Marked for Robert Bennett
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match20 Aug 2040
BATE up to position 2
54 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Market20 Aug 2040
Ostrovets come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and BATE did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Match18 Aug 2040
Whatever happens, BATE do not lose
11 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad20 Aug 2040
Renato Bianco is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.35 with 23 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad20 Aug 2040
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.
Player ratings20 Aug 2040
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.90 for the rest of it.
Market20 Aug 2040
Only the photograph left for Sime Brekalo
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sime Brekalo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around BATE the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad20 Aug 2040
Tempers go at BATE
Dylan Murugesapillai 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.
Squad20 Aug 2040
Karim Pouraliganji 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
Triumph
Match4 Aug 2040
3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings6 Aug 2040
A brace, and Renato Bianco takes the afternoon — 8.87
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Renato Bianco provided it, and the 8.87 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad6 Aug 2040
Renato Bianco is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.31 with 21 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Match4 Aug 2040
9 unbeaten for BATE
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 9 matches without defeat is a foundation BATE did not have in the autumn.
Player ratings6 Aug 2040
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.83 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market6 Aug 2040
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market6 Aug 2040
“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 BATE, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market6 Aug 2040
Only the photograph left for Robert Bennett
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Robert Bennett will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around BATE the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad6 Aug 2040
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at BATE this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
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Match
BATE are at home on the road
-
Boardroom
The numbers do not look good at BATE
-
Squad
Words at BATE training over how hard people work
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad23 Jul 2040
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 27 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match21 Jul 2040
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 4‑0 against Torpedo-BelAZ, and it could have been more.
Match23 Jul 2040
BATE up to position 2
44 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Player ratings23 Jul 2040
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.25, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Match21 Jul 2040
BATE make it 6 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now BATE have 6 straight wins of it.
Squad23 Jul 2040
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” BATE have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings23 Jul 2040
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.01 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad23 Jul 2040
Tempers go at BATE
Karim Pouraliganji 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.
Squad23 Jul 2040
Words at BATE training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jeremías Biani 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad25 Jun 2040
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 55 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match25 Jun 2040
BATE up to position 2
32 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Market25 Jun 2040
BATE say no — this time
The offer from Volna Pinsk for Stéphane Masson 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.
Squad25 Jun 2040
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at BATE this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Jun 2040
Words at BATE training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Karim Pouraliganji 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.
Match23 Jun 2040
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Renato Bianco. 1‑0 against Slutsk, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings25 Jun 2040
A mark of 7.95, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Squad25 Jun 2040
“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.
Market25 Jun 2040
Isloch are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. BATE will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad18 Jun 2040
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 62 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match16 Jun 2040
5‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Squad18 Jun 2040
Steeve Lima takes the match ball home
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Market18 Jun 2040
“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.
Squad18 Jun 2040
Tempers go at BATE
Dylan Murugesapillai 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.
Market18 Jun 2040
Everyone has stopped pretending: Lokomotiv Gomel will make the call about Jeremías Biani this week. BATE have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Squad18 Jun 2040
Karim Pouraliganji 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.
Market18 Jun 2040
The phone has started ringing about Robert Bennett again, and this time the name on the line is Isloch. BATE are listening politely and promising nothing.
Player ratings18 Jun 2040
A performance of 8.17 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad11 Jun 2040
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 69 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad11 Jun 2040
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” BATE may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market11 Jun 2040
Sime Brekalo has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around BATE they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
In brief
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Squad
Tempers go at BATE
-
Boardroom
The numbers do not look good at BATE
-
Squad
Words at BATE training over how hard people work
-
Boardroom
The BATE production line keeps running
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad21 May 2040
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 90 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad21 May 2040
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match19 May 2040
BATE cannot stop winning
5 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Player ratings21 May 2040
Up for the corner, and Jeremías Biani delivers — 7.91
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Jeremías Biani scored, was marked 7.91, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Squad21 May 2040
Sime Brekalo: 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.” BATE have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market21 May 2040
Only the photograph left for Robert Bennett
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Robert Bennett will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around BATE the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad21 May 2040
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at BATE this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match19 May 2040
Belshina made BATE work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings21 May 2040
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Apr 2040
Anton Lukashov 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.
Match21 Apr 2040
Karim Pouraliganji wins it after the whistle should have gone
91 minutes played. Karim Pouraliganji found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Ostrovets went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Player ratings23 Apr 2040
Two goals and a mark of 8.59 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings23 Apr 2040
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.89 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market23 Apr 2040
Robert Bennett has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around BATE they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad23 Apr 2040
Tempers go at BATE
Dylan Murugesapillai 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.
Match21 Apr 2040
It finished 4‑3, and it was Karim Pouraliganji’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to BATE.
Squad23 Apr 2040
Karim Pouraliganji 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.
Squad23 Apr 2040
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Maxim Sakuta, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad26 Mar 2040
Anton Lukashov damages knee ligaments — 66 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 66 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.
Player ratings26 Mar 2040
A brace, and Renato Bianco takes the afternoon — 9.40
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Renato Bianco provided it, and the 9.40 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad26 Mar 2040
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.
Player ratings26 Mar 2040
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.10 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market26 Mar 2040
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at BATE is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad26 Mar 2040
Tempers go at BATE
Dylan Murugesapillai 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.
Squad26 Mar 2040
Karim Pouraliganji 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.
