Marked for Ken Klavan
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Apr 2031
A knee injury of the worst kind for Alexandr Puzach
54 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Lida lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad21 Apr 2031
Anton Rios breaks a bone — 64 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 64 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market21 Apr 2031
“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.
Squad21 Apr 2031
Tempers go at Lida
Roman Gribovskiy 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.
Match19 Apr 2031
Mikita Balanovich scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Isloch, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad21 Apr 2031
The manager makes an example of Igor Tymonyuk
“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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Apr 2031
A knee injury of the worst kind for Alexandr Puzach
61 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Lida lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The terraces14 Apr 2031
Anger at Lida spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Squad14 Apr 2031
Anton Rios breaks a bone — 71 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 71 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market14 Apr 2031
“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.
Squad14 Apr 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lida this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Apr 2031
Roman Babaev 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.
Boardroom14 Apr 2031
Lida 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.
Player ratings14 Apr 2031
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.
Match12 Apr 2031
No goals between Lida and Slonim
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Slonim will be the happier side with the point.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad31 Mar 2031
A knee injury of the worst kind for Alexandr Puzach
75 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Lida lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match29 Mar 2031
The wait goes on for Lida
10 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.
Match29 Mar 2031
The goals have deserted Lida
10 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Lida can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad31 Mar 2031
Anton Rios breaks a bone — 85 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 85 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market31 Mar 2031
“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.
Squad31 Mar 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lida this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match29 Mar 2031
0‑1 to Bumprom Gomel, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad31 Mar 2031
Joe Spence 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.
Market31 Mar 2031
5 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Lida money.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 Mar 2031
A knee injury of the worst kind for Alexandr Puzach
89 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Lida lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The terraces17 Mar 2031
Anger at Lida spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Match15 Mar 2031
The wait goes on for Lida
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.
Match15 Mar 2031
The goals have deserted Lida
8 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Lida can tell you which week it ends in.
Market17 Mar 2031
“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.
Squad17 Mar 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lida this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match15 Mar 2031
A bad afternoon for Lida against Niva
0‑1 to Niva, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Boardroom17 Mar 2031
Lida 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.
Squad17 Mar 2031
Words at Lida training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valery Volodko 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
Crisis
Squad17 Feb 2031
A knee injury of the worst kind for Alexandr Puzach
117 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Lida lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The terraces17 Feb 2031
Anger at Lida spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Market17 Feb 2031
“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 Lida, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad17 Feb 2031
Tempers go at Lida
Arseniy Galushko 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 Feb 2031
Lida 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.
Squad17 Feb 2031
Pavel Kavalyou pulls a muscle — 14 days out
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad3 Feb 2031
A knee injury of the worst kind for Alexandr Puzach
131 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Lida lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Boardroom3 Feb 2031
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Boardroom3 Feb 2031
The Lida board call everybody in
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Squad3 Feb 2031
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Roman Babaev commits to Lida for another 2 years.
Squad3 Feb 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lida this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Feb 2031
Words at Lida training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valery Volodko 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.
Boardroom3 Feb 2031
105% of the income goes out in wages at Lida
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.
Market3 Feb 2031
No fee and no drama: Valery Volodko has signed at Lida, and the wage bill is the only line that moved.
Market3 Feb 2031
Lida have made Ken Klavan available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom6 Jan 2031
Hleb Yablonski has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Lida can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Boardroom6 Jan 2031
The Lida board call everybody in
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Squad6 Jan 2031
A fracture rules Vitaliy Korzun out for 24 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Lida will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market6 Jan 2031
“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 Lida, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad6 Jan 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lida this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom6 Jan 2031
113% of the income goes out in wages at Lida
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.
Squad6 Jan 2031
Joe Spence 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.
Squad6 Jan 2031
Roman Babaev loses the manager who believed in him
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Roman Babaev's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
Market6 Jan 2031
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Igor Tymonyuk may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces23 Dec 2030
Anger at Lida spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Market23 Dec 2030
“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 Lida, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad23 Dec 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lida this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom23 Dec 2030
Lida 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.
Squad23 Dec 2030
Joe Spence 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.
Squad23 Dec 2030
“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
Crisis
Market9 Dec 2030
“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 Lida, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad9 Dec 2030
A muscle injury sidelines Arseniy Galushko for 14 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Lida will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad9 Dec 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lida this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom9 Dec 2030
107% of the income goes out in wages at Lida
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.
Squad9 Dec 2030
Roman Babaev 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.
Squad9 Dec 2030
Words at Lida training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Roman Guryev 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
Crisis
Boardroom2 Dec 2030
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Boardroom2 Dec 2030
Crisis meeting at Lida
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
Market2 Dec 2030
Ken Klavan 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 Lida can pretend not to have heard.
Squad2 Dec 2030
Tempers go at Lida
Roman Gribovskiy 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 Dec 2030
Words at Lida training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joe Spence 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.
Squad2 Dec 2030
Nikita Kukhtik 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 Lida, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad2 Dec 2030
Stanislau Dragun loses the manager who believed in him
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Stanislau Dragun's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
Market2 Dec 2030
Lida have made Uladzimir Gordeichuk available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Market2 Dec 2030
The clock does Egor Bykau’s negotiating for him
2 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Lida could ask drops and the wages Egor Bykau can ask rise.