From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces29 Nov 2027
The mood at Luki-Energiya has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Boardroom29 Nov 2027
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Luki-Energiya is running low.
Market29 Nov 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Dmitry Saganovich will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Luki-Energiya the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Ilja Salnikov 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.
Squad29 Nov 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; Luki-Energiya are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The terraces29 Nov 2027
At 22 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.
Match27 Nov 2027
Tver made Luki-Energiya work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings29 Nov 2027
A mark of 7.60, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Nikita Gorbachev 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market22 Nov 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Luki-Energiya can pretend not to have heard.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Words at Luki-Energiya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Saganovich 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.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Alexey Pipo 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
Crisis
Match15 Nov 2027
Position 14, 11 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Dmitry Saganovich 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Valentin Andyamov 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.
Match13 Nov 2027
A 1‑0 win over Dinamo Vologda, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings15 Nov 2027
Marked 7.96 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Luki-Energiya had the best player on the pitch.
Squad15 Nov 2027
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.
Player ratings15 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 10. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad15 Nov 2027
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad8 Nov 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Valentin Andyamov
15 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Luki-Energiya lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Boardroom8 Nov 2027
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Match6 Nov 2027
No end in sight to Luki-Energiya's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Luki-Energiya has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Dmitry Saganovich 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.
Match6 Nov 2027
3 matches without a goal for Luki-Energiya
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at Luki-Energiya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilja Salnikov 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.
Loan watch8 Nov 2027
“I watch every Luki-Energiya game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Mashuk runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Match6 Nov 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings8 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces1 Nov 2027
The mood at Luki-Energiya has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Squad1 Nov 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Valentin Andyamov
22 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Luki-Energiya lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Boardroom1 Nov 2027
Pressure builds in the Luki-Energiya boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market1 Nov 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Dmitry Saganovich will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Luki-Energiya the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market1 Nov 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 Luki-Energiya, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match30 Oct 2027
No end in sight to Luki-Energiya's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Luki-Energiya has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad1 Nov 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 Luki-Energiya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Ilja Salnikov 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.
Loan watch1 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 Luki-Energiya, and 0 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad25 Oct 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Valentin Andyamov
29 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Luki-Energiya lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market25 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 Luki-Energiya, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match23 Oct 2027
5 matches without a win for Luki-Energiya
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Luki-Energiya are no longer polite ones.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Ilja Salnikov 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.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Words at Luki-Energiya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Saganovich 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.
Match23 Oct 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad18 Oct 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Valentin Andyamov
36 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Luki-Energiya lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match18 Oct 2027
Every point is an argument now for Luki-Energiya
Position 14 and 7 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.
Market18 Oct 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Luki-Energiya can pretend not to have heard.
Match16 Oct 2027
No end in sight to Luki-Energiya's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Luki-Energiya has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad18 Oct 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 Luki-Energiya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words at Luki-Energiya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexandr Galimov 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.
Squad18 Oct 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 ratings18 Oct 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.
Match16 Oct 2027
It needed Gennady Nikitin to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Yenisey 2, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad11 Oct 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Valentin Andyamov
43 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Luki-Energiya lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market11 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 Luki-Energiya, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad11 Oct 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Luki-Energiya have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings11 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match9 Oct 2027
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words at Luki-Energiya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Saganovich 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.
Match9 Oct 2027
Cherepovets left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad11 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alexey Pipo, and the manager let it.
Loan watch11 Oct 2027
“I did not go to Mashuk to sit and watch. I want to come back to Luki-Energiya and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 14 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces4 Oct 2027
The mood at Luki-Energiya has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Squad4 Oct 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Valentin Andyamov
50 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Luki-Energiya lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Luki-Energiya
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Market4 Oct 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Luki-Energiya is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market4 Oct 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Luki-Energiya can pretend not to have heard.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Dmitry Saganovich 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.
