From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad11 Dec 2028
“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.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Tempers go at Khimik
Ilja Gruznov 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.
Squad11 Dec 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom4 Dec 2028
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Sergey Alexandrov has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Boardroom4 Dec 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Khimik
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad4 Dec 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Vyacheslav Zinkov commits to Khimik for another 2 years.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Ilja Gruznov 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 Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom4 Dec 2028
The owner puts $142.0K into Khimik
This is money that keeps the lights on rather than money that buys a centre-half, and the difference is the whole story. A club funded by its owner rather than by its football has exactly one conversation left ahead of it.
Squad4 Dec 2028
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad27 Nov 2028
Tempers go at Khimik
Kirill Gordeev 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.
Boardroom27 Nov 2028
152% of the income goes out in wages at Khimik
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.
Squad27 Nov 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market20 Nov 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Khimik is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Ilja Gruznov 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 Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom20 Nov 2028
Khimik cannot sign anybody
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
Squad20 Nov 2028
The manager makes an example of Andrey Savinov
“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.
Loan watch20 Nov 2028
“I did not go to Avangard to sit and watch. I want to come back to Khimik and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 13 matches say the rest.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Daniil Knyazev 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 Khimik, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad13 Nov 2028
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market13 Nov 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Khimik is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Tempers go at Khimik
Ilja Gruznov 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 ratings13 Nov 2028
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.
Squad13 Nov 2028
The manager makes an example of Ilja Gruznov
“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 ratings13 Nov 2028
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 17 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings13 Nov 2028
Defensive actions: 17. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Market13 Nov 2028
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Match11 Nov 2028
Point won or two lost for Khimik?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against KDV Tomsk? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom6 Nov 2028
Pressure builds in the Khimik boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Player ratings6 Nov 2028
Defensive actions: 25. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad6 Nov 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom6 Nov 2028
The owner puts $119.2K into Khimik
This is money that keeps the lights on rather than money that buys a centre-half, and the difference is the whole story. A club funded by its owner rather than by its football has exactly one conversation left ahead of it.
Match4 Nov 2028
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ilja Gruznov. 1‑0 against Volna, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad6 Nov 2028
15 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Player ratings6 Nov 2028
Defensive actions: 19, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings6 Nov 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.27, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Boardroom6 Nov 2028
Khimik are $6.4M in the red
The borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match28 Oct 2028
The wait goes on for Khimik
9 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Tempers go at Khimik
Roman Raifegerste 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 ratings30 Oct 2028
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Boardroom30 Oct 2028
146% of the income goes out in wages at Khimik
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.
Player ratings30 Oct 2028
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 18 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad30 Oct 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kirill Myrzakov, and the manager let it.
Player ratings30 Oct 2028
A mark of 7.64, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Match28 Oct 2028
Point won or two lost for Khimik?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Nosta? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match21 Oct 2028
The wait goes on for Khimik
8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
The terraces23 Oct 2028
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 5 of the 25 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Market23 Oct 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Khimik is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad23 Oct 2028
“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.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Ilja Gruznov 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 Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match21 Oct 2028
Krylya Sovetov 2 left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad23 Oct 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Boardroom23 Oct 2028
Khimik cannot sign anybody
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
Squad23 Oct 2028
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Vyacheslav Zinkov will call it something else in private.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market16 Oct 2028
Hassan Idris 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 Khimik can pretend not to have heard.
Match14 Oct 2028
No end in sight to Khimik's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Khimik has to find a result from somewhere.
Market16 Oct 2028
Alexey Belikov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Khimik they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Tempers go at Khimik
Ilja Gruznov 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 ratings16 Oct 2028
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad16 Oct 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vyacheslav Zinkov, and the manager let it.
Match14 Oct 2028
Dinamo Barnaul left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Zaurbek Ramonov 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.
Player ratings16 Oct 2028
Shots: 9. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match7 Oct 2028
The wait goes on for Khimik
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad9 Oct 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Oct 2028
43 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Player ratings9 Oct 2028
A performance of 8.70 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Ilja Gruznov 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.
Boardroom9 Oct 2028
Khimik are $6.2M in the red
The borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
Player ratings9 Oct 2028
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match7 Oct 2028
It needed Gleb Yakushevich to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Chelyabinsk 2, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Squad9 Oct 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Roman Raifegerste trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match30 Sep 2028
5 matches without a win for Khimik
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Khimik are no longer polite ones.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Tempers go at Khimik
Ilja Gruznov 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.
