From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 37 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 29. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Ufa
Ilja Agapov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.89, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match27 Feb 2027
Ufa get the job done against Sokol
A 1‑0 win over Sokol, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Gabriel Vidović
6 goals and a season average of 7.38 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Osman Minatulaev will call it something else in private.
Squad1 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Evgeny Shlyakov
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Dilan Ortíz leaves them behind him
Shots: 10. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market22 Feb 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ufa can pretend not to have heard.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Ilja Agapov in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ufa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Feb 2027
The medical room confirms 85 days on the sidelines for Denis Kutin, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Match20 Feb 2027
A bad afternoon for Ufa against Neftekhimik
1‑2 to Neftekhimik, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Boardroom22 Feb 2027
Wages eat 154% of everything Ufa earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Marked 8.90 — 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Dilan Ortíz gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Ilja Agapov is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.20 with 6 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match13 Feb 2027
13 unbeaten for Ufa
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 13 matches without defeat is a foundation Ufa did not have in the autumn.
Squad15 Feb 2027
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad15 Feb 2027
106 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Defensive actions: 25. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Tempers go at Ufa
Ilja Agapov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
A performance of 9.44 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
A performance of 8.59 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match13 Feb 2027
Spartak Kostroma made Ufa work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings15 Feb 2027
Defensive actions: 14, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match6 Feb 2027
12 unbeaten for Ufa
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 12 matches without defeat is a foundation Ufa did not have in the autumn.
Market8 Feb 2027
So close: Ivan Lomaev’s move dies late
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Arsenal Tula moved on, Ivan Lomaev reports back to Ufa, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Ilja Agapov in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ufa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
A performance of 8.00 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“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.
Match6 Feb 2027
It needed Dilan Ortíz to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Chelyabinsk, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“Ask me in the summer. I will know before anybody else does.” He is 40 with 190 appearances behind him, and Ufa have to plan for both answers.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“I want to play”: Dmitry Veber speaks
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match30 Jan 2027
11 unbeaten for Ufa
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 11 matches without defeat is a foundation Ufa did not have in the autumn.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Tempers go at Ufa
Ilja Agapov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Defensive actions: 22, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Market1 Feb 2027
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Ufa will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
A performance of 9.05 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Defensive actions: 20, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Match30 Jan 2027
Three points for Ufa, 1‑0 the final word against Yenisey in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.29, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Gabriel Vidović
6 goals and a season average of 7.31 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market25 Jan 2027
Ufa say no — this time
The offer from Melbourne Victory for Dilan Ortíz 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.
Market25 Jan 2027
“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 Ufa, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match23 Jan 2027
Still nobody has beaten Ufa
The unbeaten run reaches 10. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad25 Jan 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Ufa may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Ilja Agapov in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ufa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Jan 2027
113 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Boardroom25 Jan 2027
181% of the income goes out in wages at Ufa
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Defensive actions: 20. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
A defender's afternoon for Ilja Agapov
Defensive actions: 32. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Match16 Jan 2027
Still nobody has beaten Ufa
The unbeaten run reaches 9. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Defensive actions: 24, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Ufa
Ilja Agapov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Shots: 11, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Jan 2027
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.
Match9 Jan 2027
8 unbeaten for Ufa
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 8 matches without defeat is a foundation Ufa did not have in the autumn.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Ilja Agapov in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ufa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
A performance of 8.96 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 31. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad4 Jan 2027
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Ufa have had the benefit of it.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Match2 Jan 2027
Still nobody has beaten Ufa
The unbeaten run reaches 7. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Ufa
Ilja Agapov 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Ivan Lomaev gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 24 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
A defender's afternoon for Ilja Agapov
Defensive actions: 23. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Ilja Agapov in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ufa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match26 Dec 2026
Still nobody has beaten Ufa
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.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
378% of the income goes out in wages at Ufa
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.
Match26 Dec 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Dilan Ortíz’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Ufa.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
A performance of 8.30 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad28 Dec 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 36. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
A defender's afternoon for Ivan Khomukha
Defensive actions: 18. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad21 Dec 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.79 on the card, and the Ufa support went home talking about one name.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Dmitry Veber in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ufa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
The one thing Dilan Ortíz could not do
Shots: 13, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 31. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Ilja Agapov in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ufa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match12 Dec 2026
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Chernomorets will be the happier side with the point.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match5 Dec 2026
Nobody wants to play Ufa right now
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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Ufa
Ilja Agapov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.31, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
A performance of 9.17 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match5 Dec 2026
Ufa get the job done against KAMAZ
A 2‑1 win over KAMAZ, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Denis Kutin gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Shots: 8, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 11. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Filip Mrzljak wants a proper job in this side
Shifted about, taken off before the hour, asked to do somebody else's running — Filip Mrzljak has had enough of being useful and would like to be picked. Ufa know, and have known for weeks.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad30 Nov 2026
A one-man rearguard from Ivan Lomaev
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Ilja Agapov in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ufa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.19, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match28 Nov 2026
It finished 2‑1, and it was Ilja Agapov’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Ufa.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
456% of the income goes out in wages at Ufa
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Marked 8.88 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
A performance of 8.09 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad30 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Osman Minatulaev, and the manager let it.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match18 Nov 2026
The cup run ends for Ufa
0‑1 against Ural, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Defensive actions: 25. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Ivan Lomaev in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ufa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Defensive actions: 20, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.70, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match21 Nov 2026
Ufa find a way past Rotor
Rotor made Ufa work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“If we are going to be beaten, let it not be because somebody in here could not be bothered.” He stood up and said it in front of everybody, which is a thing a squad remembers about a man for years.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Ufa
Ivan Lomaev 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.
