31 Aug 2027
Tuesday
Process
57 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

30 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

The knee: Artur Anisimov out for 82 days

82 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. KAMAZ lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Market

Terms done: Stijn Meijer is going

Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Rodina waiting with a shirt. Nobody at KAMAZ is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.

Market

Stijn Meijer asks to leave KAMAZ

“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.

Squad

Words exchanged at KAMAZ

David Karaev 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.

Squad

Daniil Zorin 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 targets

KAMAZ rebuffed over Tom Kljun

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Radnik Surdulica have kept their man, and KAMAZ go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

The terraces

KAMAZ supporters have found a favourite in Surkhaikhan Abdullaev

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Surkhaikhan Abdullaev 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.

Match

KAMAZ find a way past Chernomorets

Chernomorets made KAMAZ work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Market

Fakel expected to open talks for Kirill Pogrebnyak

Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. KAMAZ will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.

In brief

Back issues
56 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

23 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Artur Anisimov damages knee ligaments — 89 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 89 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Market

Kirill Pogrebnyak asks to leave KAMAZ

“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.

Market

Rudar Velenje watching Stijn Meijer

The interest is real enough to have reached print. KAMAZ have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Squad

A row about effort at KAMAZ

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniil Zorin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Transfer targets

KAMAZ rebuffed over Daniil Motorin

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Rubin have kept their man, and KAMAZ go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Squad

Artem Popov 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 KAMAZ this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Chelyabinsk take the points off KAMAZ

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

The dugout

Nil Zinovyev: “No excuses”

“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.

Transfer targets

KAMAZ try to borrow Thiago Yfran

Temperley 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.

In brief

55 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

16 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Artur Anisimov damages knee ligaments — 96 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 96 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Transfer targets

No thanks: Maxim Khokhlov rejects the move

KAMAZ had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Zenit, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Agustín Menna

KAMAZ asked and Colón said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Squad

Tempers go at KAMAZ

Artem Popov 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.

Match

Ufa take the points off KAMAZ

Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Market

Stepan Zhemchuzhnikov steps up from the KAMAZ academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Stepan 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 dugout

No hiding place for Maxim Burko

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Maxim Burko, and the manager let it.

Squad

Abdulaziz Al-Hadhood wants to go home

“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and KAMAZ know it.

Market

No place for Kirill Pogrebnyak in the plan

“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Kirill Pogrebnyak has his answer from KAMAZ; what he does with it is the next window’s story.

In brief

54 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

9 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

The knee: Artur Anisimov out for 103 days

103 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. KAMAZ lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Player ratings

Kirill Pogrebnyak, 35, rolls back the years — 7.80

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.80 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Market

Anton Roschin is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at KAMAZ is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Transfer targets

Konstantin Maradishvili is a medical away from KAMAZ

The deal with Akron 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.

Squad

Roman Manuilov signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Roman Manuilov commits to KAMAZ for another 3 years.

Squad

A falling-out at KAMAZ

David Karaev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at KAMAZ

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniil Zorin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Player ratings

Surkhaikhan Abdullaev runs at them all day

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.

Transfer targets

CSKA Moscow tell KAMAZ: Gleb Popolitov is not for sale

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.

In brief

53 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

2 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

The knee: Artur Anisimov out for 111 days

111 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. KAMAZ lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Player ratings

Surkhaikhan Abdullaev beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 24. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

Roman Manuilov signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Roman Manuilov commits to KAMAZ for another 3 years.

Squad

Words exchanged at KAMAZ

David Karaev 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.

Squad

Daniil Zorin 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 targets

Door shut on Thiago Rojas

KAMAZ asked and Defensa y Justicia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Kirill Pogrebnyak

“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.

Market

The clock runs on Roman Manuilov's contract

37 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.

Transfer targets

KAMAZ try to borrow Konstantin Maradishvili

Akron 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.

In brief

  • Transfer targets A loan move for Lucas Girotti is in the works
  • Market No place for Roman Zaschepkin in the plan
  • The dugout The view from the dugout
52 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

26 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Artur Anisimov damages knee ligaments — 119 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 119 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Market

KAMAZ say no — this time

The offer from Akhmat Grozny for David Karaev 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.

Market

Terms done: Anton Roschin is going

Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Spartak Kostroma waiting with a shirt. Nobody at KAMAZ is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.

Transfer targets

No thanks: Cristian Ramírez rejects the move

KAMAZ had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Lokomotiv Moscow, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.

Market

Vladislav Vasiljev puts it in writing

“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 KAMAZ, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Tempers go at KAMAZ

David Karaev 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.

Transfer targets

KAMAZ baulk at the price for Nikita Savin

Rodina wanted more than $130.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.

Transfer targets

Colón tell KAMAZ: Maximo Ingravidi is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Surkhaikhan Abdullaev

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.

