play as if none of it matters.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Nikita Yanovich signs something — a contract at Tyumen or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Tyumen scored in the 93th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Two goals and a mark of 8.80 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Tyumen, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tyumen this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vitaly Shitov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Yegor Gurenko has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Ivan Zazvonkin provided it, and the 8.60 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
1 for Pavel Shakuro, marked 7.87, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Every 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.
Position 3, 16 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.
1 for Damir Talikin, marked 7.97, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Successful dribbles: 20. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vladlen Babaev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Nazar Kotov could afford to be generous.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
A 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 7.92 for the rest of it.
Vitaly Shitov 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.
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Vitaly Shitov has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
“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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Tyumen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Damir Talikin is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tyumen can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tyumen this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody at Tyumen 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.
Something was said to Dmitry Begun and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
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.
Alexandr Bem and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Tyumen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladlen Babaev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every club 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Kirill Boyarskikh has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Position 10, 10 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
“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 Tyumen, and it is not being withdrawn.
Alexandr Bem 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.
0‑1 to Leningradets, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Damir Talikin falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vitaly Shitov, and the manager let it.
The dugout28 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 0‑1 Nazar Kotov left the room before anybody could ask which.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Alexandr Bezchasnyuk’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Tyumen needing him to play as if none of it matters.
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.
Alexandr Bem 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.
Successful dribbles: 21. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Platon Yermakov has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Alexei Zhemchuzhnikov has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 12 arrived, 8 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tyumen can pretend not to have heard.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Neftekhimik have kept their man, and Tyumen go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Tyumen training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pavel Shakuro 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.
100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 92. Alania had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Krystian Mucha 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.
“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 Tyumen, and it is not being withdrawn.
Pavel Shakuro was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivan Chudin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
6 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.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Tyumen than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ivan Zazvonkin trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“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 Tyumen, and it is not being withdrawn.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Metallurg have kept their man, and Tyumen go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tyumen this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout31 Aug 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 0‑3 Nazar Kotov left the room before anybody could ask which.
A mark of 7.88 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.89 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
The deal with Chaika 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.
Successful dribbles: 21. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Alexandr Bem 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.
He is 19 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.
In brief
SquadIvan Chudin falls out with a teammate over standards
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Chaika is saying, and nobody at Tyumen is enjoying the guessing.
Tyumen asked and Neftekhimik said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Pavel Shakuro and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniil Kamlashev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is doing his job and he is not settling. Tyumen were supposed to be a step up in his own reckoning, and his own reckoning has been adjusted since he arrived.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager’s verdict
Looking aheadTyumen take on the side everybody is chasing
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tyumen this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Gavriil Zorin is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Gennady Kobzev is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Evgeniy Gribov has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Yegor Trofimov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Wiktor Benedyktowicz and Tyumen agree another 3 years.
10 seasons and 183 appearances, all of them here. Careers like this are not designed; they happen to a certain kind of man at a certain kind of club, and this town has one.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Up for the corner, and Damir Talikin delivers — 7.52
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Damir Talikin scored, was marked 7.52, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
The name of Sergey Zuikov has come up in conversations Tyumen were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivan Chudin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.