Squad4 Oct 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; Luki-Energiya are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Alexey Pipo 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 Luki-Energiya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad27 Sep 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Valentin Andyamov
57 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Luki-Energiya lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market27 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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Dmitry Saganovich 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
Alexandr Galimov 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.
Match25 Sep 2027
Saturn left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad20 Sep 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Valentin Andyamov
64 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Luki-Energiya lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match20 Sep 2027
6 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market20 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.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Dmitry Saganovich 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.
Match18 Sep 2027
Kolomna made Luki-Energiya work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Valentin Andyamov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The terraces20 Sep 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Gennady Nikitin 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.
Squad20 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad13 Sep 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Valentin Andyamov
71 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Luki-Energiya lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market13 Sep 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 Luki-Energiya, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match11 Sep 2027
7 matches without a win for Luki-Energiya
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Luki-Energiya are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings13 Sep 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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words at Luki-Energiya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Saganovich 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.
Loan watch13 Sep 2027
“I did not go to Mashuk to sit and watch. I want to come back to Luki-Energiya and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 10 matches say the rest.
Squad13 Sep 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 Luki-Energiya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match11 Sep 2027
0‑1 to Chertanovo, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Market13 Sep 2027
Add another name to the list: Astrakhan have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Daniil Vaulin. The answer from Luki-Energiya has not changed — yet.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces6 Sep 2027
The mood at Luki-Energiya has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Squad6 Sep 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Valentin Andyamov
78 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Luki-Energiya lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market6 Sep 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Luki-Energiya is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market6 Sep 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Luki-Energiya can pretend not to have heard.
Match4 Sep 2027
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.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Luki-Energiya
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad6 Sep 2027
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.
Match4 Sep 2027
Luki-Energiya are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Squad6 Sep 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 Luki-Energiya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad30 Aug 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Valentin Andyamov
85 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Luki-Energiya lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match28 Aug 2027
Beaten 1‑4 by Spartak Moscow 2, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market30 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.
Match28 Aug 2027
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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Luki-Energiya have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Words at Luki-Energiya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Saganovich 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.
Match28 Aug 2027
Luki-Energiya are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
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 Luki-Energiya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom30 Aug 2027
Nobody left the Luki-Energiya dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad23 Aug 2027
Valentin Andyamov damages knee ligaments — 93 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 93 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Match18 Aug 2027
0‑4 against Dinamo St Petersburg, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
The terraces23 Aug 2027
It finished 0-4. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.
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.
Match21 Aug 2027
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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Dmitry Saganovich 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.
Match21 Aug 2027
Magomed Musaev scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Zvezda, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad23 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dmitry Saganovich, and the manager let it.
Boardroom23 Aug 2027
Nobody left the Luki-Energiya dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad16 Aug 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Valentin Andyamov
101 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Luki-Energiya lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market16 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 Luki-Energiya, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Dmitry Saganovich 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 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Alexandr Galimov 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.
Match14 Aug 2027
Tver left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Aug 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Valentin Andyamov
108 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Luki-Energiya lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The terraces9 Aug 2027
The mood at Luki-Energiya has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Market9 Aug 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Luki-Energiya is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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 Luki-Energiya, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Magomed Musaev 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Dmitry Saganovich 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad2 Aug 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Valentin Andyamov
115 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Luki-Energiya lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 17 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market2 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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Maxim Sergeev is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 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.
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 Luki-Energiya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match31 Jul 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Jul 2027
Valentin Andyamov damages knee ligaments — 123 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 123 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Match24 Jul 2027
Torpedo Vladimir will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Luki-Energiya were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 24 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market26 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.
Market26 Jul 2027
Only the photograph left for Igor Kurbanov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Igor Kurbanov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Luki-Energiya the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad26 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 Luki-Energiya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at Luki-Energiya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexandr Galimov 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 terraces26 Jul 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Oleg Kuzmin 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 ratings26 Jul 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.06, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 Jul 2027
Valentin Andyamov damages knee ligaments — 130 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 130 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Match17 Jul 2027
Beaten 0‑3 by Baltika 2, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 31 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market19 Jul 2027
Ilja Mamkin 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 Luki-Energiya can pretend not to have heard.