In brief

51 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

19 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

The knee: Artur Anisimov out for 127 days

127 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. KAMAZ lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Market

Artem Sukhanov says no to Chertanovo

“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Artem Sukhanov had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Artur Anisimov

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.

Transfer targets

KAMAZ agree $130.0K for Nikita Savin

The clubs have shaken hands with Rodina; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.

Squad

Tempers go at KAMAZ

Artem Popov 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.

Boardroom

2 academy graduates step up at KAMAZ

Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.

Squad

Daniil Zorin 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 targets

Torpedo Moscow tell KAMAZ: Yegor Sysoev is not for sale

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.

Market

KAMAZ promote Foma Pereverzev from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Foma Pereverzev has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

In brief

50 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

12 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

KAMAZ turn down Neftekhimik for Timofey Kalistratov

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

A falling-out at KAMAZ

David Karaev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at KAMAZ training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniil Zorin 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.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Davit Hakobyan

KAMAZ asked and Podbrezova said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

The dugout

No hiding place for Stijn Meijer

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Stijn Meijer, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Andrey Semenov 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 KAMAZ, and both men came out saying it was fine.

The dugout

When it matters, Roman Zaschepkin plays

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.

Market

The Muhammad Sultonov talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. KAMAZ know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

Squad

Muhammad Sultonov is not doing himself any favours

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

  • The dugout The manager plants his flag on David Karaev
  • Match Nothing left to play for but pride at KAMAZ
49 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

5 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Transfer targets

No thanks: Danila Godyaev rejects the move

KAMAZ had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Lokomotiv Moscow, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.

Market

Neftekhimik join the queue for Timofey Kalistratov

Add another name to the list: Neftekhimik have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Timofey Kalistratov. The answer from KAMAZ has not changed — yet.

Squad

A falling-out at KAMAZ

Artem Popov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Zahir Yunis

KAMAZ asked and Colón said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Squad

Words at KAMAZ training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artem Arutyunov 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.

Transfer targets

KAMAZ ask about Konstantin Maradishvili

A loan enquiry to Akron: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.

Boardroom

Intake day at the KAMAZ academy

5 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.

The dugout

No hiding place for Abdulaziz Al-Hadhood

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Abdulaziz Al-Hadhood, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Surkhaikhan Abdullaev has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at KAMAZ 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.

In brief

48 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

28 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Artem Sukhanov agrees terms with Chertanovo

The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around KAMAZ people have started saying his name in the past tense.

Transfer targets

No thanks: Cristian Ramírez rejects the move

KAMAZ had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Lokomotiv Moscow, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.

Squad

Real improvement from Surkhaikhan Abdullaev at KAMAZ

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Surkhaikhan Abdullaev is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Squad

Artem Popov 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 KAMAZ this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Late improvement for Maxim Laikin

At 24 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 3 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.

Squad

A row about effort at KAMAZ

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Khubaev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Boardroom

98% of the income goes out in wages at KAMAZ

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 targets

KAMAZ ask about Zahir Yunis

A loan enquiry to Colón: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.

Transfer targets

KAMAZ ask about Artem Arutyunov

A loan enquiry to Arsenal Tula: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.

In brief

47 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

21 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

KAMAZ turn down Lokomotiv Moscow for David Karaev

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

The terraces

A $690.0K sale, and a town that did not want it

Saminu Abdullahi has gone, the accounts have $690.0K in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.

Squad

The step up is real for Abdulaziz Al-Hadhood

At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.

Squad

David Karaev 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 KAMAZ this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

Business is business: Saminu Abdullahi goes

Lokomotiv Moscow paid $690.0K and KAMAZ took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Kirill Kosarev

KAMAZ asked and Zenit said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Squad

A row about effort at KAMAZ

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Timofey Kalistratov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Maxim Burko

“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 dugout

When it matters, Matvey Shavel plays

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.

In brief

46 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

14 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A falling-out at KAMAZ

David Karaev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Market

Daniil Cherepanov steps up from the KAMAZ academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Daniil Cherepanov 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.

Market

KAMAZ promote Vladlen Abakumov from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Vladlen Abakumov 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.

Squad

A row about effort at KAMAZ

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Khubaev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

Saminu Abdullahi 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 KAMAZ, and both men came out saying it was fine.

The dugout

When it matters, Roman Zaschepkin plays

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.

Squad

A wage question at KAMAZ

Saminu Abdullahi has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.

The terraces

The stands have heard the Saminu Abdullahi talk too

What was a back-page story is now a matter for the terraces, and the terraces do not do nuance. KAMAZ would like it dealt with before it becomes the only question anybody asks.

Market

Ruslan Ayukin linked with a move away

The name of Ruslan Ayukin keeps appearing in other people's back pages. KAMAZ say nothing, which says plenty.

In brief

45 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

7 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

The season belongs to Artur Anisimov

An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and KAMAZ have had the benefit of it.

Squad

Words exchanged at KAMAZ

David Karaev 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.

Squad

Words at KAMAZ training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Khubaev 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.

