Marked for
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market20 Nov 2028
Artem Vlasov hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Volna Pinsk can pretend not to have heard.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Ruslan Gogniev 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.
Boardroom20 Nov 2028
The Volna Pinsk debt reaches $7.5M
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
Squad20 Nov 2028
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 dugout20 Nov 2028
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.
The dugout20 Nov 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Volna Pinsk, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market30 Oct 2028
“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.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Ruslan Gogniev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout30 Oct 2028
Artem Vlasov knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Volna Pinsk, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Words at Volna Pinsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. a squad player 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 dugout30 Oct 2028
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.
Market30 Oct 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ruslan Gogniev signs something — a contract at Volna Pinsk or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market23 Oct 2028
Artem Vlasov hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Volna Pinsk can pretend not to have heard.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Azam Radzhabov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom23 Oct 2028
The borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market16 Oct 2028
Pavel Vakulich has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Volna Pinsk they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Egor Nikoporenok 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 dugout16 Oct 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Volna Pinsk, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and a squad player was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
“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.
Market16 Oct 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Stanislav Letsko signs something — a contract at Volna Pinsk or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market25 Sep 2028
“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 Volna Pinsk, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Ruslan Gogniev 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.
Boardroom25 Sep 2028
The borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
Market25 Sep 2028
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Roman Sidorovich has his answer from Volna Pinsk; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Words at Volna Pinsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. a squad player 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 dugout25 Sep 2028
a squad player is still paying for one afternoon at Volna Pinsk
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 dugout25 Sep 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alexandr Kuradovets trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market25 Sep 2028
2 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Volna Pinsk could get for him.
Market25 Sep 2028
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Stanislav Baluk leaves Volna Pinsk the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market4 Sep 2028
“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.
The dugout4 Sep 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Volna Pinsk may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market4 Sep 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad4 Sep 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ivan Vorobjev and Volna Pinsk agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
$144.9K from the owner keeps Volna Pinsk afloat
The gap in the accounts was filled from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be grateful and to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings arrive together.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Azam Radzhabov 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.
Squad4 Sep 2028
“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; Volna Pinsk are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad4 Sep 2028
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Vladimir Skomarovskiy is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout4 Sep 2028
Emil Maiorov 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market28 Aug 2028
“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.
Market28 Aug 2028
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Volna Pinsk people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Squad28 Aug 2028
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.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Egor Nikoporenok 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.
Boardroom28 Aug 2028
The borrowing at Volna Pinsk reaches $7.2M
Past the limit the bank set, which is the line between a club being financed and a club being in trouble. $7.2M is now the number every conversation about this club will start with.
Player ratings28 Aug 2028
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match26 Aug 2028
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout28 Aug 2028
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Ihar Gordeichuk chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Words at Volna Pinsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrey Emeljanov 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 Jul 2028
Artem Vlasov hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Volna Pinsk can pretend not to have heard.
Market31 Jul 2028
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Volna Pinsk people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Squad31 Jul 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Volna Pinsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match29 Jul 2028
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Boardroom31 Jul 2028
The borrowing at Volna Pinsk reaches $7.0M
Past the limit the bank set, which is the line between a club being financed and a club being in trouble. $7.0M is now the number every conversation about this club will start with.
The dugout31 Jul 2028
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Words at Volna Pinsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andrey Emeljanov 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 dugout31 Jul 2028
Artem Vlasov knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Volna Pinsk, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Player ratings31 Jul 2028
Artem Vlasov beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 13. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad17 Jul 2028
17 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Volna Pinsk lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match17 Jul 2028
43 points and nobody above them. The word is not being said around the ground yet, and it is being thought in every seat.
Player ratings17 Jul 2028
Successful dribbles: 31. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market17 Jul 2028
“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.
Transfer targets17 Jul 2028
No thanks: Hleb Kavalyou rejects the move
Volna Pinsk had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at BATE, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Boardroom17 Jul 2028
Wages swallow 178% of the Volna Pinsk income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Azam Radzhabov 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 Jul 2028
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
Market17 Jul 2028
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Volna Pinsk will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 May 2028
32 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Volna Pinsk lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match6 May 2028
Whatever happens, Volna Pinsk do not lose
10 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad8 May 2028
15 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Market8 May 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sergey Kirikovich will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Volna Pinsk the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad8 May 2028
Ruslan Gogniev 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.
Boardroom8 May 2028
The owner puts $76.1K into Volna Pinsk
This is money that keeps the lights on rather than money that buys a centre-half, and the difference is the whole story. A club funded by its owner rather than by its football has exactly one conversation left ahead of it.
Player ratings8 May 2028
Marked 8.06 — 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.
Squad8 May 2028
“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 Volna Pinsk know it.
Match6 May 2028
A 1‑1 draw with Orsha leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Aug 2027
86 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Akzhaiyk lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 38 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
Zhetysu wanted more than $24.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Transfer targets9 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nurali Vorogovskiy and Akzhaiyk agree another 2 years.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Kairat Shomko 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.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
Swindon Town 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.
The dugout9 Aug 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 dugout9 Aug 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.