Marked for Dmitriy Fedortsov
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Sep 2029
The medical room confirms 106 days on the sidelines for Max Zhestarev, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad17 Sep 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.
Squad17 Sep 2029
Egor Babich 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 Smorgon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market25 Jun 2029
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Match23 Jun 2029
Nobody wants to play Smorgon 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.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Max Zhestarev is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.49 with 11 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Egor Babich 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 Smorgon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings25 Jun 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.11, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match23 Jun 2029
It finished 1‑0, and it was Max Zhestarev’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Smorgon.
Player ratings25 Jun 2029
Marked 8.34 — 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 ratings25 Jun 2029
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 ratings25 Jun 2029
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market18 Jun 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.
Match18 Jun 2029
Smorgon refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 29 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Squad18 Jun 2029
Egor Babich 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.
Squad18 Jun 2029
10 goals and a season average of 7.43. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Player ratings18 Jun 2029
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 ratings18 Jun 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.16, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match16 Jun 2029
Slonim made Smorgon work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad18 Jun 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.
Player ratings18 Jun 2029
A performance of 8.37 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 May 2029
Egor Babich 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 May 2029
The manager makes an example of Vadim Galko
“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.
Squad28 May 2029
Artem Stankevich 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Apr 2029
Egor Babich 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 ratings30 Apr 2029
A performance of 8.13 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Defences have started doubling up on Max Zhestarev
6 goals and a season average of 7.20 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad30 Apr 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vladislav Vasilyuchek, and the manager let it.
Match28 Apr 2029
It needed Vadim Galko to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Lokomotiv Gomel, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Player ratings30 Apr 2029
Egor Babich leaves them behind him
Shots: 5. 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
Market12 Mar 2029
Alexey Zayats 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 Smorgon can pretend not to have heard.
Market12 Mar 2029
Only the photograph left for Vadim Galko
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vadim Galko will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Smorgon the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Egor Babich 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 Smorgon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings12 Mar 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.58, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings12 Mar 2029
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.
Squad12 Mar 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Artem Stankevich, and the manager let it.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Oleg Diva 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.
Squad12 Mar 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Eduard Volodko commits to Smorgon for another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Feb 2029
Egor Babich 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 Smorgon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market26 Feb 2029
Baranovichi are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Smorgon will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Squad26 Feb 2029
No hiding place for Oleg Diva
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Oleg Diva, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Feb 2029
Egor Babich 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 Smorgon can pretend not to have heard.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Egor Babich 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 Smorgon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market12 Feb 2029
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Smorgon has been clear about where Dmitriy Fedortsov stands, which is more than many ever get.
Squad12 Feb 2029
31 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad12 Feb 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Modestas Girdvainis, and the manager let it.
Market12 Feb 2029
Experience through the door at Smorgon
Aleksandre Mchedlidze arrives at 35 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market15 Jan 2029
Kirill Malykh 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 Smorgon can pretend not to have heard.
Squad15 Jan 2029
32 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Egor Babich 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 Smorgon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom30 Oct 2028
The scrutiny sharpens at Smorgon
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Smorgon is running low.
Market30 Oct 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Smorgon can pretend not to have heard.
Market30 Oct 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Smorgon is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Egor Babich 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.
Squad30 Oct 2028
32 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad30 Oct 2028
“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.
In brief
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Squad
Mikhail Kozlov asks for a word with the manager
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Boardroom
The Smorgon production line keeps running
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match25 Sep 2028
Every point is an argument now for Smorgon
Position 14 and 24 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Match23 Sep 2028
Beaten 0‑3 by Slutsk, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Player ratings25 Sep 2028
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market25 Sep 2028
“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.
Market25 Sep 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Smorgon is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad25 Sep 2028
“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.
Squad25 Sep 2028
33 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Egor Babich 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 Smorgon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Sep 2028
“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
Uneasy
Market18 Sep 2028
Kirill Malykh 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 Smorgon can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings18 Sep 2028
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market18 Sep 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Smorgon is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Egor Babich 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.
Market18 Sep 2028
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Smorgon have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Player ratings18 Sep 2028
A performance of 9.05 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match16 Sep 2028
It finished 2‑1, and it was Dmitriy P. Denisenko’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Smorgon.
Player ratings18 Sep 2028
Marked 8.16 — 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.
Squad18 Sep 2028
“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
Match5 Aug 2028
The wait goes on for Smorgon
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market7 Aug 2028
Only the photograph left for Ivan Bykau
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ivan Bykau will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Smorgon the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Player ratings7 Aug 2028
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Mikhail Kozlov 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.
Market7 Aug 2028
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Smorgon have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Match5 Aug 2028
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad7 Aug 2028
“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 Aug 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Denis Fedorenko commits to Smorgon for another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match3 Jul 2028
Smorgon are in real trouble now
Position 13, 15 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Alikhan Fazylov: 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.” Smorgon have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Egor Babich 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 Jul 2028
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match1 Jul 2028
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings3 Jul 2028
A performance of 8.55 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad3 Jul 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Modestas Girdvainis and Smorgon agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Jul 2028
15 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Market3 Jul 2028
Experience through the door at Smorgon
Mikhail Kozlov arrives at 38 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match31 May 2028
Smorgon march on in the cup
Torpedo-BelAZ are out and Smorgon go through, 2‑1 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Squad5 Jun 2028
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.
Match5 Jun 2028
Every point is an argument now for Smorgon
Position 13 and 11 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market5 Jun 2028
“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 Smorgon, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market5 Jun 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Smorgon is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Egor Babich 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 Jun 2028
Marked 9.04 — 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 ratings5 Jun 2028
A performance of 8.71 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market1 May 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Smorgon can pretend not to have heard.
Match29 Apr 2028
No end in sight to Smorgon's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Smorgon has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad1 May 2028
Egor Babich 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 Smorgon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 May 2028
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.
Match29 Apr 2028
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings1 May 2028
A performance of 8.75 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match22 Apr 2028
The wait goes on for Smorgon
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Egor Babich 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.
Squad24 Apr 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kirill Yelagin, and the manager let it.
Match22 Apr 2028
Minsk left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings24 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings24 Apr 2028
Shots: 5. 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
Uneasy
Squad27 Mar 2028
Egor Babich 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 ratings27 Mar 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.85, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match25 Mar 2028
It finished 1‑0, and it was Egor Babich’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Smorgon.
Squad27 Mar 2028
“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 ratings27 Mar 2028
Defensive actions: 14. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Egor Babich finally opens his account
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Smorgon have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.