Marked for Alexandr Gutor
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Sep 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 Minsk can pretend not to have heard.
Match12 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Minsk's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Minsk has to find a result from somewhere.
Market14 Sep 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Minsk have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad14 Sep 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.
Match12 Sep 2026
Minsk share the spoils with Naftan
A 1‑1 draw with Naftan leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Squad14 Sep 2026
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Minsk have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match29 Aug 2026
Nowhere to hide for Minsk
0‑3 against Slutsk, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market31 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 The request is on a desk at Minsk, and it is not being withdrawn.
The terraces31 Aug 2026
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 6 of the 29 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Market31 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Damián Bogado, and the manager let it.
Boardroom31 Aug 2026
Inquest at Minsk
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Squad31 Aug 2026
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Alexandr Gutor knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Alexandr Makas knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Minsk, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market31 Aug 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Daouda Natama signs something — a contract at Minsk or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match19 Aug 2026
Minsk out of the cup
Isloch ended it 0‑0. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Alexandr Gutor decides it from twelve yards
1 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
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 Minsk, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Egor Zubovich asks for a word with the manager
“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.
Market24 Aug 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Vladislav Varaksa signs something — a contract at Minsk or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market24 Aug 2026
4 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Minsk could ask drops and the wages Francisco Campo Mina can ask rise.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match12 Aug 2026
Minsk march on in the cup
Ostrovets are out and Minsk go through, 1‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Market17 Aug 2026
The bid was some way short and Minsk did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Match15 Aug 2026
Daouda Natama scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to BATE, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad17 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.
Market17 Aug 2026
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Minsk has been clear about where Vladislav Grekovich stands, which is more than many ever get.
Market17 Aug 2026
Minsk bring in an old head
Damián Bogado is 39 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Every debut is a small story about the future: Artem Sakovich, 20 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
Market17 Aug 2026
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Francisco Campo Mina may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Squad17 Aug 2026
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Minsk have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Francisco Campo Mina, and the manager let it.
Market10 Aug 2026
48 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Konstantin Malitskiy has his answer from Minsk; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Match8 Aug 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Konstantin Kuchinskiy’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market10 Aug 2026
“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.