From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match23 Nov 2026
Every point is an argument now for Orel
Position 14 and 9 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
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.
Market23 Nov 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Orel is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Orel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniil Arsentjev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Aslan Aushev 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 Orel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout23 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
100 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.
Match21 Nov 2026
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Orel
Vadim Averkiev 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.
Market16 Nov 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Danila Titov 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Orel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrey Yakushin is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match16 Nov 2026
Orel at the halfway mark
Half the programme played, position 13, 8 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Aslan Aushev, and the manager let it.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Evgeniy Dzyuba after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Squad16 Nov 2026
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Orel will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market9 Nov 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 Orel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match7 Nov 2026
Orel come up short against Salyut
Salyut left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Daniil Arsentjev 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Orel
Andrey Yakushin 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 dugout9 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 dugout9 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 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Evgeniy Dzyuba to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout9 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.
Market9 Nov 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Orel, another week without a signature from Ivan Oborocha.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Every debut is a small story about the future: German Dmitriev, 14 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market2 Nov 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Georgy Borisov, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.11
A mark of 8.11 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
An order from above at Orel: somebody has to go
Balance sheets do not care about form or about who the manager was planning to build around. The board have decided a sale is required, and the only question left is which name ends up carrying it.
Match31 Oct 2026
The drought breaks for Orel
6 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Kvant were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Orel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniil Arsentjev 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.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
228% of the income goes out in wages at Orel
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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Orel
Aslan Aushev 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 terraces2 Nov 2026
He is 20 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match24 Oct 2026
A hiding for Orel
Beaten 1‑4 by Ryazan, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match26 Oct 2026
Every point is an argument now for Orel
Position 15 and 4 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.
Market26 Oct 2026
Only the photograph left for Georgy Borisov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Georgy Borisov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Orel the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match24 Oct 2026
The wait goes on for Orel
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.
Match24 Oct 2026
Orel leaking at the back
6 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Orel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andrey Yakushin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom26 Oct 2026
Doors closed at Orel
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Squad26 Oct 2026
12 new faces, and Orel are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Evgeniy Dzyuba after 1‑4, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Oct 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Orel can pretend not to have heard.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Orel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniil Arsentjev 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Orel
Aslan Aushev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market19 Oct 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Vladislav Komarov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market19 Oct 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. German Dmitriev is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Arnur Sagalbaev
“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 dugout19 Oct 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 Orel, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market19 Oct 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Igor Bugaenko signs something — a contract at Orel or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad19 Oct 2026
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at Orel the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match10 Oct 2026
The wait goes on for Orel
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.
Match10 Oct 2026
Orel leaking at the back
5 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.
Match10 Oct 2026
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Daniil Arsentjev 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 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Orel
Aslan Aushev 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 dugout12 Oct 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout12 Oct 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 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Evgeniy Dzyuba to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Islam-Bek Gubzhokov'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 dugout12 Oct 2026
Vadim Averkiev 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 Orel, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market5 Oct 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 Orel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match3 Oct 2026
The wait goes on for Orel
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.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match3 Oct 2026
Orel 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.
Match3 Oct 2026
Orel come up short against Rotor 2
Rotor 2 left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
292% of the income goes out in wages at Orel
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
Tempers go at Orel
Aslan Aushev 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Orel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andrey Yakushin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Sep 2026
Chastening afternoon for Orel
A 0‑4 beating by Dinamo St Petersburg was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Match28 Sep 2026
Every point is an argument now for Orel
Position 14 and 4 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
There were 8 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.
Market28 Sep 2026
Georgy Borisov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Orel they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Orel
Vadim Averkiev 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
3 matches without a goal for Orel
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Daniil Arsentjev 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 dugout28 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Vadim Averkiev
“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.
Boardroom28 Sep 2026
Inquest at Orel
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 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 Orel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match19 Sep 2026
Spartak Tambov left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Orel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eduard Maslov 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 Sep 2026
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Looking ahead21 Sep 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Igor Bugaenko’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Orel needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Off the academy pitches and into a senior shirt, at 14. The parents in the stand will keep the programme, and so will he.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Ivan Oborocha 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.
Market21 Sep 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Igor Bugaenko signs something — a contract at Orel or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market14 Sep 2026
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Zvezda waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Orel is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Match12 Sep 2026
Nowhere to hide for Orel
0‑4 against Znamya Truda, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market14 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 Orel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad14 Sep 2026
There were 6 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.
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 22 signed and 2 gone
That is the business done at Orel until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Market14 Sep 2026
One of our own: Nikolai Pavlov joins the Orel first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Nikolai Pavlov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market14 Sep 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Andrey Ermakov 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Orel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andrey Yakushin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
Doors closed at Orel
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market7 Sep 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 29. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
No sign of nerves from Georgy Borisov at 21 — 7.96
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Georgy Borisov did not need any: 7.96, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Match5 Sep 2026
It had gone 6 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.
Market7 Sep 2026
Everyone has stopped pretending: Zvezda will make the call about Georgy Borisov this week. Orel have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Orel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniil Arsentjev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Orel
Aslan Aushev 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.
Match5 Sep 2026
Orel get the job done against Strogino
A 1‑0 win over Strogino, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Dmitry Merkulov
“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
Match29 Aug 2026
Chastening afternoon for Orel
A 0‑4 beating by Rodina M was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Match29 Aug 2026
The wait goes on for Orel
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.
Match29 Aug 2026
Orel leaking at the back
5 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Orel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniil Arsentjev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
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.
Boardroom31 Aug 2026
Inquest at Orel
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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Too much change too quickly at Orel
12 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
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 0‑4 Evgeniy Dzyuba left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Aug 2026
There were 11 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.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 37. 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.
Match19 Aug 2026
The small margins put Orel out
Out, 1‑4 to Leningradets, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
A brace, and Igor Bugaenko takes the afternoon — 8.54
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Igor Bugaenko provided it, and the 8.54 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
A cup embarrassment at Leningradets follows Orel home
1-4. Going out of a cup is one afternoon; going out like that is a week of phone-ins, and the manager will hear every one of them.
Match22 Aug 2026
No end in sight to Orel's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Orel has to find a result from somewhere.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
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.
Match22 Aug 2026
No clean sheets in sight for Orel
4 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Orel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andrey Yakushin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match15 Aug 2026
A hiding for Orel
Beaten 0‑3 by Dinamo Bryansk, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match15 Aug 2026
Orel cannot find the net
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Orel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniil Arsentjev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Evgeny Ushakov
“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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
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.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
Nobody left the Orel dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad17 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 Orel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market10 Aug 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 Orel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Orel
Vadim Averkiev 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.
Match8 Aug 2026
0‑2 to SKA Khabarovsk 2, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Prokhor Dudko 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Georgy Dubrovin 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Stanislav Grishin 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 dugout10 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Orel are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 30. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Vadim Averkiev commits to Orel for another 3 years.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Orel have gone to Alania with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Squad3 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 Orel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match1 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Market3 Aug 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad3 Aug 2026
5 new faces, and Orel are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
The plan did not have a place for Dmitry Kopylov
Nobody at Orel is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.