The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Slutsk have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Slutsk is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Dinamo Minsk is saying, and nobody at Slutsk is enjoying the guessing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slutsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Evgeniy Kasevich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 21 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. Slutsk will try very hard not to make too much of it.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Slutsk people have started saying his name in the past tense.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Evgeniy Kasevich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Slutsk could ask drops and the wages Prokhor Sheremet can ask rise.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Slonim in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Slonim waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Slutsk is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Evgeniy Kasevich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Everybody at Slutsk saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 34 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.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Ostrovets will make the call about Jacopo Montagna this week. Slutsk have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Slutsk have lost him in all but the paperwork.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.85 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“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 Slutsk, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slutsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Jul 2035
Words at Slutsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Evgeniy Kasevich 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Kirill Zabelin. 1‑0 against Arsenal Dzerzhinsk, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Two goals and a mark of 8.80 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
7.95, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jacopo Montagna will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Slutsk the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Ivan Khovalko 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Kirill Zabelin. 3‑1 against Minsk, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad28 May 2035
Words at Slutsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Evgeniy Kasevich 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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑1, Interim Coach could afford to be generous.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slutsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 May 2035
Words at Slutsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Evgeniy Kasevich 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Slutsk, and both men came out saying it was fine.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Slonim in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Slutsk have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Ivan Khovalko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 May 2035
Words at Slutsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Evgeniy Kasevich 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.
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Interim Coach after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nikita Chuyko trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Ivan Khovalko 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Prokhor Sheremet was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Everybody at Slutsk saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 35 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.
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout23 Apr 2035
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑4 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.
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 Ivan Khovalko is on it.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Uladzislau Chalavach provided it, and the 6.85 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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.
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jacopo Montagna will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Slutsk the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Ivan Khovalko 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 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Slutsk, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“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 Slutsk, and it is not being withdrawn.
Ivan Khovalko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Feb 2035
Words at Slutsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikita Fadeev 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Slutsk, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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 Karol Mak is on it.
7 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Slutsk could ask drops and the wages Prokhor Sheremet can ask rise.
The words a physio says slowly. 18 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Christoforos Kolimatsis and Slutsk agree another 3 years.
Squad22 Jan 2035
Words at Slutsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikita Fadeev 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.
Alexey Lavrik 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 words a physio says slowly. 25 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Christoforos Kolimatsis and Slutsk agree another 3 years.
Squad15 Jan 2035
Words at Slutsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikita Fadeev 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.
Alexey Lavrik 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ivan Khovalko signs something — a contract at Slutsk or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nobody at Slutsk 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Brooklyn Lyons-Foster trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The words a physio says slowly. 39 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slutsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Jan 2035
Words at Slutsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Prokhor Sheremet 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.
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 Ivan Khovalko is on it.
Two goals and a mark of 8.67 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Niko Söderström 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.
Ivan Khovalko 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Leo Méndez. 3‑1 against Naftan, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Squad25 Sep 2034
Words at Slutsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Evgeniy Kasevich 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.
At 20 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.
Marked 8.18 — 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.
In brief
SquadA muscle injury and 14 days out for Andrei Korzun
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Slutsk may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom11 Sep 2034
Deadline passes with 12 signed and 24 gone
That is the business done at Slutsk until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Niko Söderström will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Slutsk the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Slutsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Sep 2034
Nikita Fadeev 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.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Slutsk are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.