Marked for Vadim Tkachenko
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match9 Sep 2030
Position 3 and 36 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market9 Sep 2030
“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 The request is on a desk at Arsenal Dzerzhinsk, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad9 Sep 2030
“The easiest signature of my career.” Yuriy Lovets and Arsenal Dzerzhinsk agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad9 Sep 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Arsenal Dzerzhinsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Sep 2030
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Arsenal Dzerzhinsk, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market9 Sep 2030
Arsenal Dzerzhinsk opened the door and nobody walked through it. So Vadim Tkachenko stays — listed, trained, and available — while both sides mark the days to January on the same calendar.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market8 Jul 2030
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market8 Jul 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Arsenal Dzerzhinsk can pretend not to have heard.
Market8 Jul 2030
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Arsenal Dzerzhinsk they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad8 Jul 2030
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Arsenal Dzerzhinsk may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings8 Jul 2030
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad8 Jul 2030
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Artem Soroko commits to Arsenal Dzerzhinsk for another 2 years.
Squad8 Jul 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Arsenal Dzerzhinsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match6 Jul 2030
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Arsenal Dzerzhinsk did not have in the autumn.
Player ratings8 Jul 2030
A masterclass from Esat Mala
Marked 9.33 — 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 Apr 2030
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Arsenal Dzerzhinsk may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market1 Apr 2030
“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.
Player ratings1 Apr 2030
Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad1 Apr 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Arsenal Dzerzhinsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings1 Apr 2030
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.92, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad1 Apr 2030
“The easiest signature of my career.” Anton Sivakov and Arsenal Dzerzhinsk agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings1 Apr 2030
Defensive actions: 16, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad1 Apr 2030
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Arsenal Dzerzhinsk would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match2 Mar 2030
The run now stands at 10, and the questions being asked around Arsenal Dzerzhinsk are no longer polite ones.
Market4 Mar 2030
“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 Arsenal Dzerzhinsk, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market4 Mar 2030
The deal that would have taken Rodrigo Mosqueda to Slavia Mozyr has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Arsenal Dzerzhinsk with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Player ratings4 Mar 2030
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad4 Mar 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Arsenal Dzerzhinsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market4 Mar 2030
As if he never left: Luke Urpani returns
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Luke Urpani is a Arsenal Dzerzhinsk player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Market4 Mar 2030
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Aliaksandr Makas is a Arsenal Dzerzhinsk player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Squad4 Mar 2030
17 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad4 Mar 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dmitriy Matyash, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom4 Feb 2030
Arsenal Dzerzhinsk interviewed the field and appointed the corridor: Interim Coach keeps the job he had been doing in all but title. Sometimes the safest pair of hands is the one already holding the wheel.
Market4 Feb 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Arsenal Dzerzhinsk can pretend not to have heard.
Squad4 Feb 2030
“The easiest signature of my career.” Yuriy Lovets and Arsenal Dzerzhinsk agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad4 Feb 2030
Rodrigo Mosqueda 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.
Market4 Feb 2030
Slavia Mozyr are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Arsenal Dzerzhinsk will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Market4 Feb 2030
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Arsenal Dzerzhinsk know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom7 Jan 2030
The end came on a Tuesday, as these things usually do: a short meeting, a shorter statement, and Vitaliy Kavalyou clearing his office by noon. Football’s cruellest ritual, performed to schedule.
Market7 Jan 2030
“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.
Boardroom7 Jan 2030
“I am not thinking past Saturday, and I would advise nobody else to.” The caretaker’s first rule is to pretend the job is small; Interim Coach recited it perfectly.
Squad7 Jan 2030
Rodrigo Mosqueda 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.
Squad7 Jan 2030
The captaincy has been taken off Sergey Sazonchik. Arsenal Dzerzhinsk will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
Squad7 Jan 2030
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Sergey Sazonchik trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market24 Dec 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 Arsenal Dzerzhinsk can pretend not to have heard.
Squad24 Dec 2029
Rodrigo Mosqueda 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 Dec 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Arsenal Dzerzhinsk, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market24 Dec 2029
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Arsenal Dzerzhinsk know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market24 Dec 2029
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Amos Amoah may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Squad24 Dec 2029
Yuriy Lovets is not doing himself any favours
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market10 Dec 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.
Squad10 Dec 2029
Rodrigo Mosqueda 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.
Market10 Dec 2029
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Arsenal Dzerzhinsk know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market10 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 Arsenal Dzerzhinsk can pretend not to have heard.
Match8 Sep 2029
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Arsenal Dzerzhinsk are no longer polite ones.
Market10 Sep 2029
The deal that would have taken Valeriy Gorbachik to Vitebsk has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Arsenal Dzerzhinsk with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Player ratings10 Sep 2029
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad10 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 Arsenal Dzerzhinsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Sep 2029
40 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Player ratings10 Sep 2029
Defensive actions: 18. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad10 Sep 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.
Squad10 Sep 2029
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Valeriy Gorbachik will call it something else in private.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market6 Aug 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.
Player ratings6 Aug 2029
Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad6 Aug 2029
48 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad6 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 Arsenal Dzerzhinsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Aug 2029
The manager makes an example of Artem Soroko
“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.
Match4 Aug 2029
0‑1 to BATE, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad6 Aug 2029
The team sheet said everything about Sergey Sazonchik
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Sergey Sazonchik.
Market6 Aug 2029
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Arsenal Dzerzhinsk know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Player ratings6 Aug 2029
A mark of 5.64 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match7 Jul 2029
20 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Arsenal Dzerzhinsk has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings9 Jul 2029
Esat Mala runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 33. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market9 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.
Squad9 Jul 2029
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Arsenal Dzerzhinsk have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad9 Jul 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Denis Polyakov and Arsenal Dzerzhinsk agree another 2 years.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Rodrigo Mosqueda 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.
Match7 Jul 2029
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Artem Soroko 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.
Market9 Jul 2029
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Arsenal Dzerzhinsk know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match23 Jun 2029
18 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.
Market25 Jun 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 Arsenal Dzerzhinsk can pretend not to have heard.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Andrey Zaleskiy: 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.” Arsenal Dzerzhinsk have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings25 Jun 2029
Esat Mala runs at them all day
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.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Rodrigo Mosqueda 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 ratings25 Jun 2029
A performance of 8.90 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad25 Jun 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.
Match23 Jun 2029
It needed Vladislav Pulkach to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Dinamo Minsk, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Sergey Sazonchik 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
Crisis
Match12 May 2029
11 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.
Market14 May 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 Arsenal Dzerzhinsk can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings14 May 2029
Nobody could get near Esat Mala
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad14 May 2029
Denis Polyakov 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.
Squad14 May 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.
Match12 May 2029
Naftan left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad14 May 2029
43 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad14 May 2029
Artem Soroko 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.
The terraces14 May 2029
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.