From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Sep 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Torpedo Vladimir will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Stanislav Utkin 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 Sep 2026
Words at Torpedo Vladimir training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexandr Korenblyum 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Loan watch28 Sep 2026
“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 Vladimir, and 0 appearances in 6 say he has earned the hearing.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.09 on the card, and the Torpedo Vladimir support went home talking about one name.
Match26 Sep 2026
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Baltika 2 came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Sep 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Torpedo Vladimir will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match19 Sep 2026
Alexandr Komissarov had done his part in building a 4-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Kosmos were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Alexandr Komissarov did not need any: 9.32, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad21 Sep 2026
3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match19 Sep 2026
Two or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Squad21 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Torpedo Vladimir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces21 Sep 2026
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.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Ninety minutes of Konstantin Popov at his very best
Marked 8.23. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Torpedo Vladimir.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad14 Sep 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Torpedo Vladimir will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The terraces14 Sep 2026
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Ilja Zharov was one of the reasons people came, and $65.0K does not replace that by itself.
The terraces14 Sep 2026
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 5 of the 25 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Match12 Sep 2026
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Market14 Sep 2026
Business is business: Ilja Zharov goes
Irtysh paid $65.0K and Torpedo Vladimir took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Torpedo Vladimir training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikita Kolganov 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.
Match12 Sep 2026
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Marek Pikk 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 terraces14 Sep 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match5 Sep 2026
8‑3, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The match ball belongs to Alexandr Komissarov, whose 4 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Torpedo Vladimir will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Alexandr Komissarov, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 9.89
A mark of 9.89 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
A brace, and Mateo Fernández takes the afternoon — 8.28
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Mateo Fernández provided it, and the 8.28 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market7 Sep 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.12 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Match5 Sep 2026
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Torpedo Vladimir have 3 straight wins of it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad31 Aug 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Torpedo Vladimir will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market31 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Torpedo Vladimir can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 30. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad31 Aug 2026
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Market31 Aug 2026
So close: Ilja Zharov’s move dies late
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Volna moved on, Ilja Zharov reports back to Torpedo Vladimir, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.86 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Nikita Kolganov 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Konstantin Popov. 3‑2 against Irkutsk, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Match29 Aug 2026
3 away wins in a row. Travelling support is the truest kind, and this season it is being repaid in the only currency that counts.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad24 Aug 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Torpedo Vladimir will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match19 Aug 2026
Kosmos go through and Torpedo Vladimir go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Match22 Aug 2026
At 2 goals adrift this was a formality, and the formality lasted right up until it did not. Torpedo Vladimir found something the first half had given no notice of, and Saturn could not hold what they had.
Market24 Aug 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Torpedo Vladimir, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market24 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad24 Aug 2026
3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Alexandr Komissarov, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.81
A mark of 7.81 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Market24 Aug 2026
The name of Vladislav Kostryukov has come up in conversations Torpedo Vladimir were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Match22 Aug 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Konstantin Popov. 5‑4 against Saturn, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 45. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Torpedo Vladimir will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.35, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.22 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market17 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Match15 Aug 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Vladislav Sirotov. 4‑3 against Kolomna, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad17 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Torpedo Vladimir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 40. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match8 Aug 2026
Chertanovo will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Torpedo Vladimir were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Market10 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.00 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Up for the corner, and Alexandr Korenblyum delivers — 7.70
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Alexandr Korenblyum scored, was marked 7.70, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mateo Fernández and Torpedo Vladimir agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Stanislav Utkin 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 terraces10 Aug 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Konstantin Popov 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match1 Aug 2026
2‑6 against Zenit 2, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market3 Aug 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Torpedo Vladimir, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
A brace, and Valery Arkhipenko takes the afternoon — 8.19
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Valery Arkhipenko provided it, and the 8.19 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The terraces3 Aug 2026
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 8 of the 24 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Vladislav Sirotov and Torpedo Vladimir agree another 2 years.
Match1 Aug 2026
8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Torpedo Vladimir and Zenit 2 in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad3 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Torpedo Vladimir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Nikita Kolganov 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.