Marked for Daniil Lesko
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad20 Dec 2027
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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Words at Slutsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Fedosov 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 dugout20 Dec 2027
A promise honoured at Slutsk
Something was said to Maxim Kiselev and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Squad20 Dec 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Semen Shestilovskiy and Slutsk agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Slutsk will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Yeremy Angulo, and the manager let it.
Market20 Dec 2027
Slutsk bring in an old head
Semen Shestilovskiy is 33 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nikita Bylinkin trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout20 Dec 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad22 Nov 2027
A falling-out at Slutsk
Vladislav Fedosov 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
Words at Slutsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oleg Nikiforenko 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 dugout22 Nov 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.
The dugout22 Nov 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.
Squad22 Nov 2027
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Slutsk will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
Market22 Nov 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Oleg Nikiforenko may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad25 Oct 2027
A fracture rules Maxim Kiselev out for 26 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Slutsk will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The dugout25 Oct 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.
Market25 Oct 2027
Only the photograph left for Daniil Kirbay
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Daniil Kirbay will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Slutsk the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Oleg Nikiforenko 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.
Squad25 Oct 2027
A falling-out at Slutsk
Dmitriy Vashkevich and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout25 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.
Market25 Oct 2027
Slutsk have made Oleg Nikiforenko available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Market25 Oct 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Dmitriy Vashkevich signs something — a contract at Slutsk or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Makar Litskevich trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad27 Sep 2027
56 days out for Maxim Kiselev after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Slutsk will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market27 Sep 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 Slutsk, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market27 Sep 2027
Only the photograph left for Daniil Kirbay
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Daniil Kirbay will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Slutsk the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad27 Sep 2027
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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
A row about effort at Slutsk
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vladislav Fedosov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout27 Sep 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.
Market27 Sep 2027
Slutsk have let the market know Oleg Nikiforenko can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
Daniil Kirbay 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 Daniil Kirbay trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market27 Sep 2027
The Daniil Lesko story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Daniil Lesko signs something — a contract at Slutsk or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market13 Sep 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 Slutsk, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match13 Sep 2027
Slutsk refuse to drop out of the race
Position 2, 48 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Boardroom13 Sep 2027
Deadline passes with 7 signed and 1 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.
Market13 Sep 2027
The deal that would have taken Daniil Lesko to Smorgon has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Slutsk with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Andrey Kren beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 22. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words exchanged at Slutsk
Maxim Kiselev 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.
Match11 Sep 2027
Still nobody has beaten Slutsk
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words at Slutsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oleg Nikiforenko 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.
Match11 Sep 2027
The run is over for Slutsk
5 matches without defeat, and then Lokomotiv Gomel. Nobody at the ground pretended it would go on forever; nobody expected it to stop here either.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match6 Sep 2027
47 points and nobody above them. The word is not being said around the ground yet, and it is being thought in every seat.
Market6 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 Slutsk can pretend not to have heard.
Market6 Sep 2027
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.
The dugout6 Sep 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Slutsk may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Tempers go at Slutsk
Oleg Nikiforenko 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.
Transfer targets6 Sep 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Smorgon have kept their man, and Slutsk go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market6 Sep 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words at Slutsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artem Kuratnik 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad30 Aug 2027
Eduard Ihnatovich damages knee ligaments — 20 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 20 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.
Market30 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.
Market30 Aug 2027
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.
Match28 Aug 2027
Nobody wants to play Slutsk right now
5 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.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
Evgeny Chernov, 34, rolls back the years — 7.96
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.96 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market30 Aug 2027
Daniil Lesko has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Slutsk they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad30 Aug 2027
A falling-out at Slutsk
Vladislav Fedosov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets30 Aug 2027
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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Oleg Nikiforenko 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
Upbeat
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.48 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market16 Aug 2027
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.
Match14 Aug 2027
Nobody wants to play Slutsk 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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Tempers go at Slutsk
Matvey Svidinskiy 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.