Boardroom2 Oct 2028
$96.5K of the owner's money at Khimik
The shortfall was covered from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be relieved and entitled to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings usually arrive together.
Boardroom2 Oct 2028
Wages eat 161% of everything Khimik 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.
Player ratings2 Oct 2028
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad2 Oct 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match30 Sep 2028
It needed Ilja Gruznov to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Amkar, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Squad2 Oct 2028
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Andrey Savinov 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 Savinov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market25 Sep 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Khimik is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match23 Sep 2028
No end in sight to Khimik's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Khimik has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings25 Sep 2028
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Ilja Gruznov 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 Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Sep 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Roman Raifegerste, and the manager let it.
Match23 Sep 2028
Rubin 2 left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Boardroom25 Sep 2028
Khimik cannot sign anybody
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
Loan watch25 Sep 2028
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Khimik, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
Player ratings25 Sep 2028
Shots: 11, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market18 Sep 2028
Alexey Belikov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Khimik they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match16 Sep 2028
Still nobody has beaten Khimik
The unbeaten run reaches 8. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Tempers go at Khimik
Oleg Trofimov 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 ratings18 Sep 2028
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings18 Sep 2028
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 18 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad18 Sep 2028
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Market18 Sep 2028
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Player ratings18 Sep 2028
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 13 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Match16 Sep 2028
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Uralets-TS defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market11 Sep 2028
“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.
Match9 Sep 2028
7 unbeaten for Khimik
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation Khimik did not have in the autumn.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Tempers go at Khimik
Roman Raifegerste 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.
Squad11 Sep 2028
The medical room confirms 71 days on the sidelines for Artem Shirokov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Player ratings11 Sep 2028
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings11 Sep 2028
Marked 8.65 — 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.
Boardroom11 Sep 2028
The Khimik debt reaches $6.0M
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Hassan Idris 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.
Market11 Sep 2028
He is 20, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market4 Sep 2028
Oleg Trofimov 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 Khimik can pretend not to have heard.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Ilja Gruznov 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 Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match2 Sep 2028
Still nobody has beaten Khimik
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.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
The owner puts $19.2K into Khimik
This is money that keeps the lights on rather than money that buys a centre-half, and the difference is the whole story. A club funded by its owner rather than by its football has exactly one conversation left ahead of it.
Player ratings4 Sep 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.83, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Wages eat 140% of everything Khimik 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.
Squad4 Sep 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kirill Myrzakov, and the manager let it.
Market4 Sep 2028
Rubin Yalta are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Khimik will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Match2 Sep 2028
Khimik and Volna 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match28 Aug 2028
Khimik are in among the leaders
Position 2 and 12 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Squad28 Aug 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Khimik may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad28 Aug 2028
29 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Tempers go at Khimik
Ilja Gruznov 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 ratings28 Aug 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.17, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match26 Aug 2028
Khimik get the job done against Nosta
A 1‑0 win over Nosta, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Boardroom28 Aug 2028
No signings allowed at Khimik
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
Squad28 Aug 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alexey Belikov, and the manager let it.
Player ratings28 Aug 2028
A defender's afternoon for Daniil Zuev
Defensive actions: 16. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Aug 2028
2 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
Match16 Aug 2028
The small margins put Khimik out
Out, 0‑0 to Irkutsk, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Market21 Aug 2028
“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.
Market21 Aug 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Khimik is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market21 Aug 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad21 Aug 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings21 Aug 2028
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad21 Aug 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings21 Aug 2028
Twelve yards, a goalkeeper guessing, and it still did not go in. He will take the next one, and every soul in the ground will hold their breath.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market14 Aug 2028
Hassan Idris 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 Khimik can pretend not to have heard.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Murad Məmmədov: 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.” Khimik have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market14 Aug 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Tempers go at Khimik
Ilja Gruznov 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.
Squad14 Aug 2028
99 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Player ratings14 Aug 2028
Defensive actions: 20, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Match12 Aug 2028
A 1‑0 win over Dinamo Barnaul, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad14 Aug 2028
The manager makes an example of Zaurbek Ramonov
“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 ratings14 Aug 2028
A defender's afternoon for Daniil Zuev
Defensive actions: 19. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Aug 2028
Ilja Gruznov 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 Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match5 Aug 2028
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Oleg Trofimov. 3‑2 against Chelyabinsk 2, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Market7 Aug 2028
The phone has started ringing about Sergey Konakov again, and this time the name on the line is Rubin Yalta. Khimik are listening politely and promising nothing.
