Rotor U21

2 Jan 2027
Saturday
Process
22 Edition

The Rotor Gazette

28 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

The dugout

Maxim Khramtsov says Rotor went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Player ratings

Ilhan Fakili was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 22. 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.

Squad

Words exchanged at Rotor

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

Match

Rotor come up short against Torpedo Moscow

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

Boardroom

Wages eat 128% of everything Rotor earn

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

The dugout

Daniil Grada gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

The dugout

Arseny Spiridonov: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

Squad

Words at Rotor training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pavel Gorelov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Maxim Khramtsov

Defensive actions: 14. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

In brief

Back issues
21 Edition

The Rotor Gazette

21 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Rotor refuse to drop out of the race

Position 3, 38 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.

Player ratings

Ilhan Fakili, 20, steals the show — 7.86

Marked 7.86 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.

Player ratings

David Davidyan pops up at the right end — 7.99

7.99, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.

Player ratings

Irakly Manelov was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 23. 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.

Match

Whatever happens, Rotor do not lose

7 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.

Squad

A falling-out at Rotor

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

Squad

Alexandr Troshechkin 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.

Match

Rotor see off Shinnik

Three points for Rotor, 2‑1 the final word against Shinnik in a contest settled by the finer margins.

The terraces

One of their own: Ilhan Fakili

He is 20 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.

In brief

20 Edition

The Rotor Gazette

14 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Irakly Manelov beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 37. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

Remember the name: Ilhan Fakili

He is 20, he is averaging 7.00, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.

Squad

A falling-out at Rotor

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

Match

6 unbeaten for Rotor

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Rotor did not have in the autumn.

Match

Rotor are at home on the road

3 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.

Market

Rotor promote Evgeny Bolshakov from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Evgeny Bolshakov 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.

Match

David Davidyan sends Rotor past Volga

It finished 1‑0, and it was David Davidyan’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Rotor.

Player ratings

David Davidyan in the eights

A performance of 8.29 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Squad

A row about effort at Rotor

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

In brief

19 Edition

The Rotor Gazette

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Irakly Manelov was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 44. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

The dugout

Nikita Plotnikov: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Rotor have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Player ratings

Nikita Plotnikov goes up and wins it — 7.85

A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.85 for the rest of it.

Squad

Tempers go at Rotor

Irakly Manelov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

The dugout

Matteo Voltolini gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

Ilhan Fakili is the division's best young player this month

At 20 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. Rotor will try very hard not to make too much of it.

Player ratings

The afternoon belonged to David Davidyan

A mark of 7.34, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.

Squad

A place in the month's best eleven for Alexandr Korotkov

Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Alexandr Korotkov has come out of that comparison in the side, and Rotor have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.

Squad

A step back for Nikita Plotnikov at Rotor

Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.

In brief

18 Edition

The Rotor Gazette

30 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Rotor cannot stop winning

3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.

Squad

Words exchanged at Rotor

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

Squad

A row about effort at Rotor

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

Match

Said Aliev the difference as Rotor beat Chernomorets

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

Boardroom

Wages swallow 133% of the Rotor income

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

Player ratings

Said Aliev was the difference for Rotor

Marked 7.98. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.

Player ratings

Ilja Safronov beats them one at a time

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

The dugout

A satisfied Arseny Spiridonov

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

The dugout

The form table has caught Gergő Szécsi

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

In brief

17 Edition

The Rotor Gazette

23 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Ilhan Fakili runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 39. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Player ratings

A brace, and Nikita Plotnikov takes the afternoon — 7.99

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Nikita Plotnikov provided it, and the 7.99 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Squad

A falling-out at Rotor

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

The terraces

Rotor supporters have found a favourite in Nikita Plotnikov

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Nikita Plotnikov has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

Match

Rotor see off Ufa

Three points for Rotor, 1‑0 the final word against Ufa in a contest settled by the finer margins.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Nikita Plotnikov

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Match

Rotor at the halfway mark

Half the programme played, position 5, 28 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.

Player ratings

The afternoon belonged to Alexandr Korotkov

A mark of 7.89, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.

Squad

Words at Rotor training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sergey Makarov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

In brief

16 Edition

The Rotor Gazette

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Ilhan Fakili, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.99

A mark of 7.99 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.

The dugout

Mikhail Timofeyev keeps the receipts

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

Squad

Irakly Manelov 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 Rotor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Rotor find a way past Chaika

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

Player ratings

Artem Simonyan was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.08. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

Player ratings

Alexandr Troshechkin in the eights

A performance of 8.04 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

Said Aliev in the eights

A performance of 8.05 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Arseny Spiridonov, on a 3‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.

The dugout

No hiding place for Ilja Rodionov

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

In brief

15 Edition

The Rotor Gazette

9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Irakly Manelov

Successful dribbles: 42. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

Up for the corner, and Nikita Plotnikov delivers — 7.76

Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Nikita Plotnikov scored, was marked 7.76, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.

