Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Metallurg will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Savva Potapov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Metallurg the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Three points for Metallurg, 3‑1 the final word against Zenit Penza in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Words at Metallurg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxim Vedeneev 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Nikita Kononenko 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Metallurg will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Ilnur Badrtdinov 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.
Successful dribbles: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words at Metallurg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniil Chernyakov 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 dugout15 Nov 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Yefim Dyachkov left the room before anybody could ask which.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Metallurg will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Successful dribbles: 38. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Vladislav Agalakov provided it, and the 9.04 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“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 Metallurg, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Savva Potapov 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Evgeni Borodin is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Metallurg will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“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 Metallurg, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Metallurg is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxim Vedeneev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Metallurg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Position 8, 22 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Metallurg will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 Metallurg, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Savva Potapov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Metallurg the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Dmitry Savin 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 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.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Denis Semin’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Metallurg needing him to play as if none of it matters.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Metallurg, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 121 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Dmitry Savin and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The 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.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Yefim Dyachkov left the room before anybody could ask which.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Metallurg will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 Metallurg, and it is not being withdrawn.
Words at Metallurg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxim Vedeneev 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Aleksei Chekhov 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.
“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 Metallurg, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Metallurg is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniil Chernyakov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Maxim Vedeneev is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Savva Potapov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Metallurg the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Words at Metallurg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxim Vedeneev 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.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Spartak Tambov defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Nobody at Metallurg will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 15 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
95 minutes played. Vladislav Agalakov found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Znamya Truda went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Metallurg will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Alania have kept their man, and Metallurg go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Words at Metallurg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxim Vedeneev 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 22 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Metallurg can pretend not to have heard.
Successful dribbles: 26. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Boardroom13 Sep 2027
Metallurg close the window on a squad of their own making
6 in and 6 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Gennady Konovalov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
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.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 29 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Artem Dryakhlov did not need any: 8.11, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Metallurg can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Metallurg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Tyumen have kept their man, and Metallurg go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words at Metallurg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxim Vedeneev 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 36 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Nikita Kononenko did not need any: 7.87, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Metallurg is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Dmitry Savin 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 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Metallurg will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
1 for Vildan Yermilov, marked 7.99, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Metallurg have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Ilnur Badrtdinov 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Metallurg will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Grigory Komovnikov has, at Metallurg, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Metallurg will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Artem Dryakhlov, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 7.95
A mark of 7.95 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Metallurg is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
Metallurg asked and Fakel said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
In brief
SquadMaxim Vedeneev falls out with a teammate over standards
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Metallurg will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Metallurg is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom2 Aug 2027
An order from above at Metallurg: somebody has to go
Balance sheets do not care about form or about who the manager was planning to build around. The board have decided a sale is required, and the only question left is which name ends up carrying it.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Metallurg will quote 16 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Metallurg asked and Nizhniy Novgorod said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words at Metallurg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mark Isong 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.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Metallurg will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Successful dribbles: 28. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
5 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxim Vedeneev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Savva Potapov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 80 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mark Isong will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Metallurg the goodbyes have quietly begun.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Metallurg have done the hard part with Tyumen, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The phone has started ringing about Alexandr Kobzev again, and this time the name on the line is Volgar. Metallurg are listening politely and promising nothing.
4 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
Metallurg offered $28.0K; Khimik said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 87 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Metallurg can pretend not to have heard.
$41.0K on the table at Dinamo Stavropol. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Metallurg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words at Metallurg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mark Isong 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.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Metallurg will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Daniil Grigorjev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 94 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Metallurg can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Metallurg they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Dinamo Stavropol wanted more than $41.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxim Vedeneev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 101 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The offer from Uralets-TS for Alexandr Kobzev 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.
“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 Metallurg, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vadim Roldugin will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Metallurg the goodbyes have quietly begun.
$41.0K on the table at Dinamo Stavropol. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Ilnur Badrtdinov 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.
