Marked for Alexandr Gutor
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market19 Nov 2029
“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.
Market19 Nov 2029
Only the photograph left for Prokhor Struk
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Prokhor Struk will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Minsk the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad19 Nov 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Minsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout19 Nov 2029
“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.
Squad19 Nov 2029
Alexandr Yegorov 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.
The dugout19 Nov 2029
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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Nov 2029
A falling-out at Minsk
Alexandr Gutor and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout12 Nov 2029
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad12 Nov 2029
A row about effort at Minsk
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valeriy Potorocha was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout12 Nov 2029
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.
The dugout12 Nov 2029
Andrey Makarenko 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.
The dugout12 Nov 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ruslan Ihnatovich, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout5 Nov 2029
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
The dugout5 Nov 2029
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Minsk have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad5 Nov 2029
23 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad5 Nov 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Alexandr Gutor and Minsk agree another 2 years.
Squad5 Nov 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Minsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout5 Nov 2029
Emir Ernisov 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.
Squad5 Nov 2029
Words at Minsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valeriy Potorocha 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.
The dugout5 Nov 2029
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.
Boardroom5 Nov 2029
Minsk sign a deal worth $127.1K a year
Commercial news is the news nobody sings about and everything else is paid for with. The board will call it a partnership; the accountants will call it the difference between this squad and a smaller one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market22 Oct 2029
Only the photograph left for Prokhor Struk
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Prokhor Struk will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Minsk the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad22 Oct 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Minsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Oct 2029
Words at Minsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valeriy Potorocha 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.
The dugout22 Oct 2029
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 Alexandr Gutor is on it.
The dugout22 Oct 2029
“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.
The dugout22 Oct 2029
Prokhor Struk knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Prokhor Struk trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Oct 2029
A falling-out at Minsk
Alexandr Gutor and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout15 Oct 2029
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad15 Oct 2029
Words at Minsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilya Dubinets 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.
The dugout15 Oct 2029
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.
The dugout15 Oct 2029
Ji-hun Park knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ji-hun Park trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad15 Oct 2029
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Minsk will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout8 Oct 2029
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad8 Oct 2029
Words exchanged at Minsk
Alexandr Gutor 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.
Squad8 Oct 2029
Ilya Dubinets 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.
The dugout8 Oct 2029
“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.
Squad8 Oct 2029
Daouda Natama makes the team of the month
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Market8 Oct 2029
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Minsk, another week without a signature from Mikhail Bashilov.
The dugout8 Oct 2029
Ji-hun Park 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.
The dugout8 Oct 2029
Ilya Dubinets has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Minsk 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.
Market8 Oct 2029
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Minsk know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match26 Sep 2029
The small margins put Minsk out
Out, 0‑1 to Gomel, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
The dugout1 Oct 2029
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Market1 Oct 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Minsk is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Player ratings1 Oct 2029
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad1 Oct 2029
Tempers go at Minsk
Alexandr Gutor 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 dugout1 Oct 2029
“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.
Squad1 Oct 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Maksim Kavalyou and Minsk agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout1 Oct 2029
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad1 Oct 2029
Valeriy Potorocha 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match22 Sep 2029
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 88th, and Torpedo-BelAZ spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
Player ratings24 Sep 2029
Marked 8.16 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Market24 Sep 2029
Prokhor Struk has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Minsk they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad24 Sep 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Minsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets24 Sep 2029
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
The terraces24 Sep 2029
He is 20 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.
Match22 Sep 2029
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Alexandr Veretennikov. 1‑0 against Torpedo-BelAZ, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad24 Sep 2029
Ilya Dubinets 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.
The dugout24 Sep 2029
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Raman Hleb kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout3 Sep 2029
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Market3 Sep 2029
“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.
Market3 Sep 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Evgeny Pshennikov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Minsk the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets3 Sep 2029
The deal with Arsenal Dzerzhinsk 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.
Squad3 Sep 2029
Tempers go at Minsk
Alexandr Gutor 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.
Market3 Sep 2029
Add another name to the list: Slavia Mozyr have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Prokhor Struk. The answer from Minsk has not changed — yet.
Transfer targets3 Sep 2029
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Market3 Sep 2029
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Andrey Solovey has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Minsk.