Boardroom7 Aug 2028
The owner puts $35.4K into Khimik
This is money that keeps the lights on rather than money that buys a centre-half, and the difference is the whole story. A club funded by its owner rather than by its football has exactly one conversation left ahead of it.
Boardroom7 Aug 2028
Wages eat 140% of everything Khimik 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.
Squad7 Aug 2028
The medical room confirms 41 days on the sidelines for Murad Məmmədov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Player ratings7 Aug 2028
Marked 8.74 — 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 ratings7 Aug 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.34, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings7 Aug 2028
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market31 Jul 2028
“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.
Match29 Jul 2028
8 matches without a win for Khimik
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Khimik are no longer polite ones.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Nikita Nikiforov: 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.” Khimik have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The terraces31 Jul 2028
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 8 of the 25 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Squad31 Jul 2028
57 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Tempers go at Khimik
Roman Raifegerste 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.
Market31 Jul 2028
Add another name to the list: Rubin Yalta have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Alexandr Goryachkin. The answer from Khimik has not changed — yet.
Squad31 Jul 2028
The manager makes an example of Ilja Gruznov
“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.
Match29 Jul 2028
Khimik come up short against Amkar
Amkar left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 Jul 2028
“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.
Match22 Jul 2028
Whatever happens, Khimik do not lose
12 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Match22 Jul 2028
No end in sight to Khimik's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Khimik has to find a result from somewhere.
Market24 Jul 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Khimik is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market24 Jul 2028
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Daniil Shilov reports back to Khimik with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Squad24 Jul 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings24 Jul 2028
Defensive actions: 22. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings24 Jul 2028
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 21 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad24 Jul 2028
The manager makes an example of Kirill Gordeev
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market17 Jul 2028
Hassan Idris 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 Khimik can pretend not to have heard.
Match15 Jul 2028
11 unbeaten for Khimik
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 11 matches without defeat is a foundation Khimik did not have in the autumn.
Match15 Jul 2028
No end in sight to Khimik's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Khimik has to find a result from somewhere.
Market17 Jul 2028
As if he never left: Andrey Zotkin returns
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Andrey Zotkin is a Khimik player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Market17 Jul 2028
The shirt still fits. Radomir Zorin is back at Khimik, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Market17 Jul 2028
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Tempers go at Khimik
Ilja Gruznov 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.
Squad17 Jul 2028
127 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Player ratings17 Jul 2028
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market10 Jul 2028
Sergey Konakov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Khimik they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Ilja Gruznov 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 Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market10 Jul 2028
Add another name to the list: Strogino have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Alexandr Goryachkin. The answer from Khimik has not changed — yet.
Squad10 Jul 2028
The medical room confirms 69 days on the sidelines for Murad Məmmədov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Boardroom10 Jul 2028
Wages eat 144% of everything Khimik 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.
Market10 Jul 2028
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match3 Jul 2028
Khimik up to position 3
35 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad3 Jul 2028
85 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad3 Jul 2028
The medical room confirms 16 days on the sidelines for Oleg Trofimov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Tempers go at Khimik
Vyacheslav Zinkov 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.
Boardroom3 Jul 2028
$18.8K of the owner's money at Khimik
The shortfall was covered from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be relieved and entitled to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings usually arrive together.
Boardroom3 Jul 2028
No signings allowed at Khimik
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Jun 2028
“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.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Ilja Gruznov 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 Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Hassan Idris 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.
Market26 Jun 2028
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Khimik will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad26 Jun 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Daniil Oganichev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market26 Jun 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Khimik know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Jun 2028
Hassan Idris 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 Khimik can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom19 Jun 2028
The numbers do not look good at Khimik
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad19 Jun 2028
“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.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Tempers go at Khimik
Ilja Gruznov 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.
Market19 Jun 2028
Add another name to the list: Angusht have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Alexandr Goryachkin. The answer from Khimik has not changed — yet.
Squad19 Jun 2028
“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 Khimik know it.
Boardroom19 Jun 2028
The Khimik debt reaches $5.2M
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
Market19 Jun 2028
Strogino are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Khimik will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Market19 Jun 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Oleg Trofimov signs something — a contract at Khimik or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Jun 2028
Alexey Dolya 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 Khimik can pretend not to have heard.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Tempers go at Khimik
Dmitry Veber was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Boardroom12 Jun 2028
109% of the income goes out in wages at Khimik
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match5 Jun 2028
Khimik up to position 3
35 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad5 Jun 2028
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Khimik will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Squad5 Jun 2028
The medical room confirms 113 days on the sidelines for Vyacheslav Zinkov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Dmitry Veber 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 Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Khimik will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.
