Marked for Pavel Korzun
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Feb 2028
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Lokomotiv Gomel will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
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Transfer targets21 Feb 2028
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Lokomotiv Gomel have done the hard part with Belshina, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Alexandr Fedosenko 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 targets21 Feb 2028
Lokomotiv Gomel asked and Slavia Mozyr said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Transfer targets21 Feb 2028
A loan enquiry to Uni-X Labs: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Market21 Feb 2028
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Valery Arlouski has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Lokomotiv Gomel.
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 Lokomotiv Gomel, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market17 Jan 2028
Ruslan 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.
Squad17 Jan 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 Lokomotiv Gomel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
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From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom3 Jan 2028
Pressure builds in the Lokomotiv Gomel boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market3 Jan 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 dugout3 Jan 2028
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The dugout3 Jan 2028
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Maksim Dragun 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 dugout3 Jan 2028
“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.
Market3 Jan 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Uladzimir Kendysh signs something — a contract at Lokomotiv Gomel or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market3 Jan 2028
Lokomotiv Gomel have made Ruslan Hleb available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Squad3 Jan 2028
A programme of his own, away from the group, aimed at one thing the staff think is holding him back. Most improvement happens like this and none of it makes the paper.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad20 Dec 2027
Anton Arlouski 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 dugout20 Dec 2027
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Squad20 Dec 2027
17 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
Ruslan Hleb 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 Ruslan Hleb trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout20 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
Market13 Dec 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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Alexandr Fedosenko 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.
Boardroom13 Dec 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 dugout13 Dec 2027
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Squad13 Dec 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maksim Dragun was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
Vadzim Filipenko 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.
Market13 Dec 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Uladzimir Kendysh signs something — a contract at Lokomotiv Gomel or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market13 Dec 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Pavel Korzun may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Squad13 Dec 2027
The training reports on Ruslan Hleb are not good
A bad Saturday is forgiven; a bad Tuesday is chosen. Standards have slipped and in a building where everybody watches everybody, it has been noticed.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout6 Dec 2027
Hleb Martynovich: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Lokomotiv Gomel have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market6 Dec 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.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
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Squad6 Dec 2027
Anton Arlouski in trouble away from the ground
Every paper's favourite story and every manager's least. What happened is being dealt with internally, which is the phrase clubs use when they would rather nobody asked again.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Uladzimir Kendysh and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Uladzimir Sivakov, and the manager let it.
Squad6 Dec 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Valery Arlouski and Lokomotiv Gomel agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Training ground row involving Anton Arlouski
Tempers went at Lokomotiv Gomel this week. Nothing a hard session and a quiet word cannot repair, though the story got out all the same.
Boardroom6 Dec 2027
Wages eat 87% 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
Uneasy
Market22 Nov 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.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Alexandr Fedosenko 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 dugout22 Nov 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad22 Nov 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maksim Dragun was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout22 Nov 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market15 Nov 2027
Ruslan 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.
Boardroom15 Nov 2027
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Lokomotiv Gomel now.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
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Squad15 Nov 2027
37 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad15 Nov 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Viktar Kendysh 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 dugout15 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.
Market15 Nov 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Uladzimir Kendysh signs something — a contract at Lokomotiv Gomel or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market15 Nov 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Uladzimir Kendysh may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market1 Nov 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.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad1 Nov 2027
Uladzimir Sivakov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market1 Nov 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Uladzimir Kendysh has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Lokomotiv Gomel.
Market1 Nov 2027
“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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Maksim Dragun 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
Uneasy
Market25 Oct 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 Oct 2027
Alexandr Fedosenko 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 Oct 2027
Maksim Dragun 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 Oct 2027
Vadzim Filipenko 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.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
Pavel Korzun has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Lokomotiv Gomel 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market18 Oct 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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Alexandr Fedosenko 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.
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.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
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The dugout18 Oct 2027
Vadzim Filipenko 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.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
The manager makes an example of Pavel Korzun
“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.
Market18 Oct 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Uladzimir Kendysh signs something — a contract at Lokomotiv Gomel or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market18 Oct 2027
Lokomotiv Gomel have let the market know Uladzimir Kendysh can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
The dugout18 Oct 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market27 Sep 2027
“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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Maksim Dragun and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
The manager makes an example of Valery Arlouski
“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 dugout27 Sep 2027
Raman Arlouski 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 Raman Arlouski trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
Pavel Korzun gets picked when it counts
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 Pavel Korzun is on it.
Market27 Sep 2027
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Andrei Volodko leaves Lokomotiv Gomel the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market30 Aug 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Lokomotiv Gomel people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Ruslan Klimovich damages knee ligaments — 31 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 31 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.
Market30 Aug 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.
Match28 Aug 2027
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Lokomotiv Gomel are no longer polite ones.
Match28 Aug 2027
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Uladzimir Sivakov 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 dugout30 Aug 2027
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The dugout30 Aug 2027
Pavel Korzun 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 Aug 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Hleb Martynovich and Lokomotiv Gomel agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
In brief
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The dugout
Pavel Korzun has become a man the manager trusts
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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Squad
Words at Lokomotiv Gomel training over how hard people work
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market23 Aug 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
A season average of 6.55 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Lokomotiv Gomel know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Squad23 Aug 2027
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Lokomotiv Gomel will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Uladzimir Sivakov 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 dugout23 Aug 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Match21 Aug 2027
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Ruslan Hleb 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.
Boardroom23 Aug 2027
Wages eat 99% 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.
Boardroom23 Aug 2027
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Lokomotiv Gomel now.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 33. 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.
Market16 Aug 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.
Market16 Aug 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Lokomotiv Gomel will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad16 Aug 2027
He is 18, he is averaging 6.52, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Market16 Aug 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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Maksim Martynovich and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets16 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.
The terraces16 Aug 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Uladzimir Kendysh 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Jun 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Lokomotiv Gomel will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market14 Jun 2027
“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.
Market14 Jun 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Lokomotiv Gomel is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
Pavel Korzun: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Lokomotiv Gomel have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Uladzimir Arlouski and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match12 Jun 2027
Molodechno left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
The manager makes an example of Raman Arlouski
“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 dugout14 Jun 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout14 Jun 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
Steady
Match15 Aug 2026
Beaten 1‑4 by Uni-X Labs, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match12 Aug 2026
Out, 1‑1 to Isloch, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Squad17 Aug 2026
1 kept out from twelve yards, and a stadium that will describe each of them for twenty years. A goalkeeper needs one night like this in a career, and this was it.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Uladzimir Arlouski and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout17 Aug 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.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Marked 8.34 — 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Lokomotiv Gomel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Viktar Balanovich 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.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
Nobody left the Lokomotiv Gomel dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
It was his to settle and he did not settle it. A long walk back to the halfway line, and a considerably longer week.