Market

Still no ink between KAMAZ and Saminu Abdullahi

“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at KAMAZ, another week without a signature from Saminu Abdullahi.

The dugout

Surkhaikhan Abdullaev has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at KAMAZ 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.

Squad

A promotion for Maxim Laikin

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. Maxim Laikin has moved up it.

In brief

44 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

31 May 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Tempers go at KAMAZ

David Karaev 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.

Squad

Words at KAMAZ training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniil Zorin 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 dugout

Andrey Semenov 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.

Boardroom

104% of the income goes out in wages at KAMAZ

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.

Market

The clock does Saminu Abdullahi’s negotiating for him

1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee KAMAZ could ask drops and the wages Saminu Abdullahi can ask rise.

The dugout

Andrey Solodukhin has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at KAMAZ 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 dugout

A door opens for Stijn Meijer

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.

Market

The Roman Manuilov talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. KAMAZ know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

Squad

Abdulaziz Al-Hadhood takes up the language

The least glamorous thing a foreign signing ever does and the one that decides most of them. A player who can hear the shout behind him is a different footballer from one who cannot.

In brief

43 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

24 May 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The dugout

Andrey Semenov: 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.” KAMAZ have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

David Karaev 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 KAMAZ this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at KAMAZ training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrey Semenov 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 dugout

Stijn Meijer 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 dugout

Matvey Shavel 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 Matvey Shavel is on it.

Market

The Artem Sukhanov talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. KAMAZ know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

In brief

42 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

17 May 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Only the photograph left for Saminu Abdullahi

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Saminu Abdullahi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around KAMAZ the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Words exchanged at KAMAZ

Artem Popov 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.

Squad

A row about effort at KAMAZ

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniil Zorin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

No hiding place for Timofey Kalistratov

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Timofey Kalistratov, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Roman Zaschepkin has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at KAMAZ 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.

Squad

Saminu Abdullahi wants to know why he earns less

Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and KAMAZ have no good answer.

Market

Ruslan Ayukin linked with a move away

The name of Ruslan Ayukin keeps appearing in other people's back pages. KAMAZ say nothing, which says plenty.

The dugout

Abdulaziz Al-Hadhood asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

The dugout

A door opens for Stijn Meijer

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.

In brief

41 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

10 May 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A falling-out at KAMAZ

Artem Popov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Daniil Zorin 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.

Market

KAMAZ promote Alexei Ponomarev from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Alexei Ponomarev 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.

Market

Yakov Berezhnoy steps up from the KAMAZ academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Yakov Berezhnoy 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 dugout

Andrey Solodukhin 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 dugout

Surkhaikhan Abdullaev has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at KAMAZ 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 dugout

Timofey Kalistratov 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.

Market

Muhammad Sultonov linked with a move away

The name of Muhammad Sultonov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. KAMAZ say nothing, which says plenty.

The dugout

The manager makes Stijn Meijer a promise

Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at KAMAZ. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.

In brief

40 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

3 May 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A career in one shirt: Ruslan Ayukin

13 seasons and 278 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.

The dugout

Kirill Pogrebnyak says KAMAZ went back on their word

“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.

Squad

Tempers go at KAMAZ

David Karaev 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 dugout

Saminu Abdullahi 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.

Squad

Words at KAMAZ training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Khubaev 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.

Boardroom

Wages eat 97% of everything KAMAZ 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.

Market

Saminu Abdullahi runs his contract down

2 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs KAMAZ money.

The dugout

Andrey Solodukhin has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at KAMAZ 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 dugout

Maxim Burko knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Maxim Burko trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

39 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

26 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

David Karaev 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 KAMAZ this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at KAMAZ training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniil Zorin 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 dugout

Saminu Abdullahi asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

The dugout

Matvey Shavel 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 Matvey Shavel is on it.

Market

The Artem Sukhanov talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. KAMAZ know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

The dugout

A door opens for Stijn Meijer

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.

In brief

38 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

19 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Saminu Abdullahi is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at KAMAZ is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

David Karaev 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 KAMAZ this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Timofey Kalistratov 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 dugout

Roman Zaschepkin has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at KAMAZ 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.

Market

The Ruslan Ayukin story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ruslan Ayukin signs something — a contract at KAMAZ or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

The dugout

Stijn Meijer has been promised minutes

A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Stijn Meijer has written the date down.

In brief

37 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

12 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The dugout

Roman Silaev says KAMAZ went back on their word

“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.

Squad

Tempers go at KAMAZ

David Karaev 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.

Market

KAMAZ promote Roman Pokrovsky from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Roman Pokrovsky 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.

Squad

Words at KAMAZ training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Khubaev 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 dugout

Surkhaikhan Abdullaev has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at KAMAZ 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.

Market

The Muhammad Sultonov story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Muhammad Sultonov signs something — a contract at KAMAZ or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

In brief

36 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

5 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Words exchanged at KAMAZ

David Karaev 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.