Market5 Jun 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Khimik know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market29 May 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Khimik, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market29 May 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Khimik is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad29 May 2028
Ilja Gruznov 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 Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 May 2028
Oleg Trofimov 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 Oleg Trofimov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad29 May 2028
The manager makes an example of Nikita Shulkin
“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.
Market29 May 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Khimik know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom22 May 2028
The numbers do not look good at Khimik
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Market22 May 2028
Only the photograph left for Sergey Konakov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sergey Konakov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Khimik the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad22 May 2028
Tempers go at Khimik
Ilja Gruznov 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.
Squad22 May 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Loan watch22 May 2028
“I did not go to KAMAZ to sit and watch. I want to come back to Khimik and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 37 matches say the rest.
Market22 May 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Oleg Trofimov signs something — a contract at Khimik or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 May 2028
Nikita Nikiforov: 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.” Khimik have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market15 May 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Khimik, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad15 May 2028
Ilja Gruznov 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 Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 May 2028
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Boardroom15 May 2028
109% of the income goes out in wages at Khimik
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.
Loan watch15 May 2028
“I did not go to Avangard to sit and watch. I want to come back to Khimik and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 41 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market8 May 2028
“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.
Match8 May 2028
Khimik up to position 3
35 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad8 May 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Vyacheslav Zinkov and Khimik agree another 2 years.
Squad8 May 2028
Tempers go at Khimik
Ilja Gruznov 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.
Squad8 May 2028
The manager makes an example of Dmitry Veber
“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.
Squad8 May 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Khimik, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market1 May 2028
Oleg Trofimov 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 Khimik can pretend not to have heard.
Market1 May 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Khimik they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad1 May 2028
Ilja Gruznov 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 Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom24 Apr 2028
The numbers do not look good at Khimik
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Market24 Apr 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Khimik is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Dmitry Veber 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 Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch24 Apr 2028
“I watch every Khimik game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at KAMAZ runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Market24 Apr 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Oleg Trofimov signs something — a contract at Khimik or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Artem Shirokov asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market17 Apr 2028
“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.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Tempers go at Khimik
Dmitry Veber 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.
Boardroom17 Apr 2028
Wages eat 110% of everything Khimik 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.
Squad17 Apr 2028
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Loan watch17 Apr 2028
“I did not go to Avangard to sit and watch. I want to come back to Khimik and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 37 matches say the rest.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Oleg Trofimov 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 Khimik, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market10 Apr 2028
“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.
Match10 Apr 2028
Khimik up to position 3
35 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Sergey Konakov: 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.” Khimik have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market3 Apr 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Khimik, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market3 Apr 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alexandr Goryachkin will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Khimik the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Ilja Gruznov 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 Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Apr 2028
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Khimik are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad3 Apr 2028
The captaincy has been taken off Daniil Zuev. Khimik will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
Squad3 Apr 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market27 Mar 2028
Only the photograph left for Sergey Konakov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sergey Konakov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Khimik the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Tempers go at Khimik
Ilja Gruznov 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.
Boardroom27 Mar 2028
The numbers do not look good at Khimik
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Loan watch27 Mar 2028
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Khimik, and 1 appearances in 29 say he has earned the hearing.
Market27 Mar 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Oleg Trofimov signs something — a contract at Khimik or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad27 Mar 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Khimik, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad20 Mar 2028
Ilja Gruznov 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 Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom20 Mar 2028
Wages eat 114% of everything Khimik 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.
Squad20 Mar 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nikita Nikiforov, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match13 Mar 2028
Khimik up to position 3
35 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Market13 Mar 2028
Alexey Dolya 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 Khimik can pretend not to have heard.
Squad13 Mar 2028
22 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market6 Mar 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Khimik, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market6 Mar 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alexandr Goryachkin will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Khimik the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Tempers go at Khimik
Dmitry Veber was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Feb 2028
“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.
Market28 Feb 2028
Only the photograph left for Sergey Konakov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sergey Konakov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Khimik the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Dmitry Veber 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 Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom28 Feb 2028
The numbers do not look good at Khimik
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad28 Feb 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Loan watch28 Feb 2028
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Khimik, and 1 appearances in 25 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Feb 2028
Ilja Gruznov 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 Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom21 Feb 2028
Wages eat 134% of everything Khimik 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.
