Marked for Viktar Pavlov
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad25 Oct 2027
41 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Osipovichi lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad25 Oct 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 Osipovichi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
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.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Valeriy Kumalagov 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
Artem Krent has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Osipovichi 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 dugout25 Oct 2027
Artem Zimin 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Oct 2027
48 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Osipovichi lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
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 The request is on a desk at Osipovichi, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
Alexandr Zverev: 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.” Osipovichi have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words at Osipovichi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Denis Ssorin 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.
Squad18 Oct 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 Osipovichi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Oct 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Viktar Pavlov
55 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Osipovichi lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market11 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Artem Krent 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.
Boardroom11 Oct 2027
The numbers do not look good at Osipovichi
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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Denis Ssorin 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 dugout11 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Zaur Kasaev, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad4 Oct 2027
Viktar Pavlov damages knee ligaments — 62 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 62 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.
Market4 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.
Market4 Oct 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Osipovichi is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Osipovichi may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Evgeniy Elezarenko 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 Oct 2027
Wages swallow 147% of the Osipovichi 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.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Dmitry Lapin 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 dugout4 Oct 2027
Alexandr Zverev 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad27 Sep 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Viktar Pavlov
69 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Osipovichi lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market27 Sep 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.
Squad27 Sep 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 Osipovichi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Words at Osipovichi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Denis Ssorin 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 dugout27 Sep 2027
The manager makes an example of Denis Ssorin
“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
Artem Krent has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Osipovichi 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
Squad20 Sep 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Viktar Pavlov
76 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Osipovichi lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market20 Sep 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Evgeniy Elezarenko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets20 Sep 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
A row about effort at Osipovichi
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Denis Ssorin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
“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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
No place for Anton Balashov in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Osipovichi are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Market20 Sep 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.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
Denis Ssorin 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 Denis Ssorin trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad13 Sep 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Viktar Pavlov
83 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Osipovichi lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match11 Sep 2027
2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Artem Zimin will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Osipovichi escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
Market13 Sep 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 dugout13 Sep 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.
Boardroom13 Sep 2027
Deadline passes with 4 signed and 6 gone
That is the business done at Osipovichi until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Evgeniy Elezarenko 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 Sep 2027
The numbers do not look good at Osipovichi
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.
Transfer targets13 Sep 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 dugout13 Sep 2027
The manager makes an example of Artem Krent
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad6 Sep 2027
Viktar Pavlov damages knee ligaments — 90 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 90 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.
Market6 Sep 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 Osipovichi, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market6 Sep 2027
Only the photograph left for Ilya Zaytsev
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ilya Zaytsev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Osipovichi the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets6 Sep 2027
The deal with Torpedo-BelAZ 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Evgeniy Elezarenko 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 targets6 Sep 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dinamo Brest have kept their man, and Osipovichi go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words at Osipovichi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Denis Ssorin 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 dugout6 Sep 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Artem Zimin, and the manager let it.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Wages eat 113% of everything Osipovichi 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
Squad30 Aug 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Viktar Pavlov
97 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Osipovichi lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market30 Aug 2027
Pavel Klenje 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 Osipovichi can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Osipovichi may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Transfer targets30 Aug 2027
Everything agreed with Dinamo Minsk, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
This is not rotation. Vyacheslav Papava has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Osipovichi is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets30 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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Denis Ssorin 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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Dmitry Lapin in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Osipovichi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets30 Aug 2027
A loan move for Nikita Vekhtev is in the works
Osipovichi have made the call to Vitebsk. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Aug 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Viktar Pavlov
104 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Osipovichi lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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 one-man rearguard from Artem Krent
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Osipovichi may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Transfer targets23 Aug 2027
The deal with Torpedo-BelAZ 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 targets23 Aug 2027
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Torpedo-BelAZ is saying, and nobody at Osipovichi is enjoying the guessing.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Artem Krent and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets23 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.
Match21 Aug 2027
A 1‑0 win over Belshina, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.