Squad

A row about effort at KAMAZ

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniil Zorin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

Andrey Semenov 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.

Market

KAMAZ and Saminu Abdullahi are talking past each other

“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.

Boardroom

Wages swallow 89% of the KAMAZ 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.

Squad

Kirill Pogrebnyak slips down the pecking order

The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Kirill Pogrebnyak is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.

The dugout

When it matters, Andrey Solodukhin plays

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.

Market

Saminu Abdullahi runs his contract down

3 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs KAMAZ money.

Market

The Roman Manuilov question follows KAMAZ around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Roman Manuilov’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

In brief

35 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

29 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The dugout

Abdulaziz Al-Hadhood keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” KAMAZ may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Words exchanged at KAMAZ

Artem Popov 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.

Squad

A row about effort at KAMAZ

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniil Zorin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

Andrey Semenov 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 Andrey Semenov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

The dugout

Matvey Shavel has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at KAMAZ 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 dugout

The manager makes Kirill Pogrebnyak a promise

Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at KAMAZ. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.

In brief

34 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

22 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Only the photograph left for Saminu Abdullahi

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Saminu Abdullahi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around KAMAZ the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Tempers go at KAMAZ

Artem Popov 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.

Squad

Words at KAMAZ training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Khubaev 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.

Squad

Abdulaziz Al-Hadhood wants to go home

“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at KAMAZ can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Kirill Pogrebnyak

“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 dugout

Timofey Kalistratov 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 KAMAZ, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

33 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

15 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Tempers go at KAMAZ

David Karaev 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.

Squad

Words at KAMAZ training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniil Zorin 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 dugout

Saminu Abdullahi 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 dugout

Surkhaikhan Abdullaev 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 Surkhaikhan Abdullaev is on it.

The dugout

Timofey Kalistratov 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.

Squad

Saminu Abdullahi has seen what the next man earns

Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at KAMAZ that is a harder question to answer.

In brief

32 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

8 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Artem Popov stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Artem Popov and KAMAZ agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Words exchanged at KAMAZ

David Karaev 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.

Squad

Daniil Zorin 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 targets

KAMAZ rebuffed over Juan Turletti

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Gimnasia y Tiro have kept their man, and KAMAZ go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Match

A bad afternoon for KAMAZ against Rotor

0‑2 to Rotor, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Market

Alexey Belov steps up from the KAMAZ academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Alexey Belov 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 dugout

Nil Zinovyev answers for it

“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.

The dugout

Saminu Abdullahi 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 KAMAZ, and both men came out saying it was fine.

The dugout

When it matters, Andrey Solodukhin plays

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.

In brief

31 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

1 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Stijn Meijer puts it in writing

“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 KAMAZ, and it is not being withdrawn.

Boardroom

Window shuts: 1 in, 0 out at KAMAZ

The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 1 arrived, 0 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.

Squad

A falling-out at KAMAZ

David Karaev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Transfer targets

KAMAZ rebuffed over Santiago Gauna

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Almirante Brown have kept their man, and KAMAZ go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Player ratings

Both jobs done by Roman Manuilov — 7.06

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. 10 actions, 7.06, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.

Match

Two points walk out of the ground

Level with 92 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon KAMAZ had all but put away. Ural will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.

Market

Talks stall between KAMAZ and Saminu Abdullahi

“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.

Player ratings

Surkhaikhan Abdullaev was the difference for KAMAZ

Marked 7.82. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.

Player ratings

Vitaly Semenov runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

30 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

22 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Saminu Abdullahi has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around KAMAZ they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Boardroom

Saminu Abdullahi signs for Rubin while still at KAMAZ

The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Saminu Abdullahi has agreed terms with Rubin for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.

Squad

David Karaev 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 KAMAZ this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at KAMAZ training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniil Zorin 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.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Lisandro Montenegro

KAMAZ asked and Chacarita Juniors said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Surkhaikhan Abdullaev

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.

Match

KAMAZ find a way past Fakel

Fakel made KAMAZ work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Squad

Artur Anisimov reaches 200 appearances

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.

Player ratings

The afternoon belonged to Surkhaikhan Abdullaev

A mark of 7.82, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.

In brief

29 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

15 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

KAMAZ say no — this time

The offer from Kuban Holding for Artem Sukhanov 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.

Squad

Tempers go at KAMAZ

David Karaev 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.

Squad

Daniil Zorin 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 targets

KAMAZ rebuffed over El Mehdi Maouhoub

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dinamo Moscow have kept their man, and KAMAZ go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Match

Daniil Zorin’s goal not enough for KAMAZ

Daniil Zorin scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Torpedo Moscow, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

The dugout

Nil Zinovyev answers for it

“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.

Player ratings

Surkhaikhan Abdullaev was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 13. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

The dugout

Roman Zaschepkin 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 dugout

Surkhaikhan Abdullaev 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 Surkhaikhan Abdullaev is on it.