Match14 Aug 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Dmitriy Vashkevich. 3‑1 against Lida, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2027
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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Slutsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Fedosov 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 ratings16 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Mikita Volodko kept it short after the 3‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match17 Jul 2027
Still nobody has beaten Slutsk
The unbeaten run reaches 9. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Market19 Jul 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market19 Jul 2027
Daniil Lesko has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Slutsk they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match17 Jul 2027
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 7 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Market19 Jul 2027
Add another name to the list: Arsenal Dzerzhinsk have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Ilya Branovets. The answer from Slutsk has not changed — yet.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at Slutsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oleg Nikiforenko 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 targets19 Jul 2027
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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Tempers go at Slutsk
Dmitriy Vashkevich 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.
Match17 Jul 2027
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Oleg Nikiforenko had Slutsk level again within 1 minutes, and Bumprom Gomel never got to play with a lead at all.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market5 Jul 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Molodechno waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Slutsk is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market5 Jul 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 Slutsk, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad5 Jul 2027
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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Vladislav Fedosov 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.
Market5 Jul 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Slutsk have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Market5 Jul 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
The award goes to Oleg Nikiforenko, and nobody around here is inclined to argue with the choice.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
Vitebsk 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match26 Jun 2027
No mercy from Slutsk
Volna Pinsk will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Slutsk were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Match28 Jun 2027
Slutsk are in among the leaders
Position 2 and 28 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Match26 Jun 2027
Nobody wants to play Slutsk right now
6 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
A row about effort at Slutsk
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Oleg Nikiforenko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces28 Jun 2027
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.
Market28 Jun 2027
The phone has started ringing about Daniil Lesko again, and this time the name on the line is Molodechno. Slutsk are listening politely and promising nothing.
Player ratings28 Jun 2027
Ninety minutes of Oleg Nikiforenko at his very best
Marked 8.09. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Slutsk.
The dugout28 Jun 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
Upbeat
Match12 Jun 2027
4‑1, and Dmitriy Vashkevich took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Slutsk tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings14 Jun 2027
A brace, and Dmitriy Vashkevich takes the afternoon — 8.89
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Dmitriy Vashkevich provided it, and the 8.89 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Match12 Jun 2027
Slutsk cannot stop winning
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Market14 Jun 2027
Only the photograph left for Daniil Lesko
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Daniil Lesko will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Slutsk the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Tempers go at Slutsk
Maxim Kiselev 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 Jun 2027
Words at Slutsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Fedosov 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 ratings14 Jun 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.05, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match14 Jun 2027
Slutsk at the halfway mark
Half the programme played, position 5, 22 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
The dugout14 Jun 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
Market17 May 2027
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.
Squad17 May 2027
Words exchanged at Slutsk
Matvey Svidinskiy 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.
Squad17 May 2027
A row about effort at Slutsk
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Oleg Nikiforenko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces17 May 2027
He is 23 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.
The dugout17 May 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.
Player ratings17 May 2027
Marked 7.29 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Slutsk had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout17 May 2027
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 dugout17 May 2027
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The dugout17 May 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
Match17 Apr 2027
5 matches without a win for Slutsk
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Slutsk are no longer polite ones.
Market19 Apr 2027
Only the photograph left for Daniil Lesko
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Daniil Lesko will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Slutsk the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words exchanged at Slutsk
Oleg Nikiforenko 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Slutsk
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Artem Kuratnik was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market19 Apr 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Ilya Branovets has his answer from Slutsk; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ilya Branovets, and the manager let it.
Match17 Apr 2027
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
Chances created: 10. Nothing on the scoresheet and everything in the match: the pass before the pass, over and over, until the defence stopped guessing right.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad29 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Slutsk
Oleg Nikiforenko 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Slutsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artem Kuratnik 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 dugout29 Mar 2027
Daniil Lesko 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 Daniil Lesko is on it.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Market29 Mar 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Makar Litskevich may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Squad29 Mar 2027
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market22 Mar 2027
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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Slutsk
Matvey Svidinskiy 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.