Match17 Jul 2027
No end in sight to Luki-Energiya's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Luki-Energiya has to find a result from somewhere.
Market19 Jul 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Luki-Energiya they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom19 Jul 2027
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at Luki-Energiya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Saganovich is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad19 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 Luki-Energiya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 Jul 2027
Valentin Andyamov damages knee ligaments — 137 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 137 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The terraces12 Jul 2027
The mood at Luki-Energiya has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 38 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market12 Jul 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Luki-Energiya they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market12 Jul 2027
Maxim Sergeev 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 Luki-Energiya can pretend not to have heard.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Dmitry Saganovich 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
Fyodor Garin has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Luki-Energiya can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 45 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market5 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 Luki-Energiya, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
The Luki-Energiya board call everybody in
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Squad5 Jul 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.
Market5 Jul 2027
The offer from Dinamo Barnaul for Oleg Kuzmin was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Maxim Sergeev is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Ilja Salnikov 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
Crisis
Squad28 Jun 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 52 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market28 Jun 2027
Igor Kurbanov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Luki-Energiya they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market28 Jun 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Luki-Energiya have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Vsevolod Yeliseev is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom21 Jun 2027
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Luki-Energiya is running low.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 59 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market21 Jun 2027
Ilja Mamkin 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 Luki-Energiya can pretend not to have heard.
Market21 Jun 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market21 Jun 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Luki-Energiya is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces14 Jun 2027
The mood at Luki-Energiya has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 66 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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 Luki-Energiya, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market14 Jun 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Luki-Energiya is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Dmitry Melnik is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
Squad14 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 Luki-Energiya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Fyodor Garin has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
The Luki-Energiya board call everybody in
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Market7 Jun 2027
Lev Ushakhin has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Luki-Energiya they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market7 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Alexandr Kukharchuk 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at Luki-Energiya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Saganovich is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad7 Jun 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.
Market7 Jun 2027
1 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Luki-Energiya could get for him.
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
Luki-Energiya pull $245.3K back off the table
The money that was there in the summer is not there now. Nobody upstairs calls this a change of ambition, and everybody downstairs reads it as one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market31 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 Luki-Energiya, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market31 May 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Luki-Energiya is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad31 May 2027
Dmitry Saganovich 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.
Squad31 May 2027
Valentin Andyamov 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.
Squad31 May 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Dmitry Saganovich trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market31 May 2027
1 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Luki-Energiya could get for him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom24 May 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Luki-Energiya
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market24 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.
Market24 May 2027
Only the photograph left for Igor Shestakov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Igor Shestakov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Luki-Energiya the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad24 May 2027
Dmitry Saganovich 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.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Luki-Energiya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilja Salnikov 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.
Squad24 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 Luki-Energiya, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces17 May 2027
The mood at Luki-Energiya has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Market17 May 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alexandr Kukharchuk will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Luki-Energiya the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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 Luki-Energiya, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad17 May 2027
Dmitry Saganovich 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.
Squad17 May 2027
Nikita Gorbachev 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 May 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market10 May 2027
Only the photograph left for Lev Ushakhin
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lev Ushakhin will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Luki-Energiya the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market10 May 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Luki-Energiya can pretend not to have heard.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Luki-Energiya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Saganovich 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 May 2027
Alexey Pipo 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
Ilja Mamkin 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 Luki-Energiya, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market10 May 2027
2 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Luki-Energiya money.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad3 May 2027
Maxim Sergeev damages knee ligaments — 19 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 19 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Boardroom3 May 2027
Fyodor Garin has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Luki-Energiya can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Boardroom3 May 2027
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
Market3 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.
Market3 May 2027
Igor Kurbanov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Luki-Energiya they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad3 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 Luki-Energiya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 May 2027
Ilja Salnikov 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.
