From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Feb 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Nikita Fadeev
84 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Isloch lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market15 Feb 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Isloch people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Transfer targets15 Feb 2027
Everything agreed with Olympiacos, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad15 Feb 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 Isloch this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets15 Feb 2027
Isloch asked and Neman said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Fedor Lebedev 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.
Transfer targets15 Feb 2027
OFI have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Squad15 Feb 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Alexey Kharitonovich commits to Isloch for another 2 years.
Market15 Feb 2027
The name of Alexandr Butko keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Isloch say nothing, which says plenty.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Feb 2027
91 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Isloch lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A fracture rules Alexandr Butko out for 20 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Isloch will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market8 Feb 2027
The fee is $150.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Naftan drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
The offer went to Slutsk this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A falling-out at Isloch
Evgeniy Yudchits and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
Isloch asked and Spartak Moscow said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Isloch
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikita Patsko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Andrey Makarenko, and the manager let it.
Boardroom8 Feb 2027
Isloch release $1.2M for the manager
The board have put money on the table rather than an encouraging word. What happens to it now is somebody else's problem, and somebody else's job.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 Feb 2027
98 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Isloch lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad1 Feb 2027
28 days out for Alexandr Butko after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Isloch will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
$150.0K settles it between the clubs for Alexey Kharitonovich
Naftan have accepted the money. What Isloch do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Market1 Feb 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Isloch have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad1 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Isloch
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yoan Bornosuzov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad1 Feb 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 Isloch this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
“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.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
A loan move for Nikita Matysyuk is in the works
Isloch have made the call to Neman. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
Andrey Makarenko 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad25 Jan 2027
The knee: Nikita Fadeev out for 105 days
105 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Isloch lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad25 Jan 2027
A fracture rules Alexandr Butko out for 35 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Isloch will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad25 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Isloch
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yoan Bornosuzov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Isloch
Sergey Volkov 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 dugout25 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Adeola Olaleye, and the manager let it.
The dugout25 Jan 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
Steady
Squad18 Jan 2027
A fracture rules Alexandr Butko out for 42 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Isloch will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad18 Jan 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Alexandr Svirskiy
64 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Isloch lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad18 Jan 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 Isloch this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Nikita Patsko 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 dugout18 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sergey Melnik, and the manager let it.
Market18 Jan 2027
The name of Alexandr Butko keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Isloch say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Jan 2027
49 days out for Alexandr Butko after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Isloch will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad11 Jan 2027
71 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Isloch lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market11 Jan 2027
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Isloch
Evgeniy Yudchits and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Sergi Abramishvili has just signed for Isloch, and for once the answer mattered.
Market11 Jan 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Egor Gordeichuk has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market11 Jan 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Yan Stasevich has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market11 Jan 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Dzmitry Filipenko has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
Sergey Melnik 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Jan 2027
56 days out for Alexandr Butko after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Isloch will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Alexandr Svirskiy
78 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Isloch lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Isloch
Evgeniy Yudchits 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Isloch
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yoan Bornosuzov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market4 Jan 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 dugout4 Jan 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
Steady
Squad28 Dec 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 64 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Alexandr Svirskiy
85 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Isloch lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Isloch
Evgeniy Yudchits 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Isloch
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikita Patsko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout28 Dec 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.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Maxim Shamrin 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 Maxim Shamrin is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Dec 2026
71 days out for Alexandr Butko after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Isloch will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad21 Dec 2026
92 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Isloch lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Isloch
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yoan Bornosuzov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Isloch
Andrey Makarenko 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 Dec 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.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Yoan Bornosuzov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Dec 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 79 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad14 Dec 2026
99 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Isloch lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market14 Dec 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sergi Abramishvili will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Isloch the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Isloch training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yoan Bornosuzov 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Isloch
Andrey Makarenko 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 dugout14 Dec 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Isloch, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Dec 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 86 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Alexandr Svirskiy
107 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Isloch lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Adeola Olaleye: 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.” Isloch have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Isloch training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikita Patsko 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Isloch
Pavel Vakulich 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 dugout7 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Pavel Vakulich
“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
Steady
Squad30 Nov 2026
94 days out for Alexandr Butko after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Isloch will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad30 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Alexandr Svirskiy
114 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Isloch lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Isloch
Evgeniy Yudchits 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Isloch
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yoan Bornosuzov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout30 Nov 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.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Adeola Olaleye knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Isloch, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Alexandr Butko out for 102 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Isloch will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Alexandr Svirskiy damages knee ligaments — 122 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 122 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.
Market23 Nov 2026
Ilja Skrobotov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Isloch they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad23 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Isloch this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Isloch training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yoan Bornosuzov 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 dugout23 Nov 2026
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
Alexandr Butko breaks a bone — 109 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 109 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad16 Nov 2026
129 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Isloch lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market16 Nov 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Isloch is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Isloch
Evgeniy Yudchits and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Nikita Patsko 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 dugout16 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mohammed Dayyabu, and the manager let it.
The dugout16 Nov 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.
Market16 Nov 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Alexandr Butko signs something — a contract at Isloch or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Sergey Melnik 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Nov 2026
117 days out for Alexandr Butko after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Isloch will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Pavel Vakulich: 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.” Isloch have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Isloch
Evgeniy Yudchits 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Isloch training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yoan Bornosuzov 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.
Loan watch9 Nov 2026
“I watch every Isloch game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Osipovichi runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Nikita Fadeev
“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
Steady
Squad2 Nov 2026
124 days out for Alexandr Butko after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Isloch will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Isloch
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yoan Bornosuzov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Isloch
Andrey Makarenko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Yoan Bornosuzov, and the manager let it.
