Marked for Igor Alenin
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market30 Nov 2026
Only the photograph left for Vadzim Pavlov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vadzim Pavlov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Lokomotiv Gomel the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad30 Nov 2026
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.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
89% 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.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Egor Skavysh 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Lokomotiv Gomel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Uladzimir Zhavnerchik 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Nov 2026
Ruslan Korzun 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
Words at Lokomotiv Gomel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Uladzimir Zhavnerchik 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 dugout9 Nov 2026
Nikita Kukhtik 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 Nikita Kukhtik trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market9 Nov 2026
The shop window has Igor Alenin in it
Lokomotiv Gomel have let the market know Igor Alenin can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Yahor Kavalyou is not doing himself any favours
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Nov 2026
17 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Lokomotiv Gomel lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
Market2 Nov 2026
Only the photograph left for Vadzim Pavlov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vadzim Pavlov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Lokomotiv Gomel the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad2 Nov 2026
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.
Market2 Nov 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
89% 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
Uladzislau Hryshyn damages knee ligaments — 38 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 38 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Ruslan Korzun 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 dugout12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Igor Alenin, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market5 Oct 2026
Only the photograph left for Vadzim Pavlov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vadzim Pavlov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Lokomotiv Gomel the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad5 Oct 2026
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.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages swallow 85% 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Lokomotiv Gomel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Uladzimir Zhavnerchik 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 dugout5 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Raman Kislyak, and the manager let it.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
Igor Alenin 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
Crisis
Market14 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 Bumprom Gomel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match12 Sep 2026
6 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.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
Bumprom Gomel close the window on a squad of their own making
16 in and 0 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
Everything agreed with Volna Pinsk, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
Bumprom Gomel asked and Slonim said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Artem Zhevnerenko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match12 Sep 2026
1‑2 to Lokomotiv Gomel, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Igor Alenin 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Aug 2026
0‑2 against Naftan, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Everything agreed with Slonim, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Artem Miroevskiy 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.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ilya Udodov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ilya Udodov, and the manager let it.
Market17 Aug 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
Yan Hleb faces the questions
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Yan Hleb after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market3 Aug 2026
The offer from Narva Trans for Vadim Fastovets was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Yaroslav Makushinskiy and Bumprom Gomel agree another 4 years.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Artem Miroevskiy 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.
Match1 Aug 2026
0‑1 to Osipovichi, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
“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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Ilya Udodov 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
49 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Too much change too quickly at Bumprom Gomel
11 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad3 Aug 2026
The match ball belongs to Rodion Karpov, whose 4 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Match1 Aug 2026
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 98th minute. Orsha will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Match1 Aug 2026
Orsha made Lokomotiv Gomel work for it, but the scoreboard read 5‑4 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Rodion Karpov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.99. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad3 Aug 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 Lokomotiv Gomel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Maksim Hleb and Lokomotiv Gomel agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikolai Lapin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
One of those days for Artem Rios
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.86, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Market3 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Lokomotiv Gomel have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.