From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad18 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Kvant
Anton Polorotov 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
Words at Kvant training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artemy Ositsin is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match16 Jan 2027
0‑2 to Dinamo Bryansk, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
Alexey Naidenov is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
One lapse, one goal, and ninety minutes of honest work counting for nothing. That is the job at Kvant, and it is a cruel one.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Marked 4.72, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Artemy Medvedev
“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 ratings18 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 12. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market11 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.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Marked 7.76 at 19, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Nikita Scherbiy is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad11 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 Kvant this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Alexandr Ageev falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match9 Jan 2027
A 2‑1 win over SKA Khabarovsk 2, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The terraces11 Jan 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Maxim Ortyashov has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Marked 7.86. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Market11 Jan 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Kvant, another week without a signature from Anton Polorotov.
In brief
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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The dugout
The manager has not finished forgetting Victor Drăgoi's mistake
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The dugout
No hiding place for Daniil Lobanov
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match2 Jan 2027
At last: Kvant win one
13 matches without a win, and then this, against Zenit Penza. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Market4 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 Kvant, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
No sign of nerves from Emil Maiorov at 19 — 8.28
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Emil Maiorov did not need any: 8.28, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Kvant may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
This is not rotation. Artemy Ositsin has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Kvant is pretending otherwise.
Squad4 Jan 2027
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Kvant
Nikita Baranov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at Kvant training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Anton Polorotov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The terraces4 Jan 2027
At 19 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Dec 2026
The wait goes on for Kvant
13 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.
Match28 Dec 2026
Kvant sink to position 14
12 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market28 Dec 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Anton Polorotov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Kvant
Nikita Baranov 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.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Wages swallow 136% of the Kvant income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Match26 Dec 2026
Kvant come up short against Salyut
Salyut left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Artemy Ositsin, and the manager let it.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Viktor Kokorin after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match19 Dec 2026
The wait goes on for Kvant
12 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 dugout21 Dec 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Kvant may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
The terraces21 Dec 2026
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Anton Polorotov
“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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Kvant
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mikhail Gashchuk was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match19 Dec 2026
Kvant rescue it on 86 minutes
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 86. Rotor 2 had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Marked 7.54 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Kvant had the best player on the pitch.
Match19 Dec 2026
Kvant and Rotor 2 take a point apiece
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Viktor Kokorin after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Dec 2026
The wait goes on for Kvant
11 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.
Market14 Dec 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kvant can pretend not to have heard.
Squad14 Dec 2026
There were 7 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Kvant training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Anton Polorotov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad14 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kvant this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match12 Dec 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alexandr Ageev, and the manager let it.
Match14 Dec 2026
Halfway: Kvant sit in position 14
11 points at the turn. The first half of a season is a promise; the second is a bill, and the town is about to find out which of the two this one was.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market7 Dec 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Kvant, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Kvant may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Kvant
Anton Polorotov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Kvant
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Artemy Ositsin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Victor Drăgoi is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Looking ahead7 Dec 2026
Ryazan next, and one man in the Kvant dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Musa Saifutdinov 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.
Market7 Dec 2026
The name of Artiom Zabun keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Kvant say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match28 Nov 2026
The wait goes on for Kvant
10 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.
Match28 Nov 2026
A hiding for Kvant
Beaten 0‑3 by Metallurg, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match30 Nov 2026
Kvant sink to position 14
11 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad30 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kvant this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Wages eat 126% of everything Kvant 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Kvant
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mikhail Gashchuk was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Doors closed at Kvant
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Marat Volkov
“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
Match21 Nov 2026
9 matches without a win for Kvant
The run now stands at 9, and the questions being asked around Kvant are no longer polite ones.
Squad23 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Kvant
Alexey Naidenov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Kvant training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Anton Polorotov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Artiom Zabun ran the middle of the pitch — 6.95
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 11 combined actions and a mark of 6.95, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Match21 Nov 2026
Level with 85 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Kvant had all but put away. Orel will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
Match21 Nov 2026
It needed Nikita Baranov to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Orel, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Maxim Sofin gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Viktor Kokorin was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Kvant dressing room was either.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market16 Nov 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kvant can pretend not to have heard.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Kvant
Anton Polorotov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Kvant
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Artemy Ositsin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Daniil Lobanov 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 Kvant, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad16 Nov 2026
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
Looking ahead16 Nov 2026
Looking ahead: Orel at home
A side in position 5 visits next. The result will not make anybody’s season and it could quietly break the shape of one, which is why the manager has been watching the video since Sunday.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match7 Nov 2026
No end in sight to Kvant's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Kvant has to find a result from somewhere.
Market9 Nov 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Kvant, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Kvant
Nikita Baranov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Mikhail Gashchuk falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Market9 Nov 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Kvant, another week without a signature from Alexey Naidenov.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
15 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Victor Drăgoi's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Match7 Nov 2026
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Dinamo St Petersburg 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
Crisis
Match2 Nov 2026
Every point is an argument now for Kvant
Position 13 and 9 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Match31 Oct 2026
The wait goes on for Kvant
7 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Kvant told to sell
The instruction came from the boardroom and the dugout did not agree with it. Somebody will go, the fee will be called good business, and the manager will spend the season rebuilding around the space.