In brief

28 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

8 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

KAMAZ say no — this time

The offer from FCI Tallinn for Ruslan Ayukin 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.

The dugout

Vyacheslav Korobov keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” KAMAZ may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

A falling-out at KAMAZ

Artem Popov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Valentín Fenoglio

KAMAZ asked and Estudiantes said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Market

Ilya Merzlyakov steps up from the KAMAZ academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Ilya Merzlyakov 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.

Match

Arsenal Tula take the points off KAMAZ

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Player ratings

David Karaev ran the middle of the pitch — 6.91

He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 11 combined actions and a mark of 6.91, and not one of them will make a highlights package.

Squad

Words at KAMAZ training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Khubaev 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 dugout

Nil Zinovyev faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Nil Zinovyev after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

In brief

27 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

1 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Baltika come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and KAMAZ did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Market

Artem Sukhanov turns Luki-Energiya down

“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.

Market

Stijn Meijer 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 KAMAZ can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

A muscle injury sidelines Artur Anisimov for 15 days

Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. KAMAZ will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.

Squad

Words exchanged at KAMAZ

Artem Popov 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.

Squad

Daniil Zorin 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 targets

Door shut on Santiago Gauna

KAMAZ asked and Almirante Brown said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Match

KAMAZ come up short against Shinnik

Shinnik left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout

Nil Zinovyev faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Nil Zinovyev after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

In brief

26 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

25 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

KAMAZ say no — this time

The offer from Koper for David Karaev 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.

Market

Artem Sukhanov asks to leave KAMAZ

“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 ratings

Muhammad Sultonov, 34, rolls back the years — 8.23

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.23 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Squad

David Karaev 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 KAMAZ this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at KAMAZ training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniil Zorin 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.

Match

KAMAZ get the job done against Sokol

A 2‑0 win over Sokol, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Player ratings

Daniil Shamkin was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.16. 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.

Player ratings

One of those days for Daniil Zorin

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.06, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Boardroom

Wages eat 89% of everything KAMAZ 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.

In brief

25 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

18 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Tempers go at KAMAZ

David Karaev 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 terraces

One of their own: Daniil Zorin

He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.

Match

KAMAZ find a way past Volga

Volga made KAMAZ work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Surkhaikhan Abdullaev

Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Words at KAMAZ training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Khubaev 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 ratings

One of those days for David Karaev

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.09, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

Abdulaziz Al-Hadhood wants to go home

“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and KAMAZ know it.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Nil Zinovyev kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.

The dugout

No hiding place for Maxim Burko

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Maxim Burko, and the manager let it.

In brief

24 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

11 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Words exchanged at KAMAZ

David Karaev 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.

Squad

Words at KAMAZ training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniil Zorin 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.

Match

KAMAZ come up short against Neftekhimik

Neftekhimik left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout

No hiding place for Artur Anisimov

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Artur Anisimov, and the manager let it.

The dugout

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 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Nil Zinovyev to a room that had heard them before.

Player ratings

Surkhaikhan Abdullaev beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 15. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

The dugout

Saminu Abdullahi 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 KAMAZ, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Squad

Saminu Abdullahi suspended

One booking too many, and Saminu Abdullahi sits out. KAMAZ lose him for the sort of avoidable reason that makes a manager's week longer.

The dugout

When it matters, Andrey Solodukhin plays

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.

In brief

23 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

4 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

KAMAZ turn down Tammeka for Surkhaikhan Abdullaev

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Match

Still nobody has beaten KAMAZ

The unbeaten run reaches 7. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.

Squad

A falling-out at KAMAZ

David Karaev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

The step up is real for Vladislav Vasiljev

At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.

Squad

Words at KAMAZ training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniil Zorin 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.

Match

Daniil Shamkin sends KAMAZ past SKA Khabarovsk

It finished 2‑0, and it was Daniil Shamkin’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to KAMAZ.

Player ratings

A masterclass from David Karaev

Marked 8.34 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Daniil Shamkin

Marked 8.30 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Market

KAMAZ and Saminu Abdullahi are talking past each other

“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.

In brief

22 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

28 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

David Karaev 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 KAMAZ this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Still nobody has beaten KAMAZ

The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.

Boardroom

Wages eat 146% of everything KAMAZ 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.

Match

KAMAZ find a way past Spartak Kostroma

Spartak Kostroma made KAMAZ work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Squad

David Khubaev 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Andrey Semenov

“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 ratings

Daniil Shamkin takes the honours

Marked 7.92 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, KAMAZ had the best player on the pitch.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Nil Zinovyev, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.

The dugout

When it matters, Surkhaikhan Abdullaev plays

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.

In brief

21 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

21 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Artem Popov 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 KAMAZ this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at KAMAZ training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniil Zorin 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 ratings

David Karaev was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 16. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

The dugout

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.” Nil Zinovyev chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.