Market21 Feb 2028
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Khimik will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Loan watch21 Feb 2028
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Khimik, and 1 appearances in 29 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Oleg Trofimov 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 Oleg Trofimov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market21 Feb 2028
The name of Ilja Gruznov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Khimik say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Feb 2028
Hassan Idris 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 Khimik can pretend not to have heard.
Match14 Feb 2028
Khimik are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 35 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Andrey Savinov: 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.” Khimik have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad14 Feb 2028
50 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Tempers go at Khimik
Ilja Gruznov 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.
Market14 Feb 2028
The phone has started ringing about Alexandr Goryachkin again, and this time the name on the line is Legion. Khimik are listening politely and promising nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Feb 2028
“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.
Squad7 Feb 2028
36 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Ilja Gruznov 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 Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 Jan 2028
Alexey Dolya 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 Khimik can pretend not to have heard.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Tempers go at Khimik
Ilja Gruznov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Boardroom31 Jan 2028
The numbers do not look good at Khimik
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Market31 Jan 2028
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Khimik have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad31 Jan 2028
14 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Loan watch31 Jan 2028
“I watch every Khimik game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at KAMAZ runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The terraces31 Jan 2028
The stands have heard the Roman Raifegerste talk too
What was a back-page story is now a matter for the terraces, and the terraces do not do nuance. Khimik would like it dealt with before it becomes the only question anybody asks.
Market31 Jan 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Khimik know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Alexey Dolya 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 Khimik, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Jan 2028
Ilja Gruznov 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 Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom24 Jan 2028
139% of the income goes out in wages at Khimik
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.
Loan watch24 Jan 2028
“I watch every Khimik game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Avangard runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market17 Jan 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Khimik, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match17 Jan 2028
Khimik are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 35 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market17 Jan 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Khimik is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Dmitry Veber 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 Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Jan 2028
“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 Khimik know it.
Squad17 Jan 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kirill Myrzakov, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 Jan 2028
64 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Market10 Jan 2028
Only the photograph left for Sergey Konakov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sergey Konakov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Khimik the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Tempers go at Khimik
Dmitry Veber was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Jan 2028
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Khimik have had the benefit of it.
Squad3 Jan 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Khimik may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Tempers go at Khimik
Dmitry Veber 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.
Boardroom3 Jan 2028
Khimik counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Khimik now.
Loan watch3 Jan 2028
“I watch every Khimik game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at KAMAZ runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Market3 Jan 2028
He is 20, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad27 Dec 2027
Nikita Shulkin: 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.” Khimik have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Tempers go at Khimik
Ilja Gruznov 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.
Boardroom27 Dec 2027
184% of the income goes out in wages at Khimik
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.
Loan watch27 Dec 2027
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Khimik, and 1 appearances in 21 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad27 Dec 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Market27 Dec 2027
The Ilja Gruznov talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Khimik know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match20 Dec 2027
Khimik up to position 3
35 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Market20 Dec 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Khimik is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Ilja Gruznov 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 Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match11 Dec 2027
Still nobody has beaten Khimik
The unbeaten run reaches 10. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Match11 Dec 2027
The wait goes on for Khimik
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Market13 Dec 2027
Sergey Konakov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Khimik they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Tempers go at Khimik
Ilja Gruznov 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 ratings13 Dec 2027
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.
Player ratings13 Dec 2027
Defensive actions: 20, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Ilja Gruznov 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.
Player ratings13 Dec 2027
Defensive actions: 18, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad13 Dec 2027
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Khimik pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market6 Dec 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Khimik, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match4 Dec 2027
Whatever happens, Khimik do not lose
9 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Match4 Dec 2027
4 matches without a win for Khimik
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Khimik are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings6 Dec 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Ilja Gruznov 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 Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom6 Dec 2027
Khimik counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Khimik now.
Loan watch6 Dec 2027
“I watch every Khimik game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at KAMAZ runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Player ratings6 Dec 2027
Defensive actions: 16, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings6 Dec 2027
The afternoon belonged to Dmitry Veber
A mark of 7.49, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad29 Nov 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Match27 Nov 2027
Still nobody has beaten Khimik
The unbeaten run reaches 8. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Dmitry Veber 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 Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings29 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad29 Nov 2027
13 goals and a season average of 7.25. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Boardroom29 Nov 2027
Wages eat 179% of everything Khimik 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.
Player ratings29 Nov 2027
Marked 8.36 — 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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
The manager makes an example of Kirill Myrzakov
“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.