Match31 Oct 2026
1‑3 to Spartak Tambov, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Kvant
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Anton Polorotov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Wages eat 126% of everything Kvant 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.
Market2 Nov 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Kvant, another week without a signature from Anton Polorotov.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Match24 Oct 2026
The wait goes on for Kvant
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.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Up for the corner, and Alexandr Ageev delivers — 7.77
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Alexandr Ageev scored, was marked 7.77, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Kvant training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Anton Polorotov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match24 Oct 2026
1‑2 to Znamya Truda, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Kvant
Victor Drăgoi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Oct 2026
10 new faces, and Kvant are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A goalkeeper’s error has no defender behind it to tidy it away. He knew before the ball crossed the line, the crowd knew a second later, and there is nothing anybody can say tonight.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market19 Oct 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Kvant may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match17 Oct 2026
No end in sight to Kvant's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Kvant has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Savely Borisov is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Kvant
Anton Polorotov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 35 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Kvant is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Match17 Oct 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Oct 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Kvant, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad12 Oct 2026
At 18 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Kvant
Alexey Naidenov 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 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Kvant
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Anton Polorotov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Victor Drăgoi, and the manager let it.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Victor Drăgoi is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Market12 Oct 2026
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Mikhail Romenskiy has his answer from Kvant; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Marat Volkov: “I am not a substitute”
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Kvant will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market5 Oct 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Match3 Oct 2026
The wait goes on for Kvant
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad5 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kvant this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match3 Oct 2026
Artiom Zabun scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Rodina M, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Artemy Ositsin falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages eat 140% of everything Kvant earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Vitaly Yakovlev
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Viktor Kokorin after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Artemy Ositsin's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Up for the corner, and Alexandr Ageev delivers — 7.46
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Alexandr Ageev scored, was marked 7.46, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Kvant
Anton Polorotov 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Mikhail Gashchuk falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match26 Sep 2026
It needed Alexandr Ageev to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Arsenal Tula 2, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nikita Scherbiy, and the manager let it.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Squad28 Sep 2026
A booking nobody needed, on a night the game was already won. Kvant lose a player for the most avoidable reason there is.
Squad28 Sep 2026
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets21 Sep 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Kvant
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Anton Polorotov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Kvant
Nikita Baranov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Kvant are still strangers to each other
10 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Viktor Kokorin after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Victor Drăgoi dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Alexandr Zybin
“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 ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match19 Sep 2026
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Dinamo Bryansk came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Alexey Naidenov did the work nobody counts — 6.88
21 combined actions and 6.88. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
Kvant close the window on a squad of their own making
18 in and 9 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Artemy Ositsin ran the middle of the pitch — 6.60
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 16 combined actions and a mark of 6.60, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Anton Polorotov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
The window shuts on the Yegor Trifonov deal
Kvant ran out of time with Amkar. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Match12 Sep 2026
A 2‑2 draw with SKA Khabarovsk 2 leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
The afternoon belonged to Artiom Zabun
A mark of 7.58, 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
Market7 Sep 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kvant can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Kvant have done the hard part with Krasnodar, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Kvant
Victor Drăgoi and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Kvant
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mikhail Gashchuk was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad7 Sep 2026
16 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Market7 Sep 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Kvant, another week without a signature from Anton Polorotov.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Nikita Baranov
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Nikita Baranov has come out of that comparison in the side, and Kvant have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match29 Aug 2026
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Zenit Penza, and it could have been more.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.78 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
No sign of nerves from Emil Maiorov at 19 — 7.61
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Emil Maiorov did not need any: 7.61, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
The clubs have shaken hands with Tver; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Squad31 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Kvant
Alexey Naidenov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Anton Polorotov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The terraces31 Aug 2026
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alexey Naidenov, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Aug 2026
The cup run ends for Kvant
0‑2 against Textilschik, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Kvant
Anton Polorotov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Luki-Energiya have kept their man, and Kvant go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match22 Aug 2026
Kvant come up short against Salyut
Salyut left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alexandr Ageev, and the manager let it.
Market24 Aug 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Squad24 Aug 2026
10 new faces, and Kvant are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Kvant will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad17 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Kvant
Anton Polorotov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mikhail Gashchuk and Kvant agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Cherepovets have kept their man, and Kvant go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Match15 Aug 2026
It finished 2‑0, and it was Emil Maiorov’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Kvant.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Kvant training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mikhail Gashchuk is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad17 Aug 2026
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.96 on the card, and the Kvant support went home talking about one name.
Market17 Aug 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market10 Aug 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad10 Aug 2026
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Alexandr Ageev and Kvant agree another 2 years.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Kvant asked and Volgar said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Kvant training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Anton Polorotov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Kvant
Victor Drăgoi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Vladimir Ignashevich has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Innokentiy Zuev is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Aug 2026
231 appearances across 10 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Artemy Ositsin commits to Kvant for another 3 years.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Kvant
Victor Drăgoi and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
A loan move for Maxim Ortyashov is in the works
Kvant have made the call to Leningradets. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
A loan move for Emil Maiorov is in the works
Kvant have made the call to Ufa. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Kvant, another week without a signature from Vitaly Yakovlev.
Looking ahead3 Aug 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Ryazan in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A decision that decides nothing on the pitch and everything in the room. The manager has said, without saying it, whose voice he wants heard when his own is not there.