Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alexey Koltakov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Torpedo Moscow the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Mario Ćurić 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.
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Torpedo Moscow will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking 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.
Nobody at Torpedo Moscow 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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Sochi in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Torpedo Moscow would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Torpedo Moscow know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Dinamo Moscow 2 will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Torpedo Moscow were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
5 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.
13 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 Mario Ćurić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Torpedo Moscow can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Rotor will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Torpedo Moscow were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
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.
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 7.96 for the rest of it.
Alesson 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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words at Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mario Ćurić 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: 18. 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Torpedo Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Torpedo Moscow, another week without a signature from Sergey Borodin.
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.
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.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 94th minute. Shinnik will replay every second of the added time for a week.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Alexey Kashtanov provided it, and the 8.70 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
7.71, 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.
Shinnik made Torpedo Moscow work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑2 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Mario Ćurić 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.
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.
Alesson 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words at Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mario Ćurić 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 Torpedo Moscow, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Torpedo Moscow has been clear about where Antonio Spagnoli stands, which is more than many ever get.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Vladimir Moskvichev is on it.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Shinnik in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
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.
Igor Dmitriev 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.
Marked 8.07 — 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.
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.
The medical room confirms 16 days on the sidelines for Yegor Sysoev, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Words at Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Levin 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.
10 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Mario Ćurić 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.
Minute 89, against Spartak Kostroma, 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.
“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.
7.67, 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.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Orenburg keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mario Ćurić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Olaf Kok 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.
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.
The clubs have shaken hands with Orenburg; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 9 arrived, 13 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
9 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.
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.
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.
Marked 8.12 — 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Sibir waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Torpedo Moscow is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Alesson 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Mario Ćurić 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.
Torpedo Moscow asked and Dinamo Makhachkala said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Torpedo Moscow can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
7 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.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Torpedo Moscow have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Torpedo Moscow they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Torpedo Moscow are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Torpedo Moscow 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 Mario Ćurić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 16. 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 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.
Something was said to Ilja Vakhania and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Torpedo Moscow can pretend not to have heard.
7.67, 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.
Igor Dmitriev 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 Mario Ćurić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The name of Dmitry Kalaida has come up in conversations Torpedo Moscow were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
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 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Pyotr Tarasov to a room that had heard them before.
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 7.72 for the rest of it.
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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Mario Ćurić 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.
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Torpedo Moscow can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
8 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 clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Torpedo Moscow people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“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 Torpedo Moscow, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
Mario Ćurić 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.
9.16. 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Igor Dmitriev 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Torpedo Moscow have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mario Ćurić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 12 actions, 7.05, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 86. Neftekhimik had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
“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 Torpedo Moscow will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Mario Ćurić 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.
Alesson 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 Vladislav Levin 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Torpedo Moscow can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
8 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ilja Berkovskiy signs something — a contract at Torpedo Moscow or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Olaf Kok is on it.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Torpedo Moscow. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Torpedo Moscow is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Torpedo Moscow had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Slavia Sofia, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Torpedo Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Mario Ćurić 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.
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. Torpedo Moscow will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
The offer from Krasnodar for Ilja Berkovskiy 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 Torpedo Moscow, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Torpedo Moscow 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 Mario Ćurić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
31 appearances and 11 goals away from here, and a player the manager did not have in August. Loans are sent out hoping for exactly this and most of them do not deliver it.
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. Torpedo Moscow will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Ferencvaros arrived with $4.7M and left with the best player in the building. The board will call it business; the queue at the ticket office will use other words.
The offer from Dinamo Moscow for Sergey Borodin 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Avangard waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Torpedo Moscow is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Jonathan Okoronkwo has gone, the accounts have $4.7M in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dinamo Moscow have kept their man, and Torpedo Moscow go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The deal with Krasnodar is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Mario Ćurić and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Levin 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
Transfer targetsA loan move for Moisés is in the works
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mario Ćurić 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.
11 goals in 31 games at Shinnik — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Torpedo Moscow updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Nobody at Torpedo Moscow 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.
Rostislav Soldatenko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Mario Ćurić 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 have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Torpedo Moscow can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Antonio Spagnoli is on it.
Mario Ćurić 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.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Tsypchenko 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 am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Torpedo Moscow, and 4 appearances in 16 say he has earned the hearing.