Loan watch29 Nov 2027
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Khimik, and 1 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match22 Nov 2027
Khimik refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 32 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Market22 Nov 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Khimik they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match20 Nov 2027
Still nobody has beaten Khimik
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.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Tempers go at Khimik
Dmitry Veber 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 ratings22 Nov 2027
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.
Squad22 Nov 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings22 Nov 2027
Marked 8.50 — 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.
Match20 Nov 2027
Khimik share the spoils with Nosta
A 2‑2 draw with Nosta leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Oleg Trofimov asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market15 Nov 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market15 Nov 2027
Only the photograph left for Sergey Konakov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sergey Konakov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Khimik the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Player ratings15 Nov 2027
Defensive actions: 23. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Dmitry Veber 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 Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match13 Nov 2027
Whatever happens, Khimik do not lose
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Player ratings15 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings15 Nov 2027
Defensive actions: 18, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings15 Nov 2027
The afternoon belonged to Daniil Zuev
A mark of 7.66, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Squad15 Nov 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market8 Nov 2027
Hassan Idris 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 Khimik can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings8 Nov 2027
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 23 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Ilja Gruznov 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 Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom8 Nov 2027
Khimik counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Khimik now.
Squad8 Nov 2027
“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 Khimik know it.
Player ratings8 Nov 2027
Marked 9.10 — 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Ilja Gruznov is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.25 with 12 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Match6 Nov 2027
It finished 2‑0, and it was Ilja Gruznov’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Khimik.
Player ratings8 Nov 2027
Marked 8.69 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Nov 2027
Tempers go at Khimik
Ilja Gruznov 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.
Boardroom1 Nov 2027
Wages eat 153% of everything Khimik 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.
Player ratings1 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad1 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daniil Oganichev, and the manager let it.
Player ratings1 Nov 2027
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 17 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Loan watch1 Nov 2027
“I did not go to Avangard to sit and watch. I want to come back to Khimik and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 13 matches say the rest.
Player ratings1 Nov 2027
Marked 7.45 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Khimik had the best player on the pitch.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Khimik will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Dmitry Veber asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match25 Oct 2027
Khimik are in among the leaders
Position 2 and 26 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market25 Oct 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Khimik they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Ilja Gruznov 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 Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match23 Oct 2027
Volna made Khimik work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Ilja Gruznov
11 goals and a season average of 7.20 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad25 Oct 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings25 Oct 2027
Defensive actions: 17. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings25 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings25 Oct 2027
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.89 on the card, and the Khimik support went home talking about one name.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market18 Oct 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Khimik is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Nikita Shulkin: 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.” Khimik have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match16 Oct 2027
No end in sight to Khimik's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Khimik has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Tempers go at Khimik
Ilja Gruznov 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 ratings18 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.13, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad18 Oct 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match16 Oct 2027
It needed Ilja Gruznov to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Amkar, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Market18 Oct 2027
The name of Gleb Yakushevich keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Khimik say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match6 Oct 2027
The cup run ends for Khimik
1‑3 against Akron, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Market11 Oct 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The terraces11 Oct 2027
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 5 of the 25 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Tempers go at Khimik
Dmitry Veber 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.
Boardroom11 Oct 2027
Khimik counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Khimik now.
Squad11 Oct 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings11 Oct 2027
A performance of 8.52 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings11 Oct 2027
Marked 8.17 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Loan watch11 Oct 2027
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Khimik, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market4 Oct 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Khimik, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match2 Oct 2027
Whatever happens, Khimik do not lose
10 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Murad Məmmədov: 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.” Khimik have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Vyacheslav Zinkov commits to Khimik for another 2 years.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Dmitry Veber 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 Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
Wages eat 159% of everything Khimik 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.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Loan watch4 Oct 2027
“I did not go to Avangard to sit and watch. I want to come back to Khimik and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
Defensive actions: 16. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match27 Sep 2027
Khimik refuse to drop out of the race
Position 2, 20 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 29. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad27 Sep 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Match25 Sep 2027
Whatever happens, Khimik do not lose
9 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Market27 Sep 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Khimik is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Tempers go at Khimik
Dmitry Veber 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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Dmitry Veber 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.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.59, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match25 Sep 2027
It finished 1‑0, and it was Ilja Gruznov’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Khimik.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market20 Sep 2027
Only the photograph left for Sergey Konakov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sergey Konakov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Khimik the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match18 Sep 2027
Whatever happens, Khimik do not lose
8 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Tempers go at Khimik
Ilja Gruznov 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 ratings20 Sep 2027
A performance of 9.31 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match18 Sep 2027
It finished 1‑0, and it was Gleb Yakushevich’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Khimik.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.33, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad20 Sep 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Dmitry Veber 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 Dmitry Veber trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match11 Sep 2027
7 unbeaten for Khimik
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation Khimik did not have in the autumn.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Ilja Gruznov 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 Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom13 Sep 2027
Khimik counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Khimik now.
