Tikhonov was spotted by the then-Spartak manager Oleg Romantsev, while playing for Titan Reutov, in a game against Spartak Moscow reserves.

[2] Tikhonov won a total of eight Russian League titles with Spartak, before falling out with Oleg Romantsev.

In February 2001, Tikhonov was training with Southampton, even featuring in one friendly for the club, but no deal was reached, mainly because the player already had a running one-year contract with Krylia Sovetov at the time.

In early 2011, he announced that he would be returning to Spartak Moscow but it was initially unconfirmed whether the 40-year-old midfielder would get playing time or whether he would simply be a coach.

[7] On 24 October 2021, the club Tikhonov was managing, Astana, left the field for 20 minutes in a Kazakhstan Premier League game against Kairat to protest the refereeing.