From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market8 Nov 2027
Ilya Lebedev has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Slonim they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market8 Nov 2027
“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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
28 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
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From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad18 Oct 2027
Ilya Lebedev 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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
“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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Giorgi Todua is starting to look at home
The language is arriving, the jokes are landing, and there is somebody at the next peg to talk to. None of it appears in a scouting report and all of it shows up on the pitch.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market11 Oct 2027
Ilya Lebedev has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Slonim they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad11 Oct 2027
56 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad11 Oct 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mitch Apau and Slonim agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market13 Sep 2027
Ilya Lebedev has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Slonim they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom13 Sep 2027
Slonim counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Slonim now.
Squad13 Sep 2027
The manager makes an example of Stepan Gomonov
“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
Uneasy
Market16 Aug 2027
Haruki Saruta 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 Slonim can pretend not to have heard.
Market16 Aug 2027
Ilya Lebedev has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Slonim they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom16 Aug 2027
Slonim counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Slonim now.
Squad16 Aug 2027
“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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Slonim, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market16 Aug 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Alexandr Konev may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match9 Aug 2027
Slonim are in real trouble now
Position 11, 21 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.
Market9 Aug 2027
“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 Aug 2027
“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.
Match7 Aug 2027
5 matches without a win for Slonim
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Slonim are no longer polite ones.
Squad9 Aug 2027
82 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Boardroom9 Aug 2027
166% of the income goes out in wages at Slonim
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Match7 Aug 2027
0-1 to Baranovichi, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“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 Aug 2027
Lokomotiv Gomel are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Slonim will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market19 Jul 2027
Ilya Lebedev has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Slonim they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad19 Jul 2027
“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.
Market19 Jul 2027
“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.
Match17 Jul 2027
Bumprom Gomel left with the points after a 0-1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad19 Jul 2027
The manager makes an example of Daniil Kulikov
“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.
Boardroom19 Jul 2027
Slonim counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Slonim now.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
Pressure builds in the Slonim boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market5 Jul 2027
“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.
Match3 Jul 2027
Uni-X Labs made Slonim work for it, but the scoreboard read 1-0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad5 Jul 2027
The manager makes an example of Dmitriy Sai
“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.
Market5 Jul 2027
Smorgon are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Slonim will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Alexandr Konev 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 Slonim, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market5 Jul 2027
3 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Slonim money.
Market5 Jul 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Slonim know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The terraces5 Jul 2027
The press cannot get enough of Daniil Kulikov
Praise is not points and never has been. It is, however, the fastest way for a valuation to move, and everybody in the game reads the same pages.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market14 Jun 2027
“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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
“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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
138 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Boardroom14 Jun 2027
259% of the income goes out in wages at Slonim
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Squad14 Jun 2027
The manager makes an example of Mitch Apau
“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.
Match12 Jun 2027
A bad afternoon for Slonim against Orsha
0-1 to Orsha, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 May 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Slonim can pretend not to have heard.
Match22 May 2027
6 matches without a win for Slonim
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Slonim are no longer polite ones.
Boardroom24 May 2027
Slonim counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Slonim now.
Squad24 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Egor Petrov
“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.
Squad24 May 2027
The medical room confirms 16 days on the sidelines for Giannis Karagiannidis, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Match22 May 2027
Slonim draw a blank against Niva
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Niva defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market17 May 2027
“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.
Squad17 May 2027
Maxim Klunok: 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.” Slonim have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom17 May 2027
Wages eat 276% of everything Slonim earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Boardroom17 May 2027
The Slonim debt reaches $2.5M
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
Squad17 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Alexandr Chizh
“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.
Squad17 May 2027
“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
Market19 Apr 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Slonim can pretend not to have heard.
Match17 Apr 2027
Bumprom Gomel left with the points after a 1-2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Boardroom19 Apr 2027
Wages eat 269% of everything Slonim earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Mitch Apau 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.
Boardroom19 Apr 2027
Slonim are $2.2M in the red
The borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Hamidou Ba 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 Slonim, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market19 Apr 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Haruki Saruta may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Asked to play a role that is not his, or taken off before the hour once too often — Artem Trushinskiy has let it be known that he does not like the way Slonim are using him. Managers hear this long before the press does.
Market19 Apr 2027
The Ilya Lebedev talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Slonim know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match20 Mar 2027
8 matches without a win for Slonim
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Slonim are no longer polite ones.
Market22 Mar 2027
Haruki Saruta 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 Slonim can pretend not to have heard.
Match20 Mar 2027
Beaten 1-2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Boardroom22 Mar 2027
Wages eat 291% of everything Slonim earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad22 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Viktor Berg
“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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Slonim, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market15 Feb 2027
“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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
“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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Bogdan Krasilov commits to Slonim for another 3 years.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Somebody is after Viktor Berg’s shirt
A new face in his position, and Viktor Berg suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Slonim have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
Market15 Feb 2027
The best deals are the ones the accountants never notice. Bogdan Krasilov arrives at Slonim with his wages the only cost and something to prove the only clause.
Market15 Feb 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Jan 2027
Maxim Klunok 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.
Market11 Jan 2027
The Ilya Lebedev talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Slonim know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad11 Jan 2027
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Haruki Saruta plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Wages eat 704% of everything Slonim earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Rady Yamlikhanov has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Ilya Lebedev is out on the grass again
He came through the session, took part in everything and finished it smiling. Slonim will not rush him, and he will spend the next fortnight trying to rush them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Dec 2026
Hamidou Ba 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 Slonim can pretend not to have heard.
Squad14 Dec 2026
31 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad14 Dec 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Nov 2026
17 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad16 Nov 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Stepan Gomonov commits to Slonim for another 3 years.
Market16 Nov 2026
The Ilya Lebedev talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Slonim know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Oct 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 Slonim can pretend not to have heard.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
45 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
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 Slonim can pretend not to have heard.
Market14 Sep 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Slonim is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Somebody is after Dmitriy Sai’s shirt
A new face in his position, and Dmitriy Sai suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Slonim have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
Market14 Sep 2026
The name of Ilya Lebedev keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Slonim say nothing, which says plenty.
Market14 Sep 2026
The window shut and Alexandr Chizh is still in the building
Slonim spent a month trying to move him and nobody rang back. He trains with a squad that has told him where he stands, and both sides start counting down to the next one.