10 goals in 29 games at Spartak Kostroma — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Torpedo Moscow updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Torpedo Moscow, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
The dugoutOlaf Kok has become a man the manager trusts
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Torpedo Moscow they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Torpedo Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Torpedo Moscow will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad24 May 2027
Mario Ćurić 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 at Torpedo Moscow 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.
Position 4 on 49 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Torpedo Moscow have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mario Ćurić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Torpedo Moscow know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nobody at Torpedo Moscow 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.
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at Torpedo Moscow the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
Mario Ćurić 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.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Torpedo Moscow know it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Torpedo Moscow, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Torpedo Moscow 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 Mario Ćurić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Torpedo Moscow can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
“I watch every Torpedo Moscow game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Viktoria Žižkov runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
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.
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.
In brief
The dugoutKirill Gotsuk knocks on the manager’s door
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Torpedo Moscow is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Ilja Vakhania 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 Mario Ćurić 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 Torpedo Moscow, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody at Torpedo Moscow 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.
Position 4 on 49 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
Mario Ćurić and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Tsypchenko 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alexandr Yushin trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
Alexandr Yushin 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mario Ćurić 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.
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 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.
Alexandr Yushin 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Mario Ćurić 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.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Torpedo Moscow are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
10 goals in 29 games at Spartak Kostroma — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Torpedo Moscow updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Pyotr Tarasov after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Chances created: 9. Not on the scoresheet and not remotely anonymous — a passing performance that pulled a defence apart without leaving a mark on the column that gets read.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Torpedo Moscow can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Torpedo Moscow have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Dmitry Kalaida will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Torpedo Moscow the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Torpedo Moscow 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Sergey Borodin trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody at Torpedo Moscow 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.
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 7.99 for the rest of it.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Up for the corner, and Daniil Utkin delivers — 7.65
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Daniil Utkin scored, was marked 7.65, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mario Ćurić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 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 deal that would have taken Ruslan Apekov to Sevastopol has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Torpedo Moscow with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
7.69, 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Torpedo Moscow 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 Mario Ćurić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 11 actions, 6.88, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
The deal that would have taken Dmitry Tsypchenko to Irtysh has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Torpedo Moscow with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
7.57, 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.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at KAMAZ is saying, and nobody at Torpedo Moscow is enjoying the guessing.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ramazan Gadjimuradov and Torpedo Moscow agree another 4 years.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Torpedo Moscow know it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dmitry Tsypchenko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Irtysh waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Torpedo Moscow is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Ural keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
1 for Mario Ćurić, marked 7.90, 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.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 2 arrived, 4 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Torpedo Moscow is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Torpedo Moscow can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Ilja Vakhania 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 offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Up for the corner, and Mario Ćurić delivers — 7.82
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Mario Ćurić scored, was marked 7.82, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Yenisey is saying, and nobody at Torpedo Moscow is enjoying the guessing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Torpedo Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mario Ćurić 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.
Torpedo Moscow asked and Baltika said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Torpedo Moscow have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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 Torpedo Moscow, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Spartak Moscow keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Two goals and a mark of 8.18 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ural have kept their man, and Torpedo Moscow go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Mario Ćurić 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.
$5.5M on the table at Spartak Moscow. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
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 7.18 for the rest of it.
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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mario Ćurić 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Akhmat Grozny have kept their man, and Torpedo Moscow go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Sevastopol will make the call about Ruslan Apekov this week. Torpedo Moscow have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Vladislav Shitov had Torpedo Moscow level again within 2 minutes, and Chernomorets never got to play with a lead at all.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Torpedo Moscow can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Up for the corner, and Daniil Utkin delivers — 7.62
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Daniil Utkin scored, was marked 7.62, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Torpedo Moscow asked and Dinamo Makhachkala said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Mikhail Volkov has left for Baltika in a $190.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mario Ćurić 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Torpedo Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Torpedo Moscow has been clear about where Alexandr Ivankov stands, which is more than many ever get.
“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 Torpedo Moscow, and it is not being withdrawn.
Successful dribbles: 30. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
A brace, and Daniil Utkin takes the afternoon — 8.26
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Daniil Utkin provided it, and the 8.26 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
A brace, and Mario Ćurić takes the afternoon — 7.88
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Mario Ćurić provided it, and the 7.88 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Torpedo Moscow and Chaika, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Torpedo Moscow 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 Mario Ćurić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Vladislav Shitov 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.
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
Something was said to Vladislav Shitov and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Up for the corner, and Daniil Utkin delivers — 7.76
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Daniil Utkin scored, was marked 7.76, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Rostislav Soldatenko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mario Ćurić 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.