The dugout

The form table has caught Andrey Semenov

Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.

The dugout

KAMAZ keep their word to Maxim Burko

Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.

The dugout

Anton Roschin 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.

Squad

David Khubaev suspended

One booking too many, and David Khubaev sits out. KAMAZ lose him for the sort of avoidable reason that makes a manager's week longer.

Match

KAMAZ draw a blank against Chernomorets

The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Chernomorets defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.

In brief

20 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

14 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Age has not caught Muhammad Sultonov yet — 8.32

At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.32 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.

Squad

A falling-out at KAMAZ

Artem Popov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at KAMAZ training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniil Zorin 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 terraces

One of their own: Surkhaikhan Abdullaev

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.

Match

KAMAZ find a way past Chelyabinsk

Chelyabinsk made KAMAZ work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Market

KAMAZ promote Evgeniy Fedorov from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Evgeniy Fedorov 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.

Player ratings

One of those days for David Karaev

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.43, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

The dugout

Nil Zinovyev has his say

“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Nil Zinovyev on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.

The dugout

Timofey Kalistratov 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.

In brief

19 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Age has not caught Muhammad Sultonov yet — 7.80

At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.80 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.

Squad

Words exchanged at KAMAZ

Artem Popov 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.

Match

Daniil Shamkin sends KAMAZ past Ufa

It finished 1‑0, and it was Daniil Shamkin’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to KAMAZ.

Squad

David Khubaev 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.

Squad

Abdulaziz Al-Hadhood stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Abdulaziz Al-Hadhood and KAMAZ agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

The dugout

Kirill Pogrebnyak 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.

Squad

Kirill Pogrebnyak slips down the pecking order

The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Kirill Pogrebnyak is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.

Player ratings

Daniil Shamkin was the difference for KAMAZ

Marked 7.91. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.

The dugout

A satisfied Nil Zinovyev

“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Nil Zinovyev could afford to be generous.

In brief

18 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

30 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

No end in sight to KAMAZ's wait for a win

4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at KAMAZ has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Tempers go at KAMAZ

Artem Popov 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.

Squad

Words at KAMAZ training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniil Zorin 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.

Boardroom

Wages swallow 147% of the KAMAZ income

Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.

Player ratings

The afternoon belonged to David Karaev

A mark of 7.36, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.

The dugout

The form table has caught Kirill Pogrebnyak

Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.

The dugout

KAMAZ keep their word to David Khubaev

Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.

The dugout

Nil Zinovyev: “We have to be better”

“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.

Player ratings

Surkhaikhan Abdullaev runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

17 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

23 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

The cup run ends for KAMAZ

1‑2 against Fakel, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Surkhaikhan Abdullaev

Successful dribbles: 32. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Artem Popov 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 KAMAZ this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A row about effort at KAMAZ

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniil Zorin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Saminu Abdullahi

“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.

Match

Halfway: KAMAZ sit in position 8

24 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.

Player ratings

The afternoon belonged to Muhammad Sultonov

A mark of 7.23, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.

The dugout

Half-satisfied: Nil Zinovyev on the draw

“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.

The dugout

Somebody else is better right now than Abdulaziz Al-Hadhood

The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.

In brief

16 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A falling-out at KAMAZ

Artem Popov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

A bad afternoon for KAMAZ against Rodina

1‑2 to Rodina, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

Words at KAMAZ training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Khubaev 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 dugout

Stijn Meijer 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 dugout

Nil Zinovyev faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Nil Zinovyev after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

The dugout

Kirill Pogrebnyak dropped after a run of poor form

The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.

Player ratings

Surkhaikhan Abdullaev runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Bookings catch up with Saminu Abdullahi

One yellow too many, and a match watched from the stand. The most avoidable absence in football, and KAMAZ will feel it on Saturday.

The dugout

Saminu Abdullahi 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 KAMAZ, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

15 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

A brace, and Daniil Shamkin takes the afternoon — 8.98

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Daniil Shamkin provided it, and the 8.98 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Squad

Words exchanged at KAMAZ

Artem Popov 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.

Squad

A row about effort at KAMAZ

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniil Zorin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The terraces

One of their own: Andrey Solodukhin

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.

Match

Daniil Shamkin sends KAMAZ past Rotor

It finished 2‑0, and it was Daniil Shamkin’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to KAMAZ.

The dugout

A satisfied Nil Zinovyev

“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Nil Zinovyev could afford to be generous.

The dugout

A promise honoured at KAMAZ

Something was said to Andrey Semenov and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.

The dugout

Maxim Burko 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.

Looking ahead

KAMAZ take on the side everybody is chasing

Rodina arrive as leaders. A side at the top is beaten roughly once a month, and the club that does it gets a week it remembers for a year.

In brief

14 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Artem Popov breaks a bone — 20 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 20 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Tempers go at KAMAZ

Artem Popov 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.

Squad

Words at KAMAZ training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniil Zorin 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.

