Marked for Ilya Lebedev
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom21 Feb 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Slonim
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market21 Feb 2028
Ilya Lebedev 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.
Transfer targets21 Feb 2028
The deal with Torpedo-BelAZ 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.
Transfer targets21 Feb 2028
Slonim had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Vitebsk, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad21 Feb 2028
A falling-out at Slonim
Dmitriy Sai and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets21 Feb 2028
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 dugout21 Feb 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Stepan Gomonov, and the manager let it.
Market21 Feb 2028
“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.
Boardroom21 Feb 2028
95% 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Feb 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 The request is on a desk at Slonim, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets14 Feb 2028
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Slonim have done the hard part with Vitebsk, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words exchanged at Slonim
Dmitriy Sai 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 targets14 Feb 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Torpedo-BelAZ have kept their man, and Slonim go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words at Slonim training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilya Lebedev 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 dugout14 Feb 2028
Ilya Lebedev 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.
Market14 Feb 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Arseniy Zhukovskiy signs something — a contract at Slonim or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout14 Feb 2028
Artur Chuyko has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Slonim 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.
Market14 Feb 2028
Ivan Semin runs his contract down
6 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Slonim money.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market7 Feb 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 Slonim can pretend not to have heard.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Tempers go at Slonim
Dmitriy Sai 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.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
$567.00 from the owner keeps Slonim afloat
The gap in the accounts was filled from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be grateful and to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings arrive together.
Transfer targets7 Feb 2028
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.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Words at Slonim training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilya Lebedev 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.
Transfer targets7 Feb 2028
A loan move for Artem Malashko is in the works
Slonim have made the call to Minsk. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets7 Feb 2028
Neman have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Transfer targets7 Feb 2028
A loan enquiry to Slavia Mozyr: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Slonim can only buy what they sell
Nobody has barred the club from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every incoming name comes with an outgoing one attached.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom24 Jan 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Slonim
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market24 Jan 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 Slonim, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad24 Jan 2028
The medical room confirms 41 days on the sidelines for Ivan Semin, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad24 Jan 2028
A falling-out at Slonim
Dmitriy Sai and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom24 Jan 2028
Slonim counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Slonim now.
Squad24 Jan 2028
A row about effort at Slonim
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ilya Lebedev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom24 Jan 2028
Wages eat 102% 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.
Squad24 Jan 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Vladislav Demeshevich and Slonim agree another 3 years.
Market24 Jan 2028
“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
Market17 Jan 2028
Ivan Furmanov 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.
Squad17 Jan 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slonim this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Ilya Lebedev 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 dugout17 Jan 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.
Market17 Jan 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Arseniy Zhukovskiy signs something — a contract at Slonim or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market17 Jan 2028
Slonim have made Ilya Lebedev available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Market17 Jan 2028
Isloch watched Nikita Chuyko again at the weekend, and this time they did not bother hiding it. Clubs only stop hiding when they want the price to start moving.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Two hours a week with a tutor, which is the least glamorous thing at Slonim and the one that decides whether a foreign signing is still here in two years.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Ivan Furmanov plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom3 Jan 2028
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Slonim can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Tempers go at Slonim
Dmitriy Sai 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.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Ilya Lebedev 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.
Boardroom3 Jan 2028
The Slonim debt reaches $3.7M
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.
The dugout3 Jan 2028
Ivan Semin 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.
The dugout3 Jan 2028
Dmitriy Sai loses the manager who believed in him
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Dmitriy Sai's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
Market3 Jan 2028
“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.
The dugout3 Jan 2028
Ivan Furmanov 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 Ivan Furmanov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market3 Jan 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Nikita Chuyko’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market27 Dec 2027
“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 Slonim, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom27 Dec 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.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Words exchanged at Slonim
Dmitriy Sai 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.
Boardroom27 Dec 2027
Slonim counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Slonim now.
Squad27 Dec 2027
A row about effort at Slonim
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ilya Lebedev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom27 Dec 2027
234% 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market20 Dec 2027
“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 Slonim, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad20 Dec 2027
A falling-out at Slonim
Dmitriy Sai and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
Ilya Lebedev 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 Ilya Lebedev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market20 Dec 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Arseniy Zhukovskiy’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market20 Dec 2027
Slonim have made Artur Sibagatulin available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
The manager plants his flag on Ivan Furmanov
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Ivan Furmanov’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad13 Dec 2027
Dmitriy Sai 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 Slonim this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Dec 2027
The decline has begun for Viktor Berg
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 33 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Slonim is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Words at Slonim training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilya Lebedev 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 dugout13 Dec 2027
Viktor Berg 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.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
Vitaliy Para is still paying for one afternoon at Slonim
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
Artur Chuyko gets picked when it counts
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 Artur Chuyko is on it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad6 Dec 2027
Tempers go at Slonim
Dmitriy Sai 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.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Words at Slonim training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitriy Vechorko 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.
Boardroom6 Dec 2027
Slonim are $3.6M 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.
Market6 Dec 2027
Signings arrive with a picture of the club in their head, and this one’s picture was bigger than the building. He will play well and he will be gone, in that order, and everybody knows it.
Market6 Dec 2027
Slonim and Ivan Semin are talking past each other
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
Viktor Berg 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.
Squad6 Dec 2027
No place for Rasmus Kund in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Slonim are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Ivan Semin has moved up it.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
Rasmus Kund 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market29 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.
Boardroom29 Nov 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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Words exchanged at Slonim
Ilya Lebedev 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.
Boardroom29 Nov 2027
The numbers do not look good at Slonim
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Words at Slonim training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitriy Vechorko 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.
Boardroom29 Nov 2027
Wages eat 253% 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.