Match20 Mar 2027
2‑3 to Volna Pinsk, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Slutsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Fedosov 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 ratings22 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 2‑3 defeat, delivered by Mikita Volodko to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
A promise honoured at Slutsk
Something was said to Dmitriy Nekrashevich and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
5 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Mar 2027
3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
The dugout8 Mar 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.
Market8 Mar 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad8 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Slutsk
Vladislav Fedosov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match6 Mar 2027
Orsha made Slutsk work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑2 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words at Slutsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oleg Nikiforenko 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 ratings8 Mar 2027
Marked 9.13 — 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.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market8 Mar 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Slutsk have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market1 Mar 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 Slutsk, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
Window shuts: 5 in, 1 out at Slutsk
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 5 arrived, 1 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Market1 Mar 2027
The shirt still fits. Maxim Kiselev is back at Slutsk, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Slutsk
Oleg Nikiforenko 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.
Transfer targets1 Mar 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lida have kept their man, and Slutsk go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Slutsk
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vladislav Fedosov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market1 Mar 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Slutsk have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Artem Tolkin
“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.
Market1 Mar 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Slutsk, another week without a signature from Oleg Nikiforenko.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market15 Feb 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Niva waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Slutsk is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
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
A falling-out at Slutsk
Oleg Nikiforenko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets15 Feb 2027
Slutsk asked and Volna Pinsk said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout15 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
Artem Kuratnik 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 dugout15 Feb 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Dmitriy Nekrashevich trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Where he used to play does most of his talking for him at Slutsk. The room defers to it, the kids study it, and the only thing that can puncture it is a bad month.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
Daniil Lesko has become a man the manager trusts
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market8 Feb 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Naftan waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Slutsk is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Squad8 Feb 2027
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.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Molodechno have kept their man, and Slutsk go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Slutsk
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vladislav Fedosov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout8 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Slutsk are still strangers to each other
11 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.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
Vitebsk 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 targets8 Feb 2027
A loan enquiry to Neman: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Market8 Feb 2027
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Slutsk will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market18 Jan 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Slutsk
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vladislav Fedosov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad18 Jan 2027
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.
The dugout18 Jan 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.
The dugout18 Jan 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.
Market18 Jan 2027
Slutsk have let the market know Makar Litskevich can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Slutsk
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Oleg Nikiforenko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Slutsk
Nikita Bylinkin 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Squad28 Dec 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Evgeny Chernov and Slutsk agree another 2 years.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Andrey Kren 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 Andrey Kren trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market28 Dec 2026
Experience through the door at Slutsk
Evgeny Chernov arrives at 34 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Slutsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oleg Nikiforenko 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
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.
The dugout21 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
Market23 Nov 2026
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.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Nikita Robak: 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.” Slutsk have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad23 Nov 2026
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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Slutsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oleg Nikiforenko 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 dugout23 Nov 2026
“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.
Market23 Nov 2026
1 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Slutsk money.
The dugout23 Nov 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.
Market23 Nov 2026
The shop window has Artur Chuduk in it
Slutsk have let the market know Artur Chuduk can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager plants his flag on Artur Chuduk
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Artur Chuduk’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Oct 2026
Only the photograph left for Artem Tolkin
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Artem Tolkin will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Slutsk the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Slutsk
Artem Tolkin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Oleg Nikiforenko 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
The manager makes an example of Ignatiy Sidor
“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 dugout26 Oct 2026
A promise honoured at Slutsk
Something was said to Prokhor Struk and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Market26 Oct 2026
2 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Slutsk could get for him.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Daniil Lesko 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 Daniil Lesko is on it.
Market26 Oct 2026
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Artur Chuduk may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Squad26 Oct 2026
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match12 Aug 2026
Slutsk march on in the cup
Dnepr Mogilev are out and Slutsk go through, 2‑1 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Market17 Aug 2026
“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.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
A brace, and Daniil Lesko takes the afternoon — 8.21
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Daniil Lesko provided it, and the 8.21 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market17 Aug 2026
Only the photograph left for Andrey Kren
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Andrey Kren will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Slutsk the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Andrey Kren 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.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
The offer went to Isloch this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Slutsk
Vladislav Fedosov 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.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
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.