Market13 Sep 2027
The name of Sergey Konakov has come up in conversations Khimik were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
A performance of 8.74 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad13 Sep 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market13 Sep 2027
Luki-Energiya are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Khimik will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Match11 Sep 2027
A 1‑1 draw with Ural 2 leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market6 Sep 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Tempers go at Khimik
Ilja Gruznov 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.
Match4 Sep 2027
Whatever happens, Khimik do not lose
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad6 Sep 2027
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Khimik are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
Marked 8.72 — 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.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Wages eat 131% of everything Khimik 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.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market6 Sep 2027
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Khimik will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Loan watch6 Sep 2027
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Khimik, and 1 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match30 Aug 2027
Khimik refuse to drop out of the race
Position 2, 12 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Squad30 Aug 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match28 Aug 2027
It finished 2‑1, and it was Gleb Yakushevich’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Khimik.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
A performance of 8.96 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
A performance of 8.83 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Market30 Aug 2027
The name of Alexandr Goryachkin has come up in conversations Khimik were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Market30 Aug 2027
The Daniil Shilov conversation is coming
Everyone has stopped pretending: KAMAZ will make the call about Daniil Shilov this week. Khimik have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Squad30 Aug 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad30 Aug 2027
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Khimik have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match18 Aug 2027
Cup progress for Khimik
A 2‑0 win over Luki-Energiya, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Market23 Aug 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market23 Aug 2027
The bid was some way short and Khimik did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Dmitry Veber 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 Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
A performance of 9.37 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
Marked 9.24 — 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.
Market23 Aug 2027
The name of Daniil Shilov has come up in conversations Khimik were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.79, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market16 Aug 2027
Dmitry Veber 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 Khimik can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market16 Aug 2027
The bid was some way short and Khimik did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Tempers go at Khimik
Dmitry Veber 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.
Boardroom16 Aug 2027
Khimik counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Khimik now.
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.45, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad16 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kirill Myrzakov, and the manager let it.
Market16 Aug 2027
The Daniil Shilov conversation is coming
Everyone has stopped pretending: Nart will make the call about Daniil Shilov this week. Khimik have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Match14 Aug 2027
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market9 Aug 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Khimik, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market9 Aug 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Dmitry Veber 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 Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market9 Aug 2027
Add another name to the list: Pobeda have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Sergey Konakov. The answer from Khimik has not changed — yet.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.09, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match7 Aug 2027
Volna made Khimik work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Hassan Idris, and the manager let it.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Marked 8.04 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces2 Aug 2027
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 6 of the 27 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Squad2 Aug 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match31 Jul 2027
Ilja Gruznov scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Amkar, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad2 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Andrey Savinov, and the manager let it.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Dmitry Veber 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 Khimik, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Jul 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Khimik may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market26 Jul 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Khimik, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market26 Jul 2027
Only the photograph left for Joan Chávez
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Joan Chávez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Khimik the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Player ratings26 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Tempers go at Khimik
Vyacheslav Zinkov 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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings26 Jul 2027
Marked 7.97 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Khimik had the best player on the pitch.
Match24 Jul 2027
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Daniil Zuev asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market19 Jul 2027
Joan Chávez 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 Khimik can pretend not to have heard.
Market19 Jul 2027
The shirt still fits. Grigory Belyakov is back at Khimik, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Market19 Jul 2027
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Market19 Jul 2027
The shirt still fits. Fyodor Sorokin is back at Khimik, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Squad19 Jul 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom19 Jul 2027
Khimik counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Khimik now.
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
Marked 8.59 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Match17 Jul 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ilja Gruznov. 1‑0 against Uralets-TS, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market12 Jul 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Tempers go at Khimik
Vyacheslav Zinkov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Boardroom12 Jul 2027
130% of the income goes out in wages at Khimik
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.
Market12 Jul 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Kirill Myrzakov signs something — a contract at Khimik or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Alexey Dolya 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.