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Daniil Utkin had Torpedo Moscow level again within 2 minutes, and Fakel never got to play with a lead at all.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Torpedo Moscow know it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Torpedo Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Tsypchenko 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 tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Torpedo Moscow can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Pyotr Tarasov after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jonathan Okoronkwo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Daniil Utkin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mario Ćurić 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.
7.85, 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.
Mario Ćurić 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sergey Borodin 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.
A 1‑1 draw with Neftekhimik leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Pyotr Tarasov was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Torpedo Moscow dressing room was either.
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.
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.
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 7.73 for the rest of it.
Mario Ćurić 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.
Half the programme played, position 4, 26 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
Rostislav Soldatenko 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mario Ćurić 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.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Daniil Utkin is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout7 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.” Pyotr Tarasov chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
7 goals in 16 games at Shinnik — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Torpedo Moscow updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
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.
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 7.91 for the rest of it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sergey Borodin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Vladislav Shitov 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.
1 kept out from twelve yards, and a stadium that will describe each of them for twenty years. A goalkeeper needs one night like this in a career, and this was it.
Mario Ćurić 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 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.
Alexandr Yushin 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 Mario Ćurić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Alexandr Yushin’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Torpedo Moscow needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Nobody at Torpedo Moscow 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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Torpedo Moscow. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
1 for Daniil Utkin, marked 7.90, 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Torpedo Moscow 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.
14 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
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.
Up for the corner, and Mario Ćurić delivers — 7.98
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Mario Ćurić scored, was marked 7.98, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
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.
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.
8 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mario Ćurić. 1‑0 against KAMAZ, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Vladislav Shitov scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to Shinnik, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Mario Ćurić 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.
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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Pyotr Tarasov after 2‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Nobody at Torpedo Moscow 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.
KAMAZ next, and one man in the Torpedo Moscow dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Mario Ćurić 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 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sergey Borodin 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.
At 37, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 90. Volga had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Torpedo Moscow 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 Vladislav Levin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Torpedo Moscow are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Torpedo Moscow will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Nobody at Torpedo Moscow 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.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Alexey Kashtanov’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Torpedo Moscow needing him to play as if none of it matters.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Alexandr Yushin has written the date down.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Olaf Kok provided it, and the 8.33 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Rico Speksnijder did not need any: 7.63, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Alexandr Orekhov scored, was marked 7.90, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Rostislav Soldatenko was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Mario Ćurić 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.
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.
He is 21 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.
Mario Ćurić 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.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
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.
12 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.
“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.
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.” Pyotr Tarasov chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
1 for Daniil Utkin, 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.
Mario Ćurić 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 Dmitry Tsypchenko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Torpedo Moscow asked and CSKA Moscow 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: Minsk have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Antonio Spagnoli. The answer from Torpedo Moscow has not changed — yet.
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.
In brief
Player ratingsSergey Borodin was on a different afternoon to everybody else
Torpedo Moscow close the window on a squad of their own making
16 in and 3 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.
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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Mario Ćurić 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Egor Terekhov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
“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.
The dugout14 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.” Pyotr Tarasov chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jonathan Okoronkwo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Torpedo Moscow can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gleb Shevchenko 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 Bojan Roganović trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Chaika in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Torpedo Moscow can pretend not to have heard.
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.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Antonio Spagnoli had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Mario Ćurić 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.
Torpedo Moscow asked and Crvena Zvezda said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
11 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mario Ćurić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. CSKA Moscow have kept their man, and Torpedo Moscow go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Add another name to the list: Minsk have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Antonio Spagnoli. The answer from Torpedo Moscow has not changed — yet.
Arsenal Tula will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Torpedo Moscow were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
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.
Torpedo Moscow had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Dinamo Moscow, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Torpedo Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Torpedo Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gleb Shevchenko 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.
8.00. 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.
Torpedo Moscow had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Dinamo Moscow, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Mario Ćurić 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Denis Mamonov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Viktor Zaytsev 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Vlad Kulikov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Miroslav Lipatov 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.
Level with 86 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Torpedo Moscow had all but put away. Sokol will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
Dinamo 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Alexey Kashtanov provided it, and the 8.67 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mario Ćurić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Level with 92 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Torpedo Moscow had all but put away. Neftekhimik will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
49 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
In brief
Squad7 new faces, and Torpedo Moscow are still learning each other