Marked for Olegs Jurkovskis
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match5 Apr 2028
Niva march on in the cup
Gomel are out and Niva go through, 2‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
Marked 8.31 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.
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 24. 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 ratings10 Apr 2028
Alexey Yazepov scored one and made one — 7.76
Two of the goals had his name somewhere on them, which is the afternoon a manager wants from anybody asked to both create and finish. 7.76, and 2 involvements.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words exchanged at Niva
Artem Kilyimanov 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 terraces10 Apr 2028
Niva supporters have found a favourite in Alexey Yazepov
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Alexey Yazepov has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
Artem Kilyimanov back under a manager who knows him
The new man at Niva has worked with Artem Kilyimanov before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
The dugout10 Apr 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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Too much change too quickly at Niva
7 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.
In brief
-
Squad
Alexandr Chizh falls out with a teammate over standards
-
The dugout
The view from the dugout
-
Match
Niva and Slonim cancel each other out
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market13 Mar 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Niva can pretend not to have heard.
Squad13 Mar 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Olegs Jurkovskis and Niva agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Transfer targets13 Mar 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Slutsk have kept their man, and Niva go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Words at Niva training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexandr Chizh 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.
Squad13 Mar 2028
A falling-out at Niva
Alexandr Emeljanov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
Artem Kilyimanov back under a manager who knows him
The new man at Niva has worked with Artem Kilyimanov before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
The dugout13 Mar 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.
Squad13 Mar 2028
12 new faces, and Niva are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Market13 Mar 2028
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Niva, another week without a signature from Artem Kilyimanov.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom28 Feb 2028
Window shuts: 2 in, 3 out at Volna Pinsk
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 2 arrived, 3 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Transfer targets28 Feb 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. BATE have kept their man, and Volna Pinsk go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Roman Minaev 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.
Boardroom28 Feb 2028
103% of the income goes out in wages at Volna Pinsk
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 dugout28 Feb 2028
Maxim Grechikha is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
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 Stanislav Letsko is on it.
Boardroom28 Feb 2028
Nobody arrives at Volna Pinsk until somebody leaves
The club is not barred from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every name linked with Volna Pinsk this window arrives with a name leaving in the same sentence.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Dmitriy Lesnyak trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market28 Feb 2028
Volna Pinsk opened the door and nobody walked through it. So Stanislav Letsko stays — listed, trained, and available — while both sides mark the days to January on the same calendar.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market21 Feb 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 targets21 Feb 2028
The deal with Dinamo Minsk is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Transfer targets21 Feb 2028
Volna Pinsk asked and Smorgon said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Roman Minaev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Dmitriy Nizhnik and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
The manager makes an example of Ruslan Gogniev
“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.
Squad21 Feb 2028
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Volna Pinsk will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
Nobody at Volna Pinsk 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 dugout21 Feb 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Uladzislau Bykau has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Volna Pinsk can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
The whole football department in one room on a weekday morning. Nothing was announced afterwards, which is what a board announces when it has run out of patience.
Market7 Feb 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.
Squad7 Feb 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.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Roman Minaev 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.
Market7 Feb 2028
“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 dugout7 Feb 2028
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Stanislav Letsko was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
The dugout7 Feb 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Egor Nikoporenok trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad7 Feb 2028
No place for Vadim Galko in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Volna Pinsk are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom20 Dec 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Volna Pinsk
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Volna Pinsk is running low.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Yaroslav Oreshkevich 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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Words at Volna Pinsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxim Grechikha 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 dugout20 Dec 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ruslan Gogniev, and the manager let it.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Egor Nikoporenok trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad20 Dec 2027
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Volna Pinsk will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout11 Oct 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Boardroom11 Oct 2027
Orsha will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Stanislav Bulakhov has pre-agreed a move to Volna Pinsk, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words at Volna Pinsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maxim Grechikha 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.
Boardroom11 Oct 2027
145% of the income goes out in wages at Volna Pinsk
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 dugout11 Oct 2027
The manager makes an example of Dmitriy Lesnyak
“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 dugout11 Oct 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Nov 2026
Roberts Zjuzins 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.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Roberts Fertovs
“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.
Loan watch9 Nov 2026
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Spartaks, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Marcis Jagodinskis is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Roberts Zjuzins 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.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Raivis Bulvitis, and the manager let it.
Loan watch12 Oct 2026
“I did not go to Skonto to sit and watch. I want to come back to Spartaks and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
The dugout12 Oct 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 Raivis Bulvitis is on it.
Squad12 Oct 2026
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Sep 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Viktor Lunyov
27 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Spartaks lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad28 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Spartaks
Roberts Zjuzins and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Loan watch28 Sep 2026
“I did not go to Arsenal Dzerzhinsk to sit and watch. I want to come back to Spartaks and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
Eduards Vanins has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Spartaks 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.
Market28 Sep 2026
The shop window has Tomas Sernas in it
Spartaks have let the market know Tomas Sernas can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Vitalijs Rugins trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 Aug 2026
$250.0K. No player has ever cost Spartaks more, and expectation arrives with him.
Market31 Aug 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 Spartaks, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
No thanks: Jovan Zogović rejects the move
Spartaks had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Suduva, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
The terraces31 Aug 2026
The town asked, and Spartaks paid $250.0K
Iļja Korotkovs was the name on every phone-in, and the club has gone and signed him for $250.0K. For one week the board can do no wrong, which is a week most boards never get.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Spartaks asked and Benfica said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Igors Vanins, and the manager let it.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Spartaks
Kristaps Gabovs 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 targets31 Aug 2026
A loan move for Divine Teah is in the works
Spartaks have made the call to Slavia Prague. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
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.