Match14 Nov 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Gabriel Vidović. 2‑1 against Fakel, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Marked 8.92 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
A performance of 8.43 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The terraces16 Nov 2026
Everybody has an opinion about Ivan Lomaev
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
The one thing Dilan Ortíz could not do
Shots: 7, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
Squad16 Nov 2026
“Nobody outside is coming to save us.” It was short, it was not comfortable, and by all accounts the Ufa squad were quieter afterwards than they had been all season.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Nov 2026
Ivan Lomaev in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ufa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.30, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Konstantin Troyanov, and the manager let it.
Match7 Nov 2026
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Filip Mrzljak unhappy with how he is being used
Asked to play a role that is not his, or taken off before the hour once too often — Filip Mrzljak has let it be known that he does not like the way Ufa are using him. Managers hear this long before the press does.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 35. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad2 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Ufa may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
456% of the income goes out in wages at Ufa
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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ivan Lomaev, and the manager let it.
Squad2 Nov 2026
20 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Ufa
Dmitry Veber 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Oct 2026
Ivan Lomaev in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ufa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Defensive actions: 22, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Marked 9.28 — 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Dilan Ortíz
“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.
Match24 Oct 2026
Neftekhimik made Ufa work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 18 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Oct 2026
Ufa sink to position 16
10 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Ilja Agapov in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ufa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.45, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
A performance of 8.10 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad19 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Alan Khabalov
“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.
Boardroom19 Oct 2026
Nobody left the Ufa dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad19 Oct 2026
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Ufa have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Ufa
Ilja Agapov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
A performance of 8.17 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad12 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Denis Kutin
“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.
Match10 Oct 2026
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nikita Bazilevskiy trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match30 Sep 2026
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Evgeny Shlyakov obliged against Saturn. 2‑1 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Ufa.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Ufa
Ivan Lomaev was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Marked 9.12 — 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.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
788% of the income goes out in wages at Ufa
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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
The medical room confirms 53 days on the sidelines for Alexandr Belenov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.07, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.01, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 35. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match26 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Ufa's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Ufa has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Ivan Lomaev in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ufa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Ivan Lomaev gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match26 Sep 2026
A bad afternoon for Ufa against Rodina
0‑1 to Rodina, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Dilan Ortíz leaves them behind him
Shots: 6. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Ufa
Ivan Lomaev was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad21 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Kirill Bozhenov
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match19 Sep 2026
Ural take the points off Ufa
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Ivan Lomaev lets one through his hands
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
The one thing Dilan Ortíz could not do
Shots: 9, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Dilan Ortíz gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Dmitry Veber in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ufa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
The one thing Dilan Ortíz could not do
Shots: 14, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
Market14 Sep 2026
Nikita Bazilevskiy is 20, and Ufa have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Squad14 Sep 2026
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Ufa know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
A mark of 5.79 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
Squad14 Sep 2026
A new face in his position, and Filip Mrzljak suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Ufa have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market7 Sep 2026
Ivan Lomaev hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ufa can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Ufa
Ivan Lomaev 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.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Wages eat 546% of everything Ufa earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Match5 Sep 2026
Shinnik take the points off Ufa
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Denis Kutin
“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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Ufa have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
Squad7 Sep 2026
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Ivan Lomaev knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Shots: 8, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Ufa
Ilja Agapov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.22, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match29 Aug 2026
It finished 2‑1, and it was Ilja Agapov’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Ufa.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Marked 8.53 — 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market24 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 Ufa can pretend not to have heard.
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
Ilja Agapov in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ufa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match22 Aug 2026
0‑1 to SKA Khabarovsk, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Aug 2026
Ivan Lomaev in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ufa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Ivan Lomaev gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market17 Aug 2026
The name of Alexey Chernov has come up in conversations Ufa were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Defensive actions: 19, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market17 Aug 2026
Ufa have made Ivan Lomaev available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad10 Aug 2026
Ivan Lomaev in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ufa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match8 Aug 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Osman Minatulaev. 2‑1 against KAMAZ, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
A performance of 8.27 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad10 Aug 2026
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Alexandr Belenov knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Konstantin Troyanov, and the manager let it.
Market10 Aug 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Ufa, another week without a signature from Ivan Khomukha.
Market10 Aug 2026
The clock runs on Denis Kutin's contract
24 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A first senior shirt for Emil Maiorov
Every debut is a small story about the future: Emil Maiorov, 19 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ivan Lomaev and Ufa agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Ufa
Ivan Lomaev was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Ufa, another week without a signature from Filip Mrzljak.
Market3 Aug 2026
Nobody at Ufa has picked up the phone to Dilan Ortíz
49 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market3 Aug 2026
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Alexandr Lukjanov has his answer from Ufa; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Match1 Aug 2026
Point won or two lost for Ufa?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Chaika? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Shots: 8, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.