Marked for Dzmitry Laptev
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings4 Jun 2029
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.
Market4 Jun 2029
“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.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Egor Lapun 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.
Boardroom4 Jun 2029
$90.5K from the owner keeps Baranovichi afloat
The gap in the accounts was filled from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be grateful and to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings arrive together.
Match2 Jun 2029
Three points for Baranovichi, 2‑1 the final word against Niva in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Boardroom4 Jun 2029
147% of the income goes out in wages at Baranovichi
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 terraces4 Jun 2029
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Egor Yuschenko 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.
Boardroom4 Jun 2029
No fees may be paid for anybody, whatever the squad needs. Every rumour about this club until it lifts is a rumour about a deal that cannot be done.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Egor Yuschenko 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout28 May 2029
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Squad28 May 2029
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alexandr Burnos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad28 May 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Baranovichi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout28 May 2029
The manager makes an example of Artem Malashko
“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.
Squad28 May 2029
At 16 he was the best of everybody his age in the division for one weekend. Nobody should build a career on it and everybody quietly does.
The dugout28 May 2029
Something was said to Uladzimir Filipenko and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Looking ahead28 May 2029
Niva next, and one man in the Baranovichi dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The dugout28 May 2029
Arseniy Galushko 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.
Squad28 May 2029
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market21 May 2029
Semen Penchuk has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Baranovichi they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Player ratings21 May 2029
Age has not caught Martin Artyukh yet — 8.24
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.24 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad21 May 2029
Vladislav Karpenya 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 dugout21 May 2029
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Squad21 May 2029
Words at Baranovichi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexandr Burnos 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.
Match19 May 2029
A 2‑0 win over Lida, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout21 May 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Roman Zhoglo, and the manager let it.
The dugout21 May 2029
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Vitaliy Arlouski could afford to be generous.
Market21 May 2029
Artem Malashko is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Baranovichi has been clear about where Artem Malashko stands, which is more than many ever get.