From our football correspondent
Steady
Market26 Oct 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Defensive actions: 23. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
A defender's afternoon for Artem Golubev
Defensive actions: 21. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Defensive actions: 20. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad26 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Artem Malakhov, and the manager let it.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Oct 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Ilya Gubarevich: 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.” Shinnik have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad19 Oct 2026
56 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Match17 Oct 2026
Shinnik come up short against Ural
Ural left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daniil Kornyushin, and the manager let it.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market12 Oct 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shinnik can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ilja Stefanovich, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match30 Sep 2026
Shinnik march on in the cup
Kosmos are out and Shinnik go through, 3‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Market5 Oct 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shinnik can pretend not to have heard.
Squad5 Oct 2026
The match ball belongs to Ilya Gubarevich, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Match3 Oct 2026
Shinnik make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Shinnik have 3 straight wins of it.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Artur Galoyan was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
A performance of 9.70 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
808% of the income goes out in wages at Shinnik
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 20 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market28 Sep 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad28 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shinnik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match26 Sep 2026
Three points for Shinnik, 2‑1 the final word against Volga in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Marked 8.67 — 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 ratings28 Sep 2026
A performance of 8.26 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Marked 8.18 — 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 ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad28 Sep 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad28 Sep 2026
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Shinnik have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Artur Galoyan was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.93, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad21 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Denis Vambolt
“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.
Match19 Sep 2026
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad21 Sep 2026
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Shinnik have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market14 Sep 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shinnik can pretend not to have heard.
The terraces14 Sep 2026
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 6 of the 27 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Oleg Lanin was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match12 Sep 2026
0‑1 to Chernomorets, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Denis Vambolt knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Shinnik, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Shots: 7, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Shots: 6, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Sep 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market7 Sep 2026
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Ilja Porokhov reports back to Shinnik with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Oleg Lanin 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 Shinnik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market7 Sep 2026
Yenisey paid $170.0K and Shinnik took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Wages eat 600% of everything Shinnik 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.
Match5 Sep 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ilja Stefanovich. 2‑0 against Ufa, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.54, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 Aug 2026
Ilja Porokhov hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shinnik can pretend not to have heard.
Match29 Aug 2026
4 matches without a win for Shinnik
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Shinnik are no longer polite ones.
Market31 Aug 2026
The fee is $140.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Baltika drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad31 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Vadim Karpov
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match29 Aug 2026
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Chaika defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market24 Aug 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market24 Aug 2026
Shinnik say no — this time
The offer from Arsenal Tula for Ilja Porokhov 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.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 22 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Albek Gongapshev asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Match22 Aug 2026
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Rotor defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Market24 Aug 2026
Shinnik have made Artemy Kosogorov available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Market24 Aug 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Dmitry Samoilov signs something — a contract at Shinnik or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market17 Aug 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 5 of the 25 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Market17 Aug 2026
The bid was some way short and Shinnik did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Match15 Aug 2026
Fakel left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Market17 Aug 2026
The name of Ilja Porokhov has come up in conversations Shinnik were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad17 Aug 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Marked 8.57 — 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Denis Vambolt lets one through his hands
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shinnik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Denis Mironov commits to Shinnik for another 4 years.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad10 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Dmitry Samoilov
“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.
Match8 Aug 2026
Arsenal Tula left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Market10 Aug 2026
Still no offer on the table, and Kirill Malyarov’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
Market10 Aug 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Market10 Aug 2026
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Daniil Martovoy has his answer from Shinnik; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
A mark of 5.73 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market3 Aug 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Shinnik, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Oleg Lanin commits to Shinnik for another 3 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Artur Galoyan was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Marked 9.06 — 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.
Match1 Aug 2026
Sokol made Shinnik work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Market3 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Daniil Martovoy again, and this time the name on the line is Arsenal Tula. Shinnik are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad3 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Kirill Malyarov
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.19, and no argument anywhere in the ground.