Squad3 May 2027
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Dmitry Saganovich is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
Market3 May 2027
2 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Luki-Energiya money.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad26 Apr 2027
Maxim Sergeev damages knee ligaments — 26 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 26 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Boardroom26 Apr 2027
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Luki-Energiya is running low.
Market26 Apr 2027
Only the photograph left for Igor Shestakov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Igor Shestakov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Luki-Energiya the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market26 Apr 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 Luki-Energiya, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Alexandr Kukharchuk 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 Apr 2027
Words at Luki-Energiya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Saganovich 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces19 Apr 2027
Anger at Luki-Energiya spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Squad19 Apr 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Maxim Sergeev
33 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Luki-Energiya lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market19 Apr 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Luki-Energiya they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market19 Apr 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Luki-Energiya can pretend not to have heard.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Luki-Energiya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Saganovich is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad19 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 Luki-Energiya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 Apr 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Maxim Sergeev
40 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Luki-Energiya lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market12 Apr 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Luki-Energiya is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Luki-Energiya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Ilja Salnikov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad12 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vasily Lunev, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad5 Apr 2027
Maxim Sergeev damages knee ligaments — 48 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 48 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Boardroom5 Apr 2027
Fyodor Garin has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Luki-Energiya can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market5 Apr 2027
Lev Ushakhin 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 Luki-Energiya can pretend not to have heard.
Market5 Apr 2027
Igor Kurbanov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Luki-Energiya they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Dmitry Saganovich was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Luki-Energiya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilja Salnikov 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.
Boardroom5 Apr 2027
Wages eat 90% of everything Luki-Energiya 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Danila Strebtsov, and the manager let it.
Market5 Apr 2027
Daniil Vaulin returns from a loan that gave him nothing
0 appearances and 0 goals is not a season, it is a year somebody has lost. Whether that is his fault, the borrowing club's or the people who arranged it is the argument the next few weeks will have.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad29 Mar 2027
Maxim Sergeev damages knee ligaments — 55 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 55 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Boardroom29 Mar 2027
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Luki-Energiya is running low.
Market29 Mar 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Luki-Energiya can pretend not to have heard.
Market29 Mar 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Luki-Energiya is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Ilja Salnikov 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.
Squad29 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 Luki-Energiya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces22 Mar 2027
Anger at Luki-Energiya spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Maxim Sergeev damages knee ligaments — 62 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 62 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market22 Mar 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alexandr Kukharchuk will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Luki-Energiya the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market22 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 Luki-Energiya, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom22 Mar 2027
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Igor Kurbanov has agreed terms with Sokol for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Dmitry Saganovich 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
Crisis
Squad15 Mar 2027
Maxim Sergeev damages knee ligaments — 69 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 69 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market15 Mar 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Luki-Energiya can pretend not to have heard.
Market15 Mar 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Luki-Energiya is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad15 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 Luki-Energiya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Ilja Salnikov 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.
Squad15 Mar 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad8 Mar 2027
Maxim Sergeev damages knee ligaments — 76 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 76 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Market8 Mar 2027
Lev Ushakhin 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 Luki-Energiya can pretend not to have heard.
Squad8 Mar 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.
Market8 Mar 2027
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Rodina M moved on, Vlad Nikiforov reports back to Luki-Energiya, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Market8 Mar 2027
Dmitry Melnik has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Luki-Energiya they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Dmitry Saganovich 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 Mar 2027
Words at Luki-Energiya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilja Salnikov 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.
Loan watch8 Mar 2027
“I watch every Luki-Energiya game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Druzhba runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad1 Mar 2027
Maxim Sergeev damages knee ligaments — 83 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 83 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
Pressure builds in the Luki-Energiya boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market1 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.
