Marked for Sardar Yazdani
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match13 Mar 2027
No end in sight to Belshina's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Belshina has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Pavel Prishivalko 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Vladislav Solanovich 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Belshina know it.
Squad15 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Pavel Seleznev
“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.
Match13 Mar 2027
Point won or two lost for Belshina?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Smorgon? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market8 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 The request is on a desk at Belshina, and it is not being withdrawn.
The terraces8 Mar 2027
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 8 of the 32 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Match6 Mar 2027
No end in sight to Belshina's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Belshina has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad8 Mar 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 Belshina this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
Graduation day at Belshina
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Yuriy Kozlov and Belshina agree another 2 years.
Market8 Mar 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Andrei Korzun has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market8 Mar 2027
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Valery Makas is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Jan 2027
Pavel Prishivalko 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Vladislav Solanovich 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Sardar Yazdani and Belshina agree another 1 years.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 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 Belshina this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Belshina training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Solanovich 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Kristoffer Bygland and Belshina agree another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
Juan Gómez 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Belshina training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Solanovich 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Belshina know it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Sep 2026
Juan Gómez 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 Belshina this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom28 Sep 2026
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Arseniy Sokol has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Belshina have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Vladislav Solanovich 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
Steady
Squad21 Sep 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 Belshina this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom21 Sep 2026
Dnepr Mogilev will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Maxim Aleksievich has pre-agreed a move to Belshina, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Nikita Golub 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
Steady
Match12 Sep 2026
It finished 2‑1, and it was Jhon Cabal’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Rah Ahan.
Squad14 Sep 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 Rah Ahan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces14 Sep 2026
The crowd has taken to Jhon Cabal
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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Pejman Jahanbakhsh, and the manager let it.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Rah Ahan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alireza Nekounam 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 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad14 Sep 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Pejman Shojaei'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.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
A mark of 5.66 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
Market14 Sep 2026
The window shut and Vouria Pouraliganji is still in the building
Rah Ahan spent a month trying to move him and nobody rang back. He trains with a squad that has told him where he stands, and both sides start counting down to the next one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match5 Sep 2026
The cup run ends for Rah Ahan
1‑1 against Zob Ahan, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
The terraces7 Sep 2026
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 9 of the 25 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Market7 Sep 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 Rah Ahan, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match5 Sep 2026
4 matches without a win for Rah Ahan
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Rah Ahan are no longer polite ones.
Market7 Sep 2026
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Saipa moved on, Alireza Nekounam reports back to Rah Ahan, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Jhon Labastidas 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Rah Ahan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pejman Noorafkan 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.
Squad7 Sep 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The award goes to Ahmad Dejagah, and nobody around here is inclined to argue with the choice.