Squad

Tempers go at Rotor

Irakly Manelov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Alexandr Troshechkin falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Ilhan Fakili

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.

The dugout

No hiding place for Matteo Voltolini

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

Player ratings

Ilhan Fakili takes the honours

Marked 7.31 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Rotor had the best player on the pitch.

The dugout

Half-satisfied: Arseny Spiridonov on the draw

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

The dugout

Rotor pick somebody else ahead of Gergő Szécsi

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

In brief

14 Edition

The Rotor Gazette

2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Boardroom

Rotor told to sell

The instruction came from the boardroom and the dugout did not agree with it. Somebody will go, the fee will be called good business, and the manager will spend the season rebuilding around the space.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Irakly Manelov

Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Tempers go at Rotor

Ilhan Fakili was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Match

Rotor come up short against Fakel

Fakel left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

Words at Rotor training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexandr Troshechkin is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

The dugout

Nikita Chagrov gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Boardroom

Wages swallow 133% of the Rotor income

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

The dugout

Arseny Spiridonov faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Arseny Spiridonov after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

The dugout

The form table has caught Gergő Szécsi

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

In brief

13 Edition

The Rotor Gazette

26 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Ilhan Fakili runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 51. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

Still nobody has beaten Rotor

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

Squad

A falling-out at Rotor

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

The dugout

Sergey Prokofjev gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

Appearance number 200 for Alexandr Troshechkin

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.

The dugout

A promise honoured for Ilhan Fakili

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

Squad

Too much change too quickly at Rotor

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.

The dugout

Rotor pick somebody else ahead of Matteo Voltolini

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

The dugout

Half-satisfied: Arseny Spiridonov on the draw

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

In brief

12 Edition

The Rotor Gazette

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Ilhan Fakili, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.09

A mark of 8.09 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Irakly Manelov

Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Irakly Manelov 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 Rotor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Still nobody has beaten Rotor

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

Squad

A row about effort at Rotor

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

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Sergey Prokofjev

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.

Match

Abu-Said Eldarushev sends Rotor past Sokol

It finished 1‑0, and it was Abu-Said Eldarushev’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Rotor.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Gergő Szécsi

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Market

Sergey Makarov told to find a new club

“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Sergey Makarov has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Rotor.

In brief

11 Edition

The Rotor Gazette

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Irakly Manelov beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 39. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

Tempers go at Rotor

Irakly Manelov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Market

One of our own: Vladlen Terekhov joins the Rotor first team

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

Market

Alexei Suvorov steps up from the Rotor academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Alexei Suvorov has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.

The dugout

Matteo Voltolini gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

200 appearances for Artem Simonyan

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

Squad

Sergey Makarov falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

The dugout

A promise honoured at Rotor

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

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Arseny Spiridonov was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Rotor dressing room was either.

In brief

10 Edition

The Rotor Gazette

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Rotor out of the cup

Rubin Yalta ended it 1‑1. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.

Player ratings

Ilhan Fakili, 20, steals the show — 8.01

Marked 8.01 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Atsamaz Revazov

Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Words exchanged at Rotor

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

Squad

A row about effort at Rotor

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

Boardroom

Wages swallow 171% of the Rotor income

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

The terraces

Rotor supporters have found a favourite in Ilhan Fakili

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Ilhan Fakili has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

Match

Rotor see off Spartak Kostroma

Three points for Rotor, 2‑0 the final word against Spartak Kostroma in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Match

At last: Rotor win one

5 matches without a win, and then this, against Spartak Kostroma. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.

In brief

9 Edition

The Rotor Gazette

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Irakly Manelov beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 33. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Match

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

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

Squad

A falling-out at Rotor

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

Squad

A move Matteo Antignani would have made for nothing

There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Matteo Antignani is living that version at Rotor, and it tends to show in the first month.

Squad

A row about effort at Rotor

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

Match

3 matches without a goal for Rotor

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.

Squad

Rotor are still strangers to each other

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.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Arseny Spiridonov chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.

The dugout

Somebody else is better right now than Gergő Szécsi

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

In brief

8 Edition

The Rotor Gazette

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Ilhan Fakili

Successful dribbles: 42. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Transfer targets

Gergő Szécsi due for a Rotor medical

Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.

Transfer targets

Álvaro Busso turns down Rotor

The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Vélez keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.

Squad

Irakly Manelov 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 Rotor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Sergey Makarov falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Market

Rotor buy the years ahead of Amoris Galli

He is 20, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.

Squad

Amoris Galli signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Amoris Galli commits to Rotor for another 3 years.

Player ratings

David Davidyan takes the honours

Marked 7.29 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Rotor had the best player on the pitch.

The dugout

Half-satisfied: Arseny Spiridonov on the draw

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

In brief

7 Edition

The Rotor Gazette

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

Irakly Manelov was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 25. 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.