Words at Metallurg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Agalakov 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Metallurg, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 108 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mark Isong will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Metallurg the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The name of Alexandr Kobzev has come up in conversations Metallurg were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Metallurg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mark Isong was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Lokomotiv Moscow have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Spartak Moscow have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 115 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Metallurg can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxim Vedeneev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Vladislav Agalakov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Metallurg will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 122 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Metallurg have had the benefit of it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Metallurg they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxim Vedeneev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Zakhar Podzolkov 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Metallurg, another week without a signature from Mark Isong.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Metallurg will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 Metallurg, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vadim Roldugin will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Metallurg the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Dmitry Savin and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Mark Isong 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Metallurg will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Metallurg is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Dmitry Savin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Metallurg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxim Vedeneev 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 oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Metallurg is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Ilnur Badrtdinov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Mark Isong 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.
“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 Metallurg, and 13 appearances in 39 say he has earned the hearing.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Metallurg, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Metallurg know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
MarketThe clock does Mark Isong’s negotiating for him
SquadQuestions about Yegor Ananjev on the training pitch
“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 Metallurg, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vadim Roldugin will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Metallurg the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxim Vedeneev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Metallurg has been clear about where Daniil Chernyakov stands, which is more than many ever get.
45 points from position 5. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
“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 Metallurg, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Metallurg is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Metallurg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Mark Isong 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.
Yegor Ananjev and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Daniil Grigorjev signs something — a contract at Metallurg or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Vadim Roldugin plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Metallurg is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Dmitry Savin and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Metallurg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxim Vedeneev 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Metallurg can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Metallurg they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Dmitry Savin 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxim Vedeneev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Metallurg, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Metallurg know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Position 5, 45 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mark Isong will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Metallurg the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mark Isong was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kirill Dontsov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxim Vedeneev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Daniil Grigorjev signs something — a contract at Metallurg or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A window away with the national side, and a shirt at Metallurg that briefly doubles as an advertisement. A call-up flatters the player and the club that built him in the same breath.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Metallurg they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Ilnur Badrtdinov 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 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Metallurg, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Metallurg is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Alexey Skvortsov and Metallurg agree another 2 years.
Ilnur Badrtdinov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Metallurg ran out of time with Khimik. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words at Metallurg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mark Isong 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Metallurg know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Metallurg can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mark Isong will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Metallurg the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Khimik have accepted the money. What Metallurg do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 0 arrived, 0 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ufa have kept their man, and Metallurg go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxim Vedeneev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Yegor Ananjev 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Zenit Penza waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Metallurg is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
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.
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.
Dmitry Savin and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Metallurg asked and Ufa said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Add another name to the list: Zenit Penza have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Savva Potapov. The answer from Metallurg has not changed — yet.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mark Isong was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Metallurg, and it is not being withdrawn.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Metallurg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxim Vedeneev 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Metallurg, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Metallurg know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Metallurg has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
In brief
MatchContinental football is in reach for Metallurg
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Timofey Kashitsyn provided it, and the 8.34 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“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 Metallurg, and it is not being withdrawn.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Mark Isong did not need any: 8.11, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Metallurg they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Dinamo Vologda is saying, and nobody at Metallurg is enjoying the guessing.
4 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Metallurg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Metallurg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mark Isong 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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Yefim Dyachkov could afford to be generous.
Two goals and a mark of 8.64 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Metallurg can pretend not to have heard.
One scored and one made, which is a different afternoon from scoring twice and an easier one to overlook. Marked 7.97, and involved in 2 of his side's goals.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxim Vedeneev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Alexey Skvortsov.
“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 Metallurg, and it is not being withdrawn.
Marked 7.47. There is a kind of forward whose value only shows up when you count what he was involved in rather than what he finished, and this is the day that argument makes itself.
Ilnur Badrtdinov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
7 goals in one match, Daniil Grigorjev on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Metallurg and Spartak Tambov.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxim Vedeneev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The first defeat in 4 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Spartak Tambov; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
There were 88 minutes on the clock and Znamya Truda had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Metallurg did not stop to explain themselves.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Vladislav Agalakov provided it, and the 8.67 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“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 Metallurg, and it is not being withdrawn.
