Marked for Yuri Martynovich
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad25 Sep 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Viktar Yablonski
24 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Belshina lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match25 Sep 2028
The view from the top for Belshina
45 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Vladislav Rusenchik 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.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Grigor Ghumashyan has just signed for Belshina, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad25 Sep 2028
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.
The dugout25 Sep 2028
Artur Tishko 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.
Market25 Sep 2028
He is 18, and nobody at Belshina signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Market25 Sep 2028
“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.
The dugout25 Sep 2028
Daniil Kulikov 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 Kulikov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market19 Jun 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.
Match17 Jun 2028
After 9 games, Belshina finally taste it again
The first defeat in 9 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Lokomotiv Gomel; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
Transfer targets19 Jun 2028
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Dinamo Brest keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Transfer targets19 Jun 2028
Belshina asked and Dinamo Brest said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad19 Jun 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 Belshina this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match17 Jun 2028
0‑1 to Lokomotiv Gomel, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Boardroom19 Jun 2028
No signings allowed at Belshina
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
Squad19 Jun 2028
A row about effort at Belshina
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ilya Vikhrov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad19 Jun 2028
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 17 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 May 2028
57 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Belshina lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad1 May 2028
20 days out for Yuri Martynovich after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Belshina will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings1 May 2028
Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market1 May 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Belshina they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad1 May 2028
Vladislav Rusenchik 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.
Squad1 May 2028
Words at Belshina training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilya Vikhrov 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.
Match29 Apr 2028
Belshina hit back inside 3 minutes
Bumprom Gomel held the lead for 3 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Belshina answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
Match29 Apr 2028
It needed Artem Malashko to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Bumprom Gomel, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout1 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ivan Pugachevskiy, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad24 Apr 2028
64 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Belshina lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Player ratings24 Apr 2028
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.13, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad24 Apr 2028
A fracture rules Yuri Martynovich out for 27 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Belshina will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings24 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Kirill Shikavka 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.
Match22 Apr 2028
Belshina get the job done against Niva
A 2‑0 win over Niva, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Boardroom24 Apr 2028
No signings allowed at Belshina
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
Squad24 Apr 2028
A row about effort at Belshina
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yuriy Kozlov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Vitaliy Sivakov could afford to be generous.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Apr 2028
The words a physio says slowly. 71 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.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 34 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market17 Apr 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 Belshina, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom17 Apr 2028
Wages eat 131% of everything Belshina earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad17 Apr 2028
A falling-out at Belshina
Vladislav Rusenchik and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Artem Malashko, and the manager let it.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Ilya Vikhrov 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 dugout17 Apr 2028
Ilya Vikhrov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Belshina 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.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
Ilya Vikhrov asks for a word with the manager
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Apr 2028
78 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Belshina lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match5 Apr 2028
The small margins put Belshina out
Out, 0‑1 to Molodechno, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Belshina may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad10 Apr 2028
A fracture rules Yuri Martynovich out for 41 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Belshina will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The terraces10 Apr 2028
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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
A falling-out at Belshina
Kirill Shikavka and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom10 Apr 2028
Belshina are $7.3M in the red
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.
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
A mark of 7.97, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Yuriy Kozlov 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
Squad3 Apr 2028
85 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Belshina lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad3 Apr 2028
48 days out for Yuri Martynovich after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Belshina will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings3 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 29. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Player ratings3 Apr 2028
Marked 7.75 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Market3 Apr 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Belshina they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom3 Apr 2028
The owner puts $162.6K into Belshina
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.
The terraces3 Apr 2028
He is 20 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.
Squad3 Apr 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 Belshina this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match1 Apr 2028
It finished 1‑0, and it was Daniil Kulikov’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Belshina.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad27 Mar 2028
The words a physio says slowly. 92 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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
A fracture rules Daniil Makhnach out for 20 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Belshina will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market27 Mar 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 Belshina, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad27 Mar 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 Belshina this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom27 Mar 2028
Belshina cannot sign anybody
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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Ilya Vikhrov 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 dugout27 Mar 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Anton Arlouski, and the manager let it.
Looking ahead27 Mar 2028
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Daniil Kulikov’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Belshina needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Market27 Mar 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Pavel Prishivalko signs something — a contract at Belshina or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market13 Dec 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Belshina they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad13 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 Belshina this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market13 Dec 2027
The borrowed shirt is his now: Belshina have made the move permanent, and the only thing that changes is the paperwork. Everybody involved already knew exactly what they were getting.
Squad13 Dec 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Yuri Martynovich and Belshina agree another 1 years.
The dugout13 Dec 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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
A row about effort at Belshina
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Stanislav Lomako was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
Daniil Kulikov 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 Belshina, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Belshina will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
The dugout13 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Nov 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 32 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad29 Nov 2027
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Lokomotiv Gomel had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Vitaliy Likhtin 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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Words at Lokomotiv Gomel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Danil Maltsev 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.
Boardroom29 Nov 2027
Wages swallow 159% of the Lokomotiv Gomel 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.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
Danil Maltsev 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 Lokomotiv Gomel, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market22 Nov 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Lokomotiv Gomel they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Vitaliy Likhtin 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
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Egor Noyok was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad22 Nov 2027
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Lokomotiv Gomel will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
Market22 Nov 2027
1 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Lokomotiv Gomel money.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Lokomotiv Gomel, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Oct 2027
Nikita Kukhtik and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom18 Oct 2027
The numbers do not look good at Lokomotiv Gomel
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words at Lokomotiv Gomel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Danil Maltsev 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 dugout18 Oct 2027
Danil Maltsev 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 Lokomotiv Gomel, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market18 Oct 2027
The Anton Laptev story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Anton Laptev signs something — a contract at Lokomotiv Gomel or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market18 Oct 2027
1 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Lokomotiv Gomel money.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market20 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 Lokomotiv Gomel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad20 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 Lokomotiv Gomel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom20 Sep 2027
The numbers do not look good at Lokomotiv Gomel
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Market20 Sep 2027
He signed expecting a bigger stage than the one he found. It has not taken long, and it has not taken the dressing room long to notice either.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mikita Hleb, and the manager let it.
