Marked for Ivan Dig
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad9 Jul 2029
A knee injury of the worst kind for Shean Garlito
51 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Baranovichi lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad9 Jul 2029
A fracture rules Artem Krivoguzov out for 78 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Baranovichi will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market9 Jul 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.
Match7 Jul 2029
Still nobody has beaten Baranovichi
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.
Market9 Jul 2029
Only the photograph left for Ivan Dig
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ivan Dig will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Baranovichi the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad9 Jul 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 Baranovichi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Words at Baranovichi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mehdi Bounou 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 ratings9 Jul 2029
3.64 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
Match7 Jul 2029
Point won or two lost for Baranovichi?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against BATE? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 May 2029
Shean Garlito damages knee ligaments — 93 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 93 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.
Match26 May 2029
8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Market28 May 2029
“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 Baranovichi, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market28 May 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Baranovichi is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad28 May 2029
Mehdi Bounou 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.
Squad28 May 2029
Egor Lapun 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 May 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vladislav Karpenya, and the manager let it.
Player ratings28 May 2029
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.
Match26 May 2029
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad30 Apr 2029
Timofey Statkevich damages knee ligaments — 72 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 72 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 Apr 2029
“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 Baranovichi, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market30 Apr 2029
Ivan Dig has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Baranovichi they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match28 Apr 2029
4 matches without a win for Baranovichi
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Baranovichi are no longer polite ones.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Mehdi Bounou 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 Baranovichi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Words at Baranovichi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Shean Garlito 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.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Mehdi Bounou 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.
Match28 Apr 2029
0‑1 to Dinamo Minsk, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings30 Apr 2029
Successful dribbles: 12. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Apr 2029
Timofey Statkevich damages knee ligaments — 79 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 79 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.
Market23 Apr 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.
Boardroom23 Apr 2029
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Ivan Dig 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.
Market23 Apr 2029
Alexandr Iljin has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Baranovichi they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad23 Apr 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 Baranovichi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Words at Baranovichi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mehdi Bounou 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.
Squad23 Apr 2029
“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.
Player ratings23 Apr 2029
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match21 Apr 2029
It needed Gadjimurad Abdullaev to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Molodechno, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Apr 2029
Timofey Statkevich damages knee ligaments — 100 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 100 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.
Market2 Apr 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.
Market2 Apr 2029
Only the photograph left for Ivan Dig
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ivan Dig will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Baranovichi the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad2 Apr 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Denis Shpakovskiy and Baranovichi agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Vladislav Karpenya 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.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Mehdi Bounou 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
Match24 Mar 2029
No end in sight to Baranovichi's wait for a win
11 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Baranovichi has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Timofey Statkevich damages knee ligaments — 107 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 107 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.
Market26 Mar 2029
Ivan Dig puts it in writing
“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 Baranovichi, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market26 Mar 2029
Alexandr Iljin has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Baranovichi they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Mehdi Bounou 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.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Fedor 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.
Squad26 Mar 2029
The manager makes an example of Shean Garlito
“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.
Player ratings26 Mar 2029
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match24 Mar 2029
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. BATE will be the happier side with the point.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad5 Mar 2029
A knee injury of the worst kind for Christos Darviras
32 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Baranovichi lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match3 Mar 2029
8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
The terraces5 Mar 2029
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 10 of the 33 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Squad5 Mar 2029
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.
Market5 Mar 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Baranovichi is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom5 Mar 2029
An order from above at Baranovichi: somebody has to go
Balance sheets do not care about form or about who the manager was planning to build around. The board have decided a sale is required, and the only question left is which name ends up carrying it.
Market5 Mar 2029
“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 Baranovichi, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad5 Mar 2029
Vladislav Karpenya 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Feb 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.
Market19 Feb 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Artur Dresmanis will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Baranovichi the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Mehdi Bounou 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.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Daniel Roca 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 Baranovichi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market19 Feb 2029
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Baranovichi will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Ivan Dig 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.