Marked for Sam Straughan-Brown
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom23 Dec 2030
Pressure builds in the Molodechno boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad23 Dec 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 Molodechno this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Dec 2030
A row about effort at Molodechno
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Evgeniy Yudchits was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout23 Dec 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gordey Nefedov, and the manager let it.
Market23 Dec 2030
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Danila Tretyak’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout23 Dec 2030
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 Sam Straughan-Brown is on it.
Market23 Dec 2030
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Molodechno, another week without a signature from Françesko Hasaj.
Squad23 Dec 2030
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Molodechno would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
The dugout23 Dec 2030
Ewan Griffiths 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom25 Nov 2030
The scrutiny sharpens at Molodechno
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Molodechno is running low.
Match25 Nov 2030
17 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad25 Nov 2030
Danila Slesarchuk 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.
Squad25 Nov 2030
A row about effort at Molodechno
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Evgeniy Yudchits was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout25 Nov 2030
Valentín Vada 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.
Market25 Nov 2030
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Danila Tretyak’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout25 Nov 2030
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 Sam Straughan-Brown is on it.
Squad25 Nov 2030
“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 Molodechno will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
The dugout25 Nov 2030
Ivan Betik has been promised minutes
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Ivan Betik has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market14 Oct 2030
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Molodechno they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad14 Oct 2030
A row about effort at Molodechno
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Evgeniy Yudchits was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout14 Oct 2030
Arsen Djioev 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.
Squad14 Oct 2030
14 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad14 Oct 2030
Ewan Griffiths 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 Oct 2030
5 new faces, and Molodechno are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout14 Oct 2030
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout14 Oct 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 Molodechno, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market14 Oct 2030
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Sam Straughan-Brown has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Molodechno.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Apr 2030
A knee injury of the worst kind for Gordey Nefedov
96 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Molodechno lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match3 Apr 2030
Orsha are out and Molodechno go through, 3‑1 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Market8 Apr 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 Molodechno can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings8 Apr 2030
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.46, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad8 Apr 2030
16 days out for Kirill Kavalyou after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Molodechno will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market8 Apr 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Molodechno is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad8 Apr 2030
Danila Slesarchuk and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad8 Apr 2030
Words at Molodechno training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Evgeniy Yudchits 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 terraces8 Apr 2030
At 23 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad25 Mar 2030
A fracture rules Kirill Kavalyou out for 34 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Molodechno will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad25 Mar 2030
Maxim Yablonskiy 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.
Squad25 Mar 2030
A row about effort at Molodechno
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Evgeniy Yudchits was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad25 Mar 2030
39 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
The dugout25 Mar 2030
“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 dugout25 Mar 2030
Gleb Guletskiy has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Molodechno 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market18 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 Molodechno can pretend not to have heard.
Market18 Feb 2030
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Molodechno people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Transfer targets18 Feb 2030
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at BATE is saying, and nobody at Molodechno is enjoying the guessing.
Squad18 Feb 2030
Danila Slesarchuk and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market18 Feb 2030
The phone has started ringing about Marat Kalinchenko again, and this time the name on the line is Ostrovets. Molodechno are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad18 Feb 2030
Words at Molodechno training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Evgeniy Yudchits 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 targets18 Feb 2030
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.
Transfer targets18 Feb 2030
A loan move for Arseniy Skopets is in the works
Molodechno have made the call to BATE. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Market18 Feb 2030
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Jan 2030
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Molodechno have had the benefit of it.
Market7 Jan 2030
Roko Tudor has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Molodechno they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom7 Jan 2030
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Roko Tudor has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad7 Jan 2030
“The easiest signature of my career.” Evgeniy Yudchits and Molodechno agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad7 Jan 2030
Evgeniy Yudchits and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Jan 2030
Maxim Yablonskiy 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 dugout7 Jan 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gleb Guletskiy, and the manager let it.
The dugout7 Jan 2030
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 Gleb Guletskiy is on it.
The dugout7 Jan 2030
Sam Straughan-Brown is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Dec 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 Molodechno this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Dec 2029
Evgeniy Yudchits 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.
Squad24 Dec 2029
5 new faces, and Molodechno are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout24 Dec 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Marat Kalinchenko, and the manager let it.
The dugout24 Dec 2029
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Marat Kalinchenko is on it.
Market24 Dec 2029
The name of Danila Slesarchuk keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Molodechno say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Dec 2029
Artem Volodkov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Molodechno they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad10 Dec 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 Molodechno this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Dec 2029
A move Lukas Dubickas would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Lukas Dubickas is living that version at Molodechno, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad10 Dec 2029
A row about effort at Molodechno
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Evgeniy Yudchits was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad10 Dec 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Sergey Guzyuk and Molodechno agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout10 Dec 2029
Gleb Guletskiy has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Molodechno 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.
The dugout10 Dec 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sergey Guzyuk, and the manager let it.
The dugout10 Dec 2029
Gleb Guletskiy asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout10 Dec 2029
The manager has not finished forgetting Sam Straughan-Brown'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
Steady
The dugout22 Oct 2029
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Molodechno have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad22 Oct 2029
Gleb Guletskiy 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.
Squad22 Oct 2029
Radivoj Bosić 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 dugout22 Oct 2029
Airat Musin 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.
Squad22 Oct 2029
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Molodechno will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
The dugout22 Oct 2029
The manager has not finished forgetting Sam Straughan-Brown'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 dugout22 Oct 2029
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Molodechno. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Market22 Oct 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Maksym Shevchenko’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad22 Oct 2029
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Molodechno would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market17 Sep 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.
The dugout17 Sep 2029
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Molodechno have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad17 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 Molodechno this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Sep 2029
Words at Molodechno training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Radivoj Bosić 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 targets17 Sep 2029
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Molodechno will try again when the window opens; Naftan may not be selling by then.
The dugout17 Sep 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.
Squad17 Sep 2029
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Molodechno are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad17 Sep 2029
The formation has left Anton Zalamay behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Molodechno will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Looking ahead17 Sep 2029
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Arsenal Dzerzhinsk in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Transfer targets23 Jul 2029
The deal with BATE 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.
Match21 Jul 2029
Nobody wants to play Molodechno 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.
Squad23 Jul 2029
Evgeniy Yudchits and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets23 Jul 2029
No deal for Matvey Susha at that price
Molodechno offered $290.0K; Naftan said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Squad23 Jul 2029
Words at Molodechno training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Radivoj Bosić is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings23 Jul 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.17, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings23 Jul 2029
A performance of 8.05 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout23 Jul 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market28 May 2029
Artem Volodkov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Molodechno they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad28 May 2029
A row about effort at Molodechno
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Radivoj Bosić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad28 May 2029
Gleb Guletskiy and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout28 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.
The dugout28 May 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 Molodechno, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Looking ahead28 May 2029
Arsenal Dzerzhinsk next, and one man in the Molodechno dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The dugout28 May 2029
Nobody at Molodechno 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.
The dugout28 May 2029
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Gleb Guletskiy has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match4 Apr 2029
Orsha are out and Molodechno go through, 2‑1 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Match7 Apr 2029
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 14 matches without defeat is a foundation Molodechno did not have in the autumn.
Player ratings9 Apr 2029
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.04, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad9 Apr 2029
Ivan Sanko breaks a bone — 35 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 35 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad9 Apr 2029
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Squad9 Apr 2029
A row about effort at Molodechno
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Radivoj Bosić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces9 Apr 2029
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.
Squad9 Apr 2029
100 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
The dugout9 Apr 2029
The manager makes an example of Nikita Bylinkin
“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.