Squad20 Sep 2027
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 33 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Market20 Sep 2027
The Anton Laptev story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Anton Laptev signs something — a contract at Lokomotiv Gomel or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad20 Sep 2027
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Lokomotiv Gomel will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
Market20 Sep 2027
The clock does Yuri Martynovich’s negotiating for him
2 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Lokomotiv Gomel could ask drops and the wages Yuri Martynovich can ask rise.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 34. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Market9 Aug 2027
Only the photograph left for Evgeny Mamonov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Evgeny Mamonov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Lokomotiv Gomel the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market9 Aug 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 Lokomotiv Gomel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market9 Aug 2027
Add another name to the list: Molodechno have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Maxim Nazarov. The answer from Lokomotiv Gomel has not changed — yet.
Match7 Aug 2027
No end in sight to Lokomotiv Gomel's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Lokomotiv Gomel has to find a result from somewhere.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
The deal with Slavia Mozyr died in the treatment room. Nobody will say what was found and everybody in the game will find out by Friday.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Nikita Kukhtik 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 targets9 Aug 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. BATE have kept their man, and Lokomotiv Gomel go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Boardroom9 Aug 2027
Wages eat 137% of everything Lokomotiv Gomel earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 May 2027
Mikita Hleb 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 Lokomotiv Gomel can pretend not to have heard.
Match29 May 2027
4 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.
Squad31 May 2027
Nikita Kukhtik and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Lokomotiv Gomel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Danil Maltsev 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.
Squad31 May 2027
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 15 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Player ratings31 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The dugout31 May 2027
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Match29 May 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 dugout31 May 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
Steady
Player ratings24 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 28. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Market24 May 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vitaliy Malevich will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Lokomotiv Gomel the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad24 May 2027
Nikita Kukhtik 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.
Squad24 May 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Danil Maltsev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match22 May 2027
A point taken on 89 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
The dugout24 May 2027
Mikita Hleb dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Match22 May 2027
A 1‑1 draw with Ostrovets leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Boardroom24 May 2027
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Lokomotiv Gomel now.
The dugout24 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market17 May 2027
Evgeny Mamonov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Lokomotiv Gomel they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad17 May 2027
Nikita Kukhtik 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.
Boardroom17 May 2027
166% of the income goes out in wages at Lokomotiv Gomel
Every club in football 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 somebody has tried it.
Market17 May 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Yuri Martynovich has his answer from Lokomotiv Gomel; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout17 May 2027
Nikita Kukhtik asks for a word with the manager
“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.
Market17 May 2027
Lokomotiv Gomel have made Mikita Hleb available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Market17 May 2027
The Anton Laptev talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Lokomotiv Gomel know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Looking ahead17 May 2027
Ostrovets, position 10, come to town on Saturday. Nobody will call it a big game and nobody at the club will be treating it as anything else.
Squad17 May 2027
The selectors could not leave Hleb Balanovich out
6.63 across ninety minutes and a place in the division's team of the week. He was the best player on that pitch and everybody there knew it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market29 Mar 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Lokomotiv Gomel they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Nikita Kukhtik 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
Danil Maltsev 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.
Boardroom29 Mar 2027
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
The dugout29 Mar 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.
Market29 Mar 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Sergei Dragun signs something — a contract at Lokomotiv Gomel or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kirill Shikavka trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Questions about Anton Laptev on the training pitch
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
Looking ahead29 Mar 2027
Looking ahead: Uni-X Labs at home
A side in position 7 visits next. The result will not make anybody’s season and it could quietly break the shape of one, which is why the manager has been watching the video since Sunday.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market25 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Nikita Kukhtik 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 Jan 2027
140% of the income goes out in wages at Lokomotiv Gomel
Every club in football 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 somebody has tried it.
Market25 Jan 2027
Maxim Nazarov is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Lokomotiv Gomel has been clear about where Maxim Nazarov stands, which is more than many ever get.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Danil Maltsev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Viktar Noyok
“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 dugout25 Jan 2027
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Lokomotiv Gomel. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Market25 Jan 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Maxim Nazarov’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The terraces25 Jan 2027
The stands have heard the Maxim Nazarov talk too
What was a back-page story is now a matter for the terraces, and the terraces do not do nuance. Lokomotiv Gomel would like it dealt with before it becomes the only question anybody asks.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Dec 2026
Nikita Kukhtik 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 Dec 2026
Words at Lokomotiv Gomel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Danil Maltsev 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 dugout7 Dec 2026
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.
Market7 Dec 2026
Lokomotiv Gomel have let the market know Yuri Martynovich can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Mikita Hleb 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 Lokomotiv Gomel, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market7 Dec 2026
The Anton Laptev talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Lokomotiv Gomel know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Nov 2026
Evgeny Mamonov 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 Nov 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.
Loan watch16 Nov 2026
“I watch every Lokomotiv Gomel game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Bumprom Gomel runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Danil Maltsev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
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.
The dugout16 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 Lokomotiv Gomel, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Belshina
Gleb Yakushevich 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.
Squad9 Nov 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.
The dugout9 Nov 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.
Market9 Nov 2026
“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.
The dugout9 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 Belshina, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
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 Yuri Martynovich is on it.