Boardroom

Wages swallow 147% of the KAMAZ 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 dugout

Artur Anisimov 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.

Match

KAMAZ caught on 93 minutes

The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Ural scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.

Player ratings

Daniil Shamkin stands above it all

Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.74 on the card, and the KAMAZ support went home talking about one name.

Player ratings

An own goal to forget for Alexandr Deryugin

The one goal a footballer does not get to celebrate and does not get to forget either. His name is in the wrong column and nothing about it was meant.

The dugout

The form table has caught Kirill Pogrebnyak

Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.

In brief

13 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

26 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Artem Popov breaks a bone — 28 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 28 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

The dugout

Stijn Meijer keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” KAMAZ may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Artem Popov 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 KAMAZ this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

Kirill Pogrebnyak 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.

Match

KAMAZ come up short against Fakel

Fakel left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

David Khubaev 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 dugout

Nil Zinovyev: “No excuses”

“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.

Looking ahead

A reunion for David Karaev

He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Ural in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.

Player ratings

Surkhaikhan Abdullaev was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 10. 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.

In brief

12 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A fracture rules Artem Popov out for 35 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason KAMAZ will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

A falling-out at KAMAZ

Artem Popov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at KAMAZ

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniil Zorin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

KAMAZ rescue it on 94 minutes

Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 94. Torpedo Moscow had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.

Squad

KAMAZ are still strangers to each other

11 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.

Match

KAMAZ and Torpedo Moscow take a point apiece

It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

The dugout

Abdulaziz Al-Hadhood 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 dugout

Half-satisfied: Nil Zinovyev on the draw

“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.

The dugout

A promise honoured for Roman Manuilov

It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. KAMAZ told Roman Manuilov something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.

In brief

11 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

42 days out for Artem Popov after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. KAMAZ will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Match

Nobody wants to play KAMAZ right now

3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.

Squad

Words exchanged at KAMAZ

Artem Popov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Player ratings

Surkhaikhan Abdullaev runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Words at KAMAZ training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniil Zorin 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.

Match

Daniil Shamkin the difference as KAMAZ beat Arsenal Tula

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Daniil Shamkin. 1‑0 against Arsenal Tula, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Squad

Abdulaziz Al-Hadhood wants to go home

“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and KAMAZ know it.

Player ratings

Daniil Shamkin was the difference for KAMAZ

Marked 7.85. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.

The dugout

A promise honoured for Daniil Zorin

It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. KAMAZ told Daniil Zorin something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.

In brief

10 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Squad

Artem Popov breaks a bone — 49 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 49 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Match

KAMAZ march on in the cup

Uralets-TS are out and KAMAZ go through, 1‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.

Player ratings

Andrey Solodukhin, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.18

A mark of 8.18 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.

Squad

Tempers go at KAMAZ

Artem Popov 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.

Squad

KAMAZ count the cost of losing Stijn Meijer

28 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

Boardroom

Wages eat 199% of everything KAMAZ earn

There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.

The terraces

One of their own: Daniil Zorin

He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.

Match

KAMAZ keep winning on the road

3 away wins in a row. Travelling support is the truest kind, and this season it is being repaid in the only currency that counts.

Player ratings

Matvey Shavel beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

In brief

  • Match KAMAZ find a way past Shinnik
  • Squad Words at KAMAZ training over how hard people work
  • Player ratings Daniil Zorin was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Artem Popov breaks a bone — 57 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 57 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Artem Popov 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 KAMAZ this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at KAMAZ training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniil Zorin 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.

Match

KAMAZ come up short against Sokol

Sokol left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

100 appearances for Timofey Kalistratov

100 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.

The dugout

Nil Zinovyev faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Nil Zinovyev after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Timofey Kalistratov

“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 dugout

KAMAZ pick somebody else ahead of David Khubaev

There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.

Player ratings

Daniil Zorin beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 12. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

In brief

8 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A fracture rules Artem Popov out for 64 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason KAMAZ will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Player ratings

Vintage Muhammad Sultonov — 8.25

At 33 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.25, and nobody on the pitch better.

Squad

A falling-out at KAMAZ

Artem Popov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at KAMAZ

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniil Zorin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Muhammad Sultonov the difference as KAMAZ beat Volga

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Muhammad Sultonov. 2‑1 against Volga, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Kirill Pogrebnyak

“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 dugout

Kirill Pogrebnyak dropped after a run of poor form

The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Nil Zinovyev, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.

Player ratings

David Karaev was unplayable

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.

In brief

7 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

71 days out for Artem Popov after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. KAMAZ will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Market

Saminu Abdullahi’s move to Dinamo Makhachkala falls through

The deal that would have taken Saminu Abdullahi to Dinamo Makhachkala has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to KAMAZ with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.

Boardroom

KAMAZ close the window on a squad of their own making

20 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.