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Metallurg will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vadim Roldugin will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Metallurg the goodbyes have quietly begun.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Vadim Roldugin 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Metallurg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.27 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
12 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Successful dribbles: 24. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxim Vedeneev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
At 20 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxim Vedeneev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Yefim Dyachkov on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Metallurg told Daniil Chernyakov something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Vladislav Agalakov’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Metallurg needing him to play as if none of it matters.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Metallurg can pretend not to have heard.
Ilnur Badrtdinov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Metallurg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mark Isong 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Metallurg can pretend not to have heard.
10 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
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.
Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Nikita Yavorskiy is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
It needed Vladislav Agalakov to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Dinamo Bryansk, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Metallurg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Metallurg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxim Vedeneev 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.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Maxim Vedeneev 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.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Yefim Dyachkov chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Two goals and a mark of 9.08 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Ilnur Badrtdinov 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.
9 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mark Isong was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Alexey Skvortsov has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.
Alexandr Kobzev 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 oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑3 Yefim Dyachkov left the room before anybody could ask which.
Zenit Penza next, and one man in the Metallurg dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Metallurg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Metallurg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxim Vedeneev 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.
8 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
“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 Metallurg, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
An order from above at Metallurg: somebody has to go
Balance sheets do not care about form or about who the manager was planning to build around. The board have decided a sale is required, and the only question left is which name ends up carrying it.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Metallurg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mark Isong 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.
100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Metallurg may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Metallurg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxim Vedeneev 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.
13 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
The division's best last weekend was a Metallurg man
It is a small honour and it is not nothing: somebody watched every match in the division and decided that Vladislav Agalakov was the best thing in any of them.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Denis Semin’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Metallurg needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Metallurg know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Metallurg will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Successful dribbles: 33. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.91 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Ilnur Badrtdinov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxim Vedeneev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Yefim Dyachkov could afford to be generous.
“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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Mark Isong 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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Yefim Dyachkov after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Orel defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Kirill Dontsov’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Metallurg needing him to play as if none of it matters.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Metallurg can pretend not to have heard.
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Metallurg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxim Vedeneev 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.
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.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Vladislav Agalakov has come out of that comparison in the side, and Metallurg have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Yegor Ananjev, and the manager let it.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Yefim Dyachkov chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Alexandr Kobzev and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The 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.
200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
13 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
It needed Vladislav Agalakov to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Spartak Tambov, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Yefim Dyachkov chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
Nobody at Metallurg 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.
Alexandr Kobzev 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Mark Isong 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.
A 1‑1 draw with Znamya Truda leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Yefim Dyachkov chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Denis Semin signs something — a contract at Metallurg or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
MarketThe window shut and Zakhar Podzolkov is still in the building
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Vladislav Agalakov provided it, and the 9.24 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“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.
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 15 signed and 2 gone
That is the business done at Metallurg until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Metallurg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxim Vedeneev 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Semyon Belyakov has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Yefim Dyachkov on a 3‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Metallurg can pretend not to have heard.
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.
A point taken on 94 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Nikita Yavorskiy has moved up it.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Vladislav Agalakov provided it, and the 8.77 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“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 Metallurg, and it is not being withdrawn.
Ilnur Badrtdinov 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mark Isong was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad31 Aug 2026
13 new faces, and Metallurg are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
2 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Metallurg can pretend not to have heard.
4 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.
Metallurg asked and Dinamo St Petersburg said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Metallurg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxim Vedeneev 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.
Successful dribbles: 35. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Spartak Kostroma is saying, and nobody at Metallurg is enjoying the guessing.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Metallurg will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxim Vedeneev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Metallurg are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Yefim Dyachkov chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Metallurg can pretend not to have heard.
Alexandr Kobzev and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Daniil Bortsov is living that version at Metallurg, and it tends to show in the first month.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Mark Rumyantsev has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Timofey Egorov has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Metallurg can pretend not to have heard.
The phone has started ringing about Alexandr Burykin again, and this time the name on the line is Saturn. Metallurg are listening politely and promising nothing.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Krasnodar have kept their man, and Metallurg go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Salyut scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.