Yegor Totskiy was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Vladislav Dys 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.
Half the programme played, position 19, 12 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
The dugout28 Dec 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.” Viktor Rybakov chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vladislav Dys was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
Vladislav Dys is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Successful dribbles: 11. 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 warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Roman Chenchikov 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.
Minute 85, against Kuban Holding, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Viktor Rybakov after the 2‑2 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Vladislav Dys 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.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Viktor Rybakov after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Alexandr Metsiev may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Sochi 2 are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Alexandr Metsiev, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.79
A mark of 7.79 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vladislav Dys was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Viktor Rybakov after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
5 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Sochi 2 know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nobody at Sochi 2 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sochi 2 can pretend not to have heard.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Words at Sochi 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Dys 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 Sochi 2, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Yegor Totskiy signs something — a contract at Sochi 2 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
MarketThe clock does Yegor Totskiy’s negotiating for him
Yegor Totskiy 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.
13 combined actions and 7.17. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Sochi 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Dys 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.
Shifted about, taken off before the hour, asked to do somebody else's running — Roman Chenchikov has had enough of being useful and would like to be picked. Sochi 2 know, and have known for weeks.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Mikhail Slepov has come out of that comparison in the side, and Sochi 2 have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“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.
Nobody at Sochi 2 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Sochi 2 know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
1 for Mikhail Slepov, marked 7.63, 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.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Sochi 2 and Nart in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
2‑4 to Nart, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Sochi 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Dys 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 2‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
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.
2 saves does not settle the argument about whose fault it was, and the argument will run all week. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines whoever caused them.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vladislav Dys was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 89. Astrakhan had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
A 1‑1 draw with Astrakhan leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout19 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.” Viktor Rybakov chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Yegor Totskiy signs something — a contract at Sochi 2 or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Roman Shmelev is 18, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Roman Shmelev is 18, and for one weekend he was the best of everybody his age in the division. Nobody should build a career on it and everybody quietly does.
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
6‑0, and Roman Shmelev took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Sochi 2 tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Roman Shmelev, 18, plays like he has been here for years — 9.76
A mark of 9.76 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 18-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Two of the goals had his name somewhere on them, which is the afternoon a manager wants from anybody asked to both create and finish. 7.72, and 2 involvements.
6 goals in one match, Roman Shmelev on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Sochi 2 and Chaika M.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Robert Gamalyan is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Yegor Totskiy 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.
Chances created: 14. Nothing on the scoresheet and everything in the match: the pass before the pass, over and over, until the defence stopped guessing right.
Dinamo Stavropol left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Vladislav Dys 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Yegor Totskiy trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Successful dribbles: 11. 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 shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
“I am not asking anybody to be better than they are. I am asking everybody to be as good as they are, every week.” Said out loud, in front of everybody, and the room at Sochi 2 was different afterwards.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Roman Chenchikov 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.
“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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Yegor Totskiy trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Successful dribbles: 12. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Dinamo Stavropol in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mark Nosaty, and the manager let it.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Vladislav Dys 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 music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑4 defeat, delivered by Viktor Rybakov to a room that had heard them before.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vladislav Dys was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad7 Sep 2026
15 new faces, and Sochi 2 are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Alexandr Metsiev is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 16 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sochi 2 can pretend not to have heard.
12 combined actions and 6.68. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑5, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 92th minute. Zarya Lugansk will replay every second of the added time for a week.
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Roman Shmelev, 18, plays like he has been here for years — 7.61
A mark of 7.61 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 18-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
A 3‑2 win over Zarya Lugansk, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Vladislav Dys 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 dugout24 Aug 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Viktor Rybakov kept it short after the 3‑2 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
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.
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Sochi 2 training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Dys 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 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.
Successful dribbles: 12. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Played out of position, hooked on the hour, asked to be somebody he is not — the details vary and the mood does not. Sochi 2 have a player doing his work under protest.
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.
“I am not asking anybody to be better than they are. I am asking everybody to be as good as they are, every week.” Said out loud, in front of everybody, and the room at Sochi 2 was different afterwards.
In brief
SquadThe training reports on Daniil Silev are not good
14 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 dugout10 Aug 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 Viktor Rybakov left the room before anybody could ask which.
One lapse, one goal, and ninety minutes of honest work counting for nothing. That is the job at Sochi 2, and it is a cruel one.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
Roman Tkachev is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
A new face in his position, and Yegor Totskiy suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Sochi 2 have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Roman Chenchikov provided it, and the 8.52 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sochi 2 can pretend not to have heard.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Robert Gamalyan did not need any: 7.73, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
The terraces3 Aug 2026
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 3 of the 14 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Sochi 2 and Rostov 2, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Yegor Totskiy 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.
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
In brief
SquadWords at Sochi 2 training over how hard people work
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Roman Shmelev
BoardroomNobody left the Sochi 2 dressing room in a hurry