From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Jul 2029
The knee: Max Zhestarev out for 116 days
116 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Smorgon lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Transfer targets16 Jul 2029
$54.0K on the table at Ostrovets. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad16 Jul 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Smorgon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets16 Jul 2029
Smorgon asked and Arsenal Dzerzhinsk said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Words at Smorgon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Kovalevich 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.
Market16 Jul 2029
The phone has started ringing about Zakhar Podzolkov again, and this time the name on the line is Orsha. Smorgon are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad16 Jul 2029
100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
Player ratings16 Jul 2029
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Transfer targets16 Jul 2029
Smorgon have made the call to Slutsk. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match7 Jul 2029
Beaten 0‑3 by Vitebsk, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The dugout9 Jul 2029
Daniil Perov: 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.” Smorgon have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings9 Jul 2029
Successful dribbles: 25. 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.
Squad9 Jul 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Dmitriy Fedortsov commits to Smorgon for another 2 years.
Transfer targets9 Jul 2029
$140.0K on the table at Isloch. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Egor Babich 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 Smorgon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets9 Jul 2029
Smorgon asked and Slutsk said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Words at Smorgon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Kovalevich 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
Match30 Jun 2029
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 89th, and Torpedo-BelAZ spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
Transfer targets2 Jul 2029
Smorgon had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Neman, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad2 Jul 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Dmitriy Fedortsov and Smorgon agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad2 Jul 2029
Egor Babich 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.
Player ratings2 Jul 2029
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match30 Jun 2029
Torpedo-BelAZ made Smorgon work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑2 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad2 Jul 2029
A row about effort at Smorgon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Artem Stankevich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces2 Jul 2029
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
The dugout2 Jul 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alexandr Svirskiy, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets25 Jun 2029
The deal with Neman 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 targets25 Jun 2029
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Vitebsk keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Player ratings25 Jun 2029
Successful dribbles: 23. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Words exchanged at Smorgon
Egor Babich 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.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Vladislav Kovalevich 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 ratings25 Jun 2029
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 12 combined actions and a mark of 7.37, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Transfer targets25 Jun 2029
Neman 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.
Match23 Jun 2029
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout25 Jun 2029
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
Match18 Jun 2029
Smorgon are in real trouble now
Position 13, 12 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
The dugout18 Jun 2029
Mykhaylo Olesik: 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.” Smorgon have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market18 Jun 2029
Yuriy Kallaur 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