Boardroom

Window shuts: 18 in, 6 out at Rotor

The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 18 arrived, 6 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.

Transfer targets

Matteo Antignani turns down Rotor

The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.

Squad

Words exchanged at Rotor

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

Match

Rodina take the points off Rotor

Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Market

Rotor promote Nikolai Kudryavtsev from within

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

Market

Rotor promote Valentin Fadeev from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Valentin Fadeev 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.

The dugout

No hiding place for Matteo Voltolini

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

The dugout

Arseny Spiridonov answers for it

“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.

In brief

6 Edition

The Rotor Gazette

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Luca Ferretti gets the move he always wanted

Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Luca Ferretti has just signed for Rotor, and for once the answer mattered.

Market

Rotor sign Daniil Martovoy for $200.0K

The paperwork is done: Daniil Martovoy joins from Shinnik in a deal worth $200.0K. Now comes the harder part.

Squad

Tempers go at Rotor

Ilhan Fakili was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Rotor

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

Player ratings

Irakly Manelov beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Nikolay Pokidyshev

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Squad

This league is too small for Ilhan Fakili

He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Rotor will not keep him by pretending otherwise.

Player ratings

The afternoon belonged to Said Aliev

A mark of 7.84, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.

Transfer targets

Rotor try to borrow Álvaro Busso

Vélez have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.

In brief

5 Edition

The Rotor Gazette

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Ilhan Fakili

Successful dribbles: 34. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

Alexandr Khokhlachev scores twice — 9.28

Two goals and a mark of 9.28 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Transfer targets

Fee done, terms next for Daniil Martovoy

Rotor and Shinnik have settled on $200.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.

Squad

Words exchanged at Rotor

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

Match

Alexandr Khokhlachev the difference as Rotor beat Torpedo Moscow

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Alexandr Khokhlachev. 3‑1 against Torpedo Moscow, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Ilhan Fakili

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.

Player ratings

Said Aliev in the eights

A performance of 8.44 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

The dugout

Abu-Said Eldarushev gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

A row about effort at Rotor

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

In brief

4 Edition

The Rotor Gazette

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Transfer targets

Ilhan Fakili due for a Rotor medical

Everything agreed with Besiktas, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.

Squad

Irakly Manelov 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 Rotor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Transfer targets

Rotor rebuffed over Vasilije Kostov

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

Match

Rotor get the job done against Shinnik

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

Player ratings

A masterclass from Ilja Safronov

Marked 8.16 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Player ratings

Alexandr Troshechkin was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.11. 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.

Transfer targets

Rotor try to borrow Benjamín Sagües Barreiro

Estudiantes 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.

The dugout

Arseny Spiridonov has his say

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

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Sergey Makarov

“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.

In brief

3 Edition

The Rotor Gazette

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Not going: Alexandr Khubulov stays at Rotor

“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” NK Krsko had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.

Player ratings

Irakly Manelov was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 29. 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.

Squad

Tempers go at Rotor

Irakly Manelov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Rodrigo Bacidalupe

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

Transfer targets

Rotor ask about Mattia Ciancaglini

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

The dugout

Nikita Chagrov 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 Nikita Chagrov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

The dugout

Half-satisfied: Arseny Spiridonov on the draw

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

The dugout

No hiding place for Vladimir Sugrobov

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

Match

No goals between Rotor and Volga

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

In brief

2 Edition

The Rotor Gazette

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Ilja Safronov beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 29. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Transfer targets

No thanks: Renato Nhaga rejects the move

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

Squad

A falling-out at Rotor

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

Market

NK Krsko join the queue for Alexandr Khubulov

Add another name to the list: NK Krsko have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Alexandr Khubulov. The answer from Rotor has not changed — yet.

Match

A bad afternoon for Rotor against SKA Khabarovsk

1‑3 to SKA Khabarovsk, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Market

One of our own: Arseny Aristov joins the Rotor first team

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

Market

Rotor promote Daniil Semak from within

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

Market

One of our own: Bogdan Zabolotsky joins the Rotor first team

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

The dugout

Arseny Spiridonov answers for it

“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.

In brief

  • Squad The formation has left Nando behind
  • Transfer targets A loan move for Vasilije Kostov is in the works
  • The dugout The manager makes an example of Ilja Safronov
1 Edition

The Rotor Gazette

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Player ratings

Ilja Safronov beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 44. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Market

Rotor say no — this time

The offer from Smorgon for Alexandr Khokhlachev was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Squad

Nikita Chagrov stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Nikita Chagrov and Rotor agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Words exchanged at Rotor

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

Squad

A row about effort at Rotor

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

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Irakly Manelov

At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

Match

Irakly Manelov the difference as Rotor beat Chernomorets

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

Player ratings

A masterclass from Irakly Manelov

Marked 8.27 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Market

Nobody at Rotor has picked up the phone to Nikita Chagrov

36 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.

In brief