Match1 Sep 2029
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Daouda Natama. 1‑0 against Isloch, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market27 Aug 2029
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Minsk have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market27 Aug 2029
Alexey Tumanov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Minsk they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Transfer targets27 Aug 2029
Everything agreed with BATE, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Boardroom27 Aug 2029
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Vitaliy Stasevich has agreed terms with Baranovichi for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad27 Aug 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Minsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets27 Aug 2029
Minsk asked and Dinamo Brest 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 dugout27 Aug 2029
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad27 Aug 2029
Words at Minsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilya Dubinets 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.
The dugout27 Aug 2029
The manager makes an example of Alexey Tumanov
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market20 Aug 2029
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Volna Pinsk waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Minsk is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Transfer targets20 Aug 2029
Minsk and Gomel have settled on $130.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Market20 Aug 2029
“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.
Market20 Aug 2029
Only the photograph left for Artem Sakovich
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Artem Sakovich will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Minsk the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The dugout20 Aug 2029
“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.
Squad20 Aug 2029
A falling-out at Minsk
Alexandr Gutor and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets20 Aug 2029
Minsk asked and BATE 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 dugout20 Aug 2029
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad20 Aug 2029
A row about effort at Minsk
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andrey Makarenko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market13 Aug 2029
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Bumprom Gomel waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Minsk is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Transfer targets13 Aug 2029
$940.0K settles it between the clubs for Mikhail Kozakevich
Dinamo Minsk have accepted the money. What Minsk do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
The dugout13 Aug 2029
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad13 Aug 2029
Words exchanged at Minsk
Alexandr Gutor 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.
Match11 Aug 2029
BATE take the points off Minsk
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout13 Aug 2029
“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.
Squad13 Aug 2029
50 goals in these colours now, every one of them somebody’s memory. There is a supporter in the stand who can tell you where he was for most of them.
Squad13 Aug 2029
A row about effort at Minsk
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ilya Dubinets was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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The dugout
The team sheet said everything about Mikhail Bashilov
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Market
The Daouda Natama talk will not go away
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market6 Aug 2029
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Niva waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Minsk is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market6 Aug 2029
“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.
Player ratings6 Aug 2029
Successful dribbles: 29. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout6 Aug 2029
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Boardroom6 Aug 2029
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad6 Aug 2029
Tempers go at Minsk
Alexandr Gutor 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.
Market6 Aug 2029
The name of Artem Malashko has come up in conversations Minsk were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Match4 Aug 2029
A 1‑0 win over Slavia Mozyr, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad6 Aug 2029
A row about effort at Minsk
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ilya Dubinets was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match25 Jul 2029
Cup progress for Minsk
A 1‑0 win over Smorgon, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Market30 Jul 2029
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Prokhor Struk had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Player ratings30 Jul 2029
Jaime Costa, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.01
A mark of 8.01 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 ratings30 Jul 2029
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.
Market30 Jul 2029
“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.
Transfer targets30 Jul 2029
Minsk have gone to Dinamo Minsk with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Transfer targets30 Jul 2029
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Minsk have done the hard part with Dinamo Brest, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad30 Jul 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Minsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces30 Jul 2029
Minsk supporters have found a favourite in Jaime Costa
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Jaime Costa 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
Market23 Jul 2029
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.
Transfer targets23 Jul 2029
Minsk and Gomel have settled on $130.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Market23 Jul 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Minsk is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match21 Jul 2029
No end in sight to Minsk's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Minsk has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad23 Jul 2029
A falling-out at Minsk
Alexandr Gutor and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout23 Jul 2029
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad23 Jul 2029
Words at Minsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilya Dubinets 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.
Player ratings23 Jul 2029
A performance of 8.05 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings16 Jul 2029
Two goals and a mark of 8.81 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market16 Jul 2029
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Minsk have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The dugout16 Jul 2029
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Transfer targets16 Jul 2029
$980.0K on the table at Dinamo Minsk. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Transfer targets16 Jul 2029
The deal with Smorgon 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.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Words exchanged at Minsk
Alexandr Gutor 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.
Transfer targets16 Jul 2029
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad16 Jul 2029
200 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Ilya Dubinets 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market9 Jul 2029
“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.
The dugout9 Jul 2029
Ilya Dubinets: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Minsk have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market9 Jul 2029
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets9 Jul 2029
The deal with Gomel 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.
Squad9 Jul 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Andrey Solovey and Minsk agree another 2 years.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Tempers go at Minsk
Alexandr Gutor 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.
Transfer targets9 Jul 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. BATE have kept their man, and Minsk go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout9 Jul 2029
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Market9 Jul 2029
The name of Artem Malashko has come up in conversations Minsk were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.