Market1 Mar 2027
Alexandr Lukin has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Luki-Energiya they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market1 Mar 2027
The deal that would have taken Oleg Kuzmin to Dinamo Barnaul has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Luki-Energiya with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Squad1 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 Luki-Energiya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad22 Feb 2027
Maxim Sergeev damages knee ligaments — 90 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 90 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The terraces22 Feb 2027
Anger at Luki-Energiya spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Market22 Feb 2027
Igor Shestakov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Luki-Energiya they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market22 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Dmitry Saganovich 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.
Market22 Feb 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Luki-Energiya have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
In brief
-
Squad
Words at Luki-Energiya training over how hard people work
-
Market
Orel are about to pick up the phone
-
Squad
Lev Ushakhin knocks on the manager's door
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad15 Feb 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 14 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market15 Feb 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Luki-Energiya can pretend not to have heard.
Market15 Feb 2027
Only the photograph left for Lev Ushakhin
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lev Ushakhin will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Luki-Energiya the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Luki-Energiya will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad15 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 Luki-Energiya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Ilja Salnikov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
In brief
-
Market
Tver are about to pick up the phone
-
Market
Lev Ushakhin runs his contract down
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad8 Feb 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 21 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Boardroom8 Feb 2027
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Market8 Feb 2027
Lev Ushakhin 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 Luki-Energiya can pretend not to have heard.
Match6 Feb 2027
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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Ilja Salnikov 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 ratings8 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Alexandr Galimov 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.
Match6 Feb 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Luki-Energiya
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market1 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.
Market1 Feb 2027
The offer from Tyumen for Alexandr Kukharchuk was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Market1 Feb 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Luki-Energiya is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match30 Jan 2027
No end in sight to Luki-Energiya's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Luki-Energiya has to find a result from somewhere.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Igor Shestakov has agreed terms with Dinamo St Petersburg for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Ilja Salnikov 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.
Loan watch1 Feb 2027
“I watch every Luki-Energiya game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Tver runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Player ratings1 Feb 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
Crisis
The terraces25 Jan 2027
Anger at Luki-Energiya spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 31. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market25 Jan 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Luki-Energiya is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Dmitry Saganovich 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Luki-Energiya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lev Ushakhin 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.
Match23 Jan 2027
1‑2 to Cherepovets, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Market25 Jan 2027
Ivan Ovsyankin is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Luki-Energiya has been clear about where Ivan Ovsyankin stands, which is more than many ever get.
Squad25 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Maxim Sergeev, and the manager let it.
Market25 Jan 2027
5 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Luki-Energiya could get for him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market18 Jan 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Luki-Energiya can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad18 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 Luki-Energiya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Luki-Energiya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexandr Galimov 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 ratings18 Jan 2027
A performance of 8.06 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match16 Jan 2027
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
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.
Market11 Jan 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Luki-Energiya is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom11 Jan 2027
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Lev Ushakhin has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Dmitry Saganovich 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 Jan 2027
Alexandr Galimov 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.
Loan watch11 Jan 2027
“I watch every Luki-Energiya game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Druzhba runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Match9 Jan 2027
Saturn left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad11 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.
Squad11 Jan 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 Luki-Energiya, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
Pressure builds in the Luki-Energiya boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Fyodor Garin has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
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 Luki-Energiya, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market4 Jan 2027
Only the photograph left for Alexandr Lukin
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alexandr Lukin will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Luki-Energiya the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad4 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 Luki-Energiya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Ilja Salnikov 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.
Match2 Jan 2027
A 2‑1 win over Kolomna, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad4 Jan 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
Uneasy
The terraces28 Dec 2026
Anger at Luki-Energiya spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Market28 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 Luki-Energiya, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Dmitry Saganovich 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 Dec 2026
Words at Luki-Energiya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilja Salnikov 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.
Match26 Dec 2026
Chertanovo made Luki-Energiya work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Marked 7.82 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Luki-Energiya had the best player on the pitch.
Squad28 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Ivan Ovsyankin
“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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Ilja Salnikov 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 Ilja Salnikov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Dec 2026
0‑4 against Zenit 2, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market21 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.