Match24 Mar 2040
Three points for BATE, 3‑1 the final word against Dinamo Brest in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings26 Mar 2040
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 12 actions, 7.18, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Mar 2040
Anton Lukashov damages knee ligaments — 87 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 87 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.
Player ratings5 Mar 2040
At 37 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.28 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Player ratings5 Mar 2040
A defender's goal wins it for BATE — 7.46
1 for Jeremías Biani, marked 7.46, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Market5 Mar 2040
The bid was some way short and BATE did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market5 Mar 2040
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Stéphane Masson will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around BATE the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad5 Mar 2040
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Maxim Kononov commits to BATE for another 2 years.
Squad5 Mar 2040
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at BATE this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market5 Mar 2040
As if he never left: Vaclav Provod returns
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Vaclav Provod is a BATE player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Match3 Mar 2040
8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about BATE and Arsenal Dzerzhinsk in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
In brief
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Boardroom
9 academy players handed senior numbers at BATE
-
Squad
Words at BATE training over how hard people work
-
Market
Ivan Filipenko steps up from the BATE academy
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad27 Feb 2040
Anton Lukashov damages knee ligaments — 94 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 94 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.
Market27 Feb 2040
Volna Pinsk come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and BATE did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad27 Feb 2040
“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.
Market27 Feb 2040
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around BATE they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad27 Feb 2040
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at BATE this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Feb 2040
Jeremías Biani 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
Squad6 Feb 2040
176 appearances across 10 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
Market6 Feb 2040
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what BATE can pretend not to have heard.
Market6 Feb 2040
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad6 Feb 2040
“The easiest signature of my career.” Vladislav Ignatjev and BATE agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad6 Feb 2040
Tempers go at BATE
Karim Pouraliganji 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.
Squad6 Feb 2040
Words at BATE training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jeremías Biani 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Jan 2040
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and BATE have had the benefit of it.
Market2 Jan 2040
Only the photograph left for Robert Bennett
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Robert Bennett will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around BATE the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad2 Jan 2040
Tempers go at BATE
Dylan Murugesapillai 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
Uneasy
Squad26 Dec 2039
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” BATE may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market26 Dec 2039
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Stéphane Masson will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around BATE the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad26 Dec 2039
Tempers go at BATE
Karim Pouraliganji 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.
In brief
-
Boardroom
The numbers do not look good at BATE
-
Squad
Words at BATE training over how hard people work
-
Squad
A muscle injury sidelines Artem Malevich for 14 days
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market5 Dec 2039
Only the photograph left for Robert Bennett
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Robert Bennett will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around BATE the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad5 Dec 2039
Tempers go at BATE
Karim Pouraliganji 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.
Squad5 Dec 2039
Words at BATE training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jeremías Biani 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Nov 2039
303 appearances across 14 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
Market7 Nov 2039
Robert Bennett has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around BATE they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad7 Nov 2039
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jeremías Biani and BATE agree another 4 years.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market10 Oct 2039
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at BATE is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad10 Oct 2039
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at BATE this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Oct 2039
Words at BATE training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Karim Pouraliganji 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 Sep 2039
20 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. BATE lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match10 Sep 2039
5 matches without a win for BATE
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around BATE are no longer polite ones.
Squad12 Sep 2039
Renato Bianco is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.21 with 21 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad12 Sep 2039
The medical room confirms 14 days on the sidelines for Dylan Murugesapillai, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Market12 Sep 2039
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at BATE is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad12 Sep 2039
Tempers go at BATE
Karim Pouraliganji 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.
Match10 Sep 2039
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Boardroom12 Sep 2039
Doors closed at BATE
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Market12 Sep 2039
The Sime Brekalo conversation is coming
Everyone has stopped pretending: Uni-X Labs will make the call about Sime Brekalo this week. BATE have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match27 Jul 2039
BATE through in the cup
A 3‑1 win over Belshina, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Player ratings1 Aug 2039
A brace, and Renato Bianco takes the afternoon — 8.94
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Renato Bianco provided it, and the 8.94 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings1 Aug 2039
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.73, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings1 Aug 2039
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Nicolai Braithwaite did not need any: 7.77, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad1 Aug 2039
551 appearances across 11 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
Player ratings1 Aug 2039
Age has not caught Maxim Kononov yet — 8.01
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.01 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Market1 Aug 2039
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what BATE can pretend not to have heard.
Market1 Aug 2039
Only the photograph left for Robert Bennett
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Robert Bennett will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around BATE the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match30 Jul 2039
BATE make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now BATE have 3 straight wins of it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market13 Jun 2039
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at BATE is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad13 Jun 2039
Tempers go at BATE
Joaquín Cornaglia 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.
Squad13 Jun 2039
Kyle Walker-Peters 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.
Squad13 Jun 2039
“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.
Squad13 Jun 2039
The manager has not finished forgetting Kyle Walker-Peters's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Boardroom13 Jun 2039
BATE counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at BATE now.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match1 Jun 2039
Cup progress for BATE
A 4‑0 win over Volna Pinsk, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Player ratings6 Jun 2039
Two goals and a mark of 8.81 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market6 Jun 2039
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at BATE is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Player ratings6 Jun 2039
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Nicolai Braithwaite did not need any: 8.11, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Player ratings6 Jun 2039
A defender's goal wins it for BATE — 7.81
1 for Jeremías Biani, marked 7.81, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Squad6 Jun 2039
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at BATE this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match4 Jun 2039
2‑3 to Dinamo Minsk, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad6 Jun 2039
“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.
The terraces6 Jun 2039
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Nicolai Braithwaite 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.