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.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Stanislav Atrashkevich trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Stanislav Atrashkevich signs something — a contract at Molodechno or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
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.
“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 Stanislav Atrashkevich.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Words at Molodechno training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Krasimir Kapov 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.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alexandr Bakinovskiy trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The words a physio says slowly. 36 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 Molodechno 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 Alexandr Bakinovskiy was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Maxim Mardas.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Maxim Mardas trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The words a physio says slowly. 63 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.
Maxim Yablonskiy 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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Molodechno, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Words at Molodechno training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexandr Bakinovskiy 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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Akim Belokhonov signs something — a contract at Molodechno or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
37 points from position 5. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
“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.
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Vladislav Belashevich may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
70 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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Denis Gruzhevskiy was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Stanislav Atrashkevich.
“I will know when it is time. I am not there yet.” Evgeniy Elezarenko is 35, with 294 appearances behind him, and Molodechno will have to plan for whichever answer comes.
106 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.
At 35, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
“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.
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.
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Nikita Krasnov scored in the 85th minute, Niva had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Molodechno took the lot.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Nikita Krasnov provided it, and the 8.05 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
AS Roma have made their interest known and Molodechno have to have a conversation they never wanted. A manager other clubs ask about is a manager whose next contract costs more.
“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.
The offer went to Neman 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.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Nikita Krasnov. 3‑1 against Niva, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
In brief
SquadAkim Belokhonov falls out with a teammate over standards
3 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Daniil Zhidkevich will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Molodechno escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Gleb Guletskiy provided it, and the 8.20 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Two goals and a mark of 7.97 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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.
Maxim Yablonskiy 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Nikita Krasnov has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Maxim Khokhlov, and the manager let it.
Squad1 May 2028
Words at Molodechno training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Krasimir Kapov 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.
“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.
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.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Dmitriy Velisevich’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Molodechno needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Molodechno know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
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.
In brief
The dugoutPetar Krastev asks for a word with the manager
Compensation agreed, contract signed, and a manager gone who was never for sale. Molodechno begin the search from behind, which is the only place a club in this position ever begins.
“Somebody has to pick the team on Saturday, and this week that is me.” An interim appointment with no promises attached, which is how most of them start.
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.
Molodechno offered $86.0K; Slutsk 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Petar Krastev has just signed for Molodechno, and for once the answer mattered.
Molodechno asked and Dinamo Minsk said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Maxim Khokhlov has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.