Market12 Jul 2027
The clock does Joan Chávez’s negotiating for him
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Khimik could ask drops and the wages Joan Chávez can ask rise.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market5 Jul 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad5 Jul 2027
“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 Khimik know it.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Tempers go at Khimik
Dmitry Veber was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market28 Jun 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market28 Jun 2027
Only the photograph left for Joan Chávez
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Joan Chávez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Khimik the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Dmitry Veber 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 Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Oleg Trofimov 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 Oleg Trofimov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market28 Jun 2027
The Ilja Gruznov story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ilja Gruznov signs something — a contract at Khimik or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market28 Jun 2027
Khimik have made Dmitry Veber available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market21 Jun 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Khimik, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Tempers go at Khimik
Dmitry Veber 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.
Boardroom21 Jun 2027
Khimik counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Khimik now.
Squad21 Jun 2027
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Khimik are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Oleg Trofimov asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market21 Jun 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Khimik know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market14 Jun 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Khimik, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Tempers go at Khimik
Vyacheslav Zinkov 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Daniil Oganichev and Khimik agree another 4 years.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Jun 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Khimik, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 Jun 2027
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Khimik will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Squad7 Jun 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 May 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market31 May 2027
Only the photograph left for Joan Chávez
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Joan Chávez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Khimik the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad31 May 2027
Tempers go at Khimik
Vyacheslav Zinkov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market24 May 2027
Alexey Dolya 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 Khimik can pretend not to have heard.
Squad24 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom24 May 2027
Khimik counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Khimik now.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market17 May 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Khimik, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad17 May 2027
Dmitry Veber 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 Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom17 May 2027
Wages eat 157% of everything Khimik 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.
Squad17 May 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Alexandr Krasnopevtsev commits to Khimik for another 3 years.
Squad17 May 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Khimik, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market17 May 2027
The clock does Joan Chávez’s negotiating for him
3 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Khimik could ask drops and the wages Joan Chávez can ask rise.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 May 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Khimik, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad10 May 2027
Tempers go at Khimik
Dmitry Veber 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.
Squad10 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Joan Chávez
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 May 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Khimik is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad3 May 2027
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Khimik are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad3 May 2027
Dmitry Veber 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 Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market26 Apr 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad26 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom26 Apr 2027
Khimik counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Khimik now.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market19 Apr 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad19 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom19 Apr 2027
165% of the income goes out in wages at Khimik
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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
“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 Khimik know it.
Squad19 Apr 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Hassan Idris 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 Hassan Idris trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market12 Apr 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Tempers go at Khimik
Vyacheslav Zinkov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad12 Apr 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kirill Myrzakov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Apr 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Khimik may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market5 Apr 2027
Only the photograph left for Joan Chávez
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Joan Chávez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Khimik the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad5 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad29 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Khimik
Oleg Trofimov 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.
Boardroom29 Mar 2027
The numbers do not look good at Khimik
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Market29 Mar 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Gleb Yakushevich’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market29 Mar 2027
Khimik have made Hassan Idris available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Squad29 Mar 2027
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Maxim Kholodov 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Mar 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom22 Mar 2027
Wages eat 214% of everything Khimik 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Nikita Shulkin
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market15 Mar 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Khimik, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Khimik
Roman Raifegerste was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad15 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Alexey Dolya
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market8 Mar 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Vyacheslav Zinkov and Khimik agree another 2 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch8 Mar 2027
“I did not go to Ufa to sit and watch. I want to come back to Khimik and fight for my place.” 8 appearances in 27 matches say the rest.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Joan Chávez, and the manager let it.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Hassan Idris asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 Mar 2027
Hassan Idris: 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.” Khimik have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad1 Mar 2027
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Khimik are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Khimik
Vyacheslav Zinkov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market22 Feb 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Khimik, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad22 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom22 Feb 2027
Wages eat 257% of everything Khimik 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market15 Feb 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Khimik, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad15 Feb 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Tempers go at Khimik
Vyacheslav Zinkov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market8 Feb 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Hassan Idris and Khimik agree another 4 years.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 Feb 2027
Tempers go at Khimik
Roman Raifegerste 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.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
The numbers do not look good at Khimik
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Joan Chávez, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market25 Jan 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad25 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khimik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Jan 2027
26 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Boardroom25 Jan 2027
Wages eat 315% of everything Khimik 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.
Market25 Jan 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Nikita Sevostjanov has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Khimik.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Alexey Dolya 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market18 Jan 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Khimik, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Khimik
Vyacheslav Zinkov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad18 Jan 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.