Market29 Nov 2027
He is 19, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
The manager makes an example of Vitaliy Para
“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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Slonim are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Nov 2027
A falling-out at Slonim
Dmitriy Sai and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Nov 2027
The step up is real for Ben Gaerty
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad22 Nov 2027
A row about effort at Slonim
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ilya Lebedev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Slonim are still strangers to each other
10 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Market22 Nov 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Arseniy Zhukovskiy’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market22 Nov 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. László István may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Nov 2027
Dmitriy Sai 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 Slonim this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Nov 2027
A row about effort at Slonim
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ilya Lebedev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad15 Nov 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Slonim can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad15 Nov 2027
László István wants to finish where he started
Every long career reaches the week the player starts thinking about the last one. He would like it to be at the club that first put him on a pitch, and Slonim now know that too.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Stepan Gomonov, and the manager let it.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Vitaliy Para's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market8 Nov 2027
Ivan Furmanov 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Tempers go at Slonim
Dmitriy Sai 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 dugout8 Nov 2027
Ilya Lebedev 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 Ilya Lebedev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market1 Nov 2027
“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 Slonim, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom1 Nov 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Slonim
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words exchanged at Slonim
Dmitriy Sai 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.
Boardroom1 Nov 2027
The numbers do not look good at Slonim
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Boardroom1 Nov 2027
Wages eat 207% 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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
A row about effort at Slonim
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxim Volodko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad25 Oct 2027
A falling-out at Slonim
Dmitriy Sai and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Words at Slonim training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilya Lebedev 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.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Too much change too quickly at Slonim
10 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Market25 Oct 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Arseniy Zhukovskiy’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
Arseniy Sokol 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.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
Ilya Lebedev keeps his manager's vote
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Ilya Lebedev plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Oct 2027
Dmitriy Sai 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 Slonim this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Vitaliy Para's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market11 Oct 2027
Ivan Furmanov 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.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
Vitaliy Para: 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
A falling-out at Slonim
Dmitriy Vechorko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Ilya Lebedev 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
His past walked in ahead of him. Players who have been where he has been get a hearing in a dressing room before they have earned one, and he has it for as long as his form does.
Market11 Oct 2027
Slonim have made Ruslan Aderikhin available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Mikalai Ihnatovich has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market4 Oct 2027
Ilya Lebedev 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.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Slonim
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Viktor Berg and Slonim agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Words exchanged at Slonim
Dmitriy Sai 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.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
The numbers do not look good at Slonim
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
Wages eat 232% 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.
The dugout4 Oct 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.
Squad4 Oct 2027
A row about effort at Slonim
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and László István was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market20 Sep 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Dmitriy Vechorko commits to Slonim for another 3 years.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Dmitriy Sai 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 Slonim this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Maxim Volodko 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Everybody at Slonim saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 33 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Market20 Sep 2027
He is 18, and nobody at Slonim signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Market20 Sep 2027
He is 19, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Market20 Sep 2027
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Vitaliy Para's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market6 Sep 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.
The dugout6 Sep 2027
This is not rotation. Alexandr Konev has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Slonim is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets6 Sep 2027
Everything agreed with Dinamo Minsk, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words exchanged at Slonim
Dmitriy Sai 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.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Slonim counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Slonim now.
Transfer targets6 Sep 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. BATE have kept their man, and Slonim go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Roman Mushulov 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.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
146% 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
The award goes to Arseniy Zhukovskiy, and nobody around here is inclined to argue with the choice.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market9 Aug 2027
“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 Slonim, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
This is not rotation. Alexandr Konev has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Slonim is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
Everything agreed with Gomel, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Match7 Aug 2027
4 matches without a win for Slonim
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Slonim are no longer polite ones.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Slonim
Dmitriy Sai 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 targets9 Aug 2027
Slonim asked and Vitebsk said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Slonim training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikita Chuyko 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 terraces9 Aug 2027
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Boardroom9 Aug 2027
141% 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match31 Mar 2027
The cup run ends for Slonim
0‑2 against Neman, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Squad5 Apr 2027
A falling-out at Slonim
Dmitriy Sai and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Roman Mushulov 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 dugout5 Apr 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad5 Apr 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Nikita Chuyko
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Nikita Chuyko has come out of that comparison in the side, and Slonim have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The dugout5 Apr 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Slonim will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
Viktor Berg 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.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market8 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.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
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.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Neman is saying, and nobody at Slonim is enjoying the guessing.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
Molodechno wanted more than $20.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
Slonim asked and Gomel said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Nikita Chuyko 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 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Viktor Berg, and the manager let it.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Slonim
Vladimir Dziov 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.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kirill Krutorozhkin trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces1 Feb 2027
Anger at Slonim spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Market1 Feb 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Niva waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Slonim is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market1 Feb 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market1 Feb 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.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
Everything agreed with Neman, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
$20.0K on the table at Molodechno. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Slonim training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Roman Mushulov 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Slonim
Ilya Lebedev 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.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
“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
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Slonim
Dmitriy Sai 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.
Market4 Jan 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Kirill Laptev has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market4 Jan 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Stanislau Balanovich has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market4 Jan 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Kirill Klimovich has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market4 Jan 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Stanislau Ihnatovich has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Slonim
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Roman Mushulov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout4 Jan 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Slonim will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
Stepan Gomonov 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 Stepan Gomonov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market21 Dec 2026
“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.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alexandr Konev, and the manager let it.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Roman Mushulov 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
Uneasy
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Slonim training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikita Chuyko 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Slonim
Ilya Lebedev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“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 dugout14 Dec 2026
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.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
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
Uneasy
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Slonim may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Nikita Chuyko 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 dugout26 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ilya Lebedev, and the manager let it.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Vitaliy Para has had enough of the bench
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Slonim will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Market26 Oct 2026
Slonim have made Roman Mushulov available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.