Squad21 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 Luki-Energiya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Luki-Energiya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexandr Galimov 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.
Squad21 Dec 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.
Boardroom21 Dec 2026
Nobody left the Luki-Energiya dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Gennady Nikitin 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 Dec 2026
6 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Luki-Energiya could ask drops and the wages Alexandr Kukharchuk can ask rise.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Dec 2026
Alexandr Kukharchuk 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 Dec 2026
Words at Luki-Energiya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilja Salnikov 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 terraces14 Dec 2026
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Match12 Dec 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Alexandr Kukharchuk. 1‑0 against Spartak Moscow 2, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Vasily Lunev 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.
Loan watch14 Dec 2026
“I watch every Luki-Energiya game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Druzhba runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.58 on the card, and the Luki-Energiya support went home talking about one name.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Gennady Nikitin 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
Crisis
Match5 Dec 2026
0‑3 against Zvezda, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market7 Dec 2026
Lev Ushakhin 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 Luki-Energiya can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom7 Dec 2026
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Luki-Energiya is running low.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ilja Salnikov commits to Luki-Energiya for another 3 years.
Squad7 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 Luki-Energiya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match5 Dec 2026
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Luki-Energiya can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Ilja Salnikov 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.
Loan watch7 Dec 2026
“I watch every Luki-Energiya game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Tver runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gennady Nikitin, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces30 Nov 2026
Anger at Luki-Energiya spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Match30 Nov 2026
Position 14, 13 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market30 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 Luki-Energiya can pretend not to have heard.
Market30 Nov 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Luki-Energiya they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Dmitry Saganovich 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Alexandr Galimov 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.
Squad30 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Luki-Energiya, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 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 Luki-Energiya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Ilja Salnikov 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Dmitry Saganovich trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match14 Nov 2026
Beaten 0‑3 by Dinamo Vologda, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
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 Luki-Energiya can pretend not to have heard.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Dmitry Saganovich 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Luki-Energiya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilja Salnikov 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Valentin Andyamov, and the manager let it.
Boardroom16 Nov 2026
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Loan watch16 Nov 2026
“I watch every Luki-Energiya game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Druzhba runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Player ratings16 Nov 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Ilja Salnikov 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 Luki-Energiya, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
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 Luki-Energiya, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad9 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 Luki-Energiya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Ilja Salnikov 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.
Loan watch9 Nov 2026
“I watch every Luki-Energiya game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Tver runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The terraces9 Nov 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Alexandr Lukin 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Mikhail Maiboroda commits to Luki-Energiya for another 3 years.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
A mark of 7.81, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces2 Nov 2026
Anger at Luki-Energiya spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Match2 Nov 2026
9 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market2 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 Luki-Energiya can pretend not to have heard.
Market2 Nov 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Luki-Energiya is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Ilja Salnikov 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.
Match31 Oct 2026
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Luki-Energiya can tell you which week it ends in.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match31 Oct 2026
Baltika 2 left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad2 Nov 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 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 Luki-Energiya, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Ilja Salnikov 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 ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Too much change too quickly at Luki-Energiya
10 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Nikita Gorbachev 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 Oct 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Luki-Energiya, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market19 Oct 2026
Lev Ushakhin 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 Luki-Energiya can pretend not to have heard.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Dmitry Saganovich 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Alexandr Galimov 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.
Match17 Oct 2026
0‑1 to Yenisey 2, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad19 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Lev Ushakhin
“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 watch19 Oct 2026
“I watch every Luki-Energiya game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Druzhba runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad19 Oct 2026
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Market19 Oct 2026
2 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Luki-Energiya money.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match10 Oct 2026
Cherepovets will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Luki-Energiya were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.05, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market12 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.
Squad12 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 Luki-Energiya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces12 Oct 2026
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Alexandr Galimov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.06. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Luki-Energiya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yegor Pankov 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vasily Lunev, and the manager let it.
Market12 Oct 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
Match5 Oct 2026
Every point is an argument now for Luki-Energiya
Position 15 and 5 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.