Squad2 Nov 2026
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Oct 2026
Alexandr Butko breaks a bone — 131 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 131 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Isloch may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market26 Oct 2026
Only the photograph left for Ilja Skrobotov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ilja Skrobotov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Isloch the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Isloch training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikita Patsko 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Isloch this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Oct 2026
12 new faces, and Isloch 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Oct 2026
Ruslan Yablonski damages knee ligaments — 14 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 14 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.
Market19 Oct 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Isloch they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Isloch
Sergey Volkov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Nikita Patsko 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 dugout19 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 Timofey Martynov is on it.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Adeola Olaleye knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Isloch, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Ruslan Yablonski
21 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Isloch lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Isloch
Evgeniy Yudchits 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Isloch training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yoan Bornosuzov 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 dugout12 Oct 2026
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.
Loan watch12 Oct 2026
“I watch every Isloch game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Osipovichi runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
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 Yuriy Kravchenko is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Isloch
Evgeniy Yudchits 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 Oct 2026
Nikita Patsko 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Evgeniy Yudchits
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Evgeniy Yudchits has come out of that comparison in the side, and Isloch have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The dugout5 Oct 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.
Market5 Oct 2026
Isloch have made Pavel Vakulich available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Pavel Vakulich has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
At 33 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.86, and nobody on the pitch better.
Market28 Sep 2026
Only the photograph left for Ilja Skrobotov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ilja Skrobotov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Isloch the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad28 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Isloch this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match26 Sep 2026
Whatever happens, Isloch do not lose
6 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Alexandr Butko. 2‑0 against Smorgon, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Defensive actions: 19. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Isloch training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikita Patsko 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
11 new faces, and Isloch 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
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 7.62 for the rest of it.
Market21 Sep 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sergi Abramishvili will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Isloch the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom21 Sep 2026
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Sergi Abramishvili has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Isloch
Evgeniy Yudchits and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match19 Sep 2026
At last: Isloch win one
6 matches without a win, and then this, against Molodechno. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Match19 Sep 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ilja Skrobotov. 1‑0 against Molodechno, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Isloch training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yoan Bornosuzov 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 dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Egor Pavlov kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match12 Sep 2026
The wait goes on for Isloch
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
Window shuts: 19 in, 13 out at Isloch
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 19 arrived, 13 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Andijon keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
The terraces14 Sep 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Yoan Bornosuzov 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Nikita Patsko 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.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
The game went through Alexandr Butko — 6.89
Marked 6.89 on 10 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Squad14 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Isloch
Nikita Fadeev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Andrey Makarenko, and the manager let it.
Match12 Sep 2026
Isloch caught on 91 minutes
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Gomel scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match5 Sep 2026
5 matches without a win for Isloch
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Isloch are no longer polite ones.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Isloch 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.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Isloch
Andrey Makarenko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Isloch
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikita Patsko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match5 Sep 2026
Late, late show earns Isloch a point
Minute 89, against Minsk, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Yoan Bornosuzov, and the manager let it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match29 Aug 2026
2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Timofey Martynov will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Isloch escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
A brace, and Timofey Martynov takes the afternoon — 8.96
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Timofey Martynov provided it, and the 8.96 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market31 Aug 2026
Ilja Skrobotov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Isloch they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match29 Aug 2026
4 matches without a win for Isloch
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Isloch are no longer polite ones.
Boardroom31 Aug 2026
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Ilja Skrobotov has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Market31 Aug 2026
Baranovichi did not want to sell and the number is why they did. $74.0K for Fedor Lebedev, and the expectation that arrives with him is the kind no amount of settling-in period softens.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Isloch asked and Nasaf said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad31 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Isloch this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Isloch training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yoan Bornosuzov 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
Steady
Match19 Aug 2026
Isloch bow out of the cup
Minsk go through and Isloch go home, 1‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Anton Dragun could not have asked for more on his first appearance — 7.50
Debuts are survived rather than enjoyed. This one was enjoyed: 7.50, 1 goals, and a manager already being asked whether he starts again next week.
Market24 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Isloch can pretend not to have heard.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Sergey Melnik gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Sergey Melnik has just signed for Isloch, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad24 Aug 2026
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Boardroom24 Aug 2026
Yan Pikuza has agreed to leave Isloch for nothing
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Isloch
Evgeniy Yudchits and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. PWD Bamenda have kept their man, and Isloch go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match12 Aug 2026
Isloch through in the cup
A 4‑0 win over Lokomotiv Gomel, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
A brace, and Timofey Martynov takes the afternoon — 9.48
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Timofey Martynov provided it, and the 9.48 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.94 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
Isloch sell a favourite for $480.0K
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Maxim Kovalevich was one of the reasons people came, and $480.0K does not replace that by itself.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Legia is saying, and nobody at Isloch is enjoying the guessing.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Isloch
Evgeniy Yudchits 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.
Market17 Aug 2026
Maxim Kovalevich has left for Naftan in a $480.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dinamo Brest have kept their man, and Isloch go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 2026
The match ball belongs to Alexandr Butko, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Market10 Aug 2026
Narva Trans come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Isloch did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The deal with Slavia Sofia 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Isloch this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
A performance of 9.15 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market10 Aug 2026
One of our own: Raman Korzun joins the Isloch first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Raman Korzun is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ruslan Filipenko has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Anton Dragun has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match1 Aug 2026
No mercy from Isloch
Dinamo Brest will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Isloch were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 31. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
At 36 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.09, and nobody on the pitch better.
Market3 Aug 2026
Tammeka come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Isloch did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Andrey Klimovich and Isloch agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Isloch
Evgeniy Yudchits 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Isloch have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Nikita Patsko 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.