Squad

Words exchanged at KAMAZ

Artem Popov 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 targets

Door shut on Alan Salas

KAMAZ asked and San Lorenzo said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Match

KAMAZ come up short against Neftekhimik

Neftekhimik left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Market

KAMAZ promote Vsevolod Gusyev from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Vsevolod Gusyev 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.

Market

One of our own: Yuriy Markov joins the KAMAZ first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Yuriy Markov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Squad

Words at KAMAZ training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Khubaev 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.

In brief

6 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Artem Popov breaks a bone — 79 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 79 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Player ratings

A brace, and David Karaev takes the afternoon — 8.46

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. David Karaev provided it, and the 8.46 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Player ratings

Muhammad Sultonov, 33, rolls back the years — 8.28

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.28 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Transfer targets

No thanks: Santiago Gauna rejects the move

KAMAZ had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Almirante Brown, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.

Squad

Stijn Meijer out for 59 days

The medical room confirms 59 days on the sidelines for Stijn Meijer, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Squad

Tempers go at KAMAZ

Artem Popov 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.

Market

Dinamo Makhachkala watching Saminu Abdullahi

The interest is real enough to have reached print. KAMAZ have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Match

KAMAZ find a way past SKA Khabarovsk

SKA Khabarovsk made KAMAZ work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Squad

Daniil Zorin 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.

In brief

5 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A fracture rules Artem Popov out for 86 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason KAMAZ will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Transfer targets

No thanks: Mateja Milovanović rejects the move

KAMAZ had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Partizan, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.

Match

4 matches without a win for KAMAZ

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around KAMAZ are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Artem Popov 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 KAMAZ this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Transfer targets

Colón tell KAMAZ: Nehemías Portillo is not for sale

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.

Match

KAMAZ come up short against Spartak Kostroma

Spartak Kostroma left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Artem Popov

“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.

Squad

100 appearances for Maxim Laikin

100 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.

The dugout

Nil Zinovyev: “No excuses”

“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.

In brief

4 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A fracture rules Artem Popov out for 94 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason KAMAZ will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

A falling-out at KAMAZ

Artem Popov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Tobías Andrada

KAMAZ asked and River Plate said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Squad

David Khubaev 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 ratings

Nobody could get near David Karaev

Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Transfer targets

KAMAZ ask about Mateja Milovanović

A loan enquiry to Partizan: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.

Transfer targets

A loan move for Nehemías Portillo is in the works

KAMAZ have made the call to Colón. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.

The dugout

Nil Zinovyev on the point

“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Nil Zinovyev after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.

Match

No goals between KAMAZ and Chernomorets

Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Chernomorets will be the happier side with the point.

In brief

3 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

102 days out for Artem Popov after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. KAMAZ will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Player ratings

Vitaly Semenov, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.07

A mark of 8.07 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.

Market

KAMAZ turn down Krylya Sovetov for Saminu Abdullahi

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

Words exchanged at KAMAZ

Artem Popov 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 targets

Door shut on Patricio Moyano

KAMAZ asked and Defensores said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

The terraces

KAMAZ supporters have found a favourite in Vitaly Semenov

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Vitaly Semenov has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Artur Anisimov

“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.

Match

KAMAZ refuse to lose to Chelyabinsk

A point taken on 93 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.

Match

Honours even between KAMAZ and Chelyabinsk

2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.

In brief

2 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Surkhaikhan Abdullaev was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 26. 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 targets

Giorgos Charalampoglou will not be coming to KAMAZ

Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Volos NPS is saying, and nobody at KAMAZ is enjoying the guessing.

Squad

Artem Popov 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 KAMAZ this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

Oleg Shishkin steps up from the KAMAZ academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Oleg Shishkin 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.

Market

KAMAZ promote Vlad Pushkin from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Vlad Pushkin 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.

Market

One of our own: Viktor Erofeev joins the KAMAZ first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Viktor Erofeev is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Market

KAMAZ promote Rostislav Zhukov from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Rostislav Zhukov 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.

Squad

10 new faces, and KAMAZ 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.

Transfer targets

KAMAZ try to borrow Patricio Moyano

Defensores 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.

In brief

1 Edition

The KAMAZ Chronicle

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Squad

13 seasons of Ruslan Ayukin

250 appearances across 13 seasons in these colours. Careers like that are not built any more, and KAMAZ know what they have.

Squad

Artem Popov signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Artem Popov and KAMAZ agree another 2 years.

Squad

Tempers go at KAMAZ

Artem Popov 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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Surkhaikhan Abdullaev

Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

David Karaev the difference as KAMAZ beat Yenisey

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: David Karaev. 1‑0 against Yenisey, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Squad

Ruslan Ayukin reaches 200 appearances

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.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of David Karaev at his very best

Marked 8.11. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at KAMAZ.

Market

KAMAZ and Artem Popov are talking past each other

“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.

Market

36 months and counting on David Karaev

Still no offer on the table, and David Karaev’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.

In brief