The terraces5 Oct 2026
Anger at Luki-Energiya spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Market5 Oct 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Luki-Energiya can pretend not to have heard.
Match3 Oct 2026
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.
Market5 Oct 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Luki-Energiya they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Dmitry Saganovich was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Luki-Energiya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilja Salnikov 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.
Loan watch5 Oct 2026
“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 Luki-Energiya, and 0 appearances in 8 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market28 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 Luki-Energiya can pretend not to have heard.
Match26 Sep 2026
5 matches without a win for Luki-Energiya
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Luki-Energiya are no longer polite ones.
Market28 Sep 2026
So close: Oleg Kuzmin’s move dies late
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Dinamo Barnaul moved on, Oleg Kuzmin reports back to Luki-Energiya, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Squad28 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Luki-Energiya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match26 Sep 2026
Saturn left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Luki-Energiya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexandr Galimov 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 ratings28 Sep 2026
Alexandr Galimov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.01. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad28 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alexey Pipo, and the manager let it.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Too much change too quickly at Luki-Energiya
10 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Sep 2026
Nikita Gorbachev damages knee ligaments — 20 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 20 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market21 Sep 2026
Lev Ushakhin 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 Luki-Energiya can pretend not to have heard.
Market21 Sep 2026
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Ivan Ovsyankin reports back to Luki-Energiya with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Match19 Sep 2026
4 matches without a win for Luki-Energiya
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Luki-Energiya are no longer polite ones.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Dmitry Saganovich 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 ratings21 Sep 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Sep 2026
Nikita Gorbachev damages knee ligaments — 27 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 27 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market14 Sep 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Dmitry Saganovich 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 ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market14 Sep 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Nikita Gorbachev 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.
Match12 Sep 2026
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Squad14 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad7 Sep 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 12 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match5 Sep 2026
0‑5 against Zenit 2, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
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 Luki-Energiya can pretend not to have heard.
Market7 Sep 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nikolay Edjibia will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Luki-Energiya the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market7 Sep 2026
The bid was some way short and Luki-Energiya did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Ilja Salnikov 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.
Market7 Sep 2026
The name of Ivan Ovsyankin has come up in conversations Luki-Energiya were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Luki-Energiya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Saganovich is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Lev Ushakhin
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 32. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market31 Aug 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Luki-Energiya, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market31 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad31 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Luki-Energiya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match29 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alexandr Kukharchuk, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match19 Aug 2026
Out, 1‑1 to Dinamo Barnaul, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Match22 Aug 2026
Zvezda will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Luki-Energiya were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Market24 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.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 7.93, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
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.
Market24 Aug 2026
The offer from Kuban Holding for Nikolay Edjibia was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Boardroom24 Aug 2026
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Ivan Ovsyankin has agreed terms with Znamya Truda for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Market24 Aug 2026
Business is business: Artem Yegorov goes
Chaika paid $12.0K and Luki-Energiya took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Luki-Energiya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Saganovich 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces17 Aug 2026
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 6 of the 29 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad17 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Luki-Energiya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market17 Aug 2026
The name of Artem Yegorov has come up in conversations Luki-Energiya were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Luki-Energiya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexandr Galimov 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad17 Aug 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad17 Aug 2026
The plan did not have a place for Vasily Lunev
Nobody at Luki-Energiya is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market10 Aug 2026
Igor Kurbanov 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 Luki-Energiya can pretend not to have heard.
Squad10 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Luki-Energiya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Artyom Frolov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Aleksey Goryachev has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Daniil Eskov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market3 Aug 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Luki-Energiya is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom3 Aug 2026
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Nikolay Edjibia has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Market3 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Dmitry Saganovich commits to Luki-Energiya for another 3 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Luki-Energiya training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Saganovich 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.
Match1 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Market3 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: Tver have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Daniil Vaulin. The answer from Luki-Energiya has not changed — yet.
Squad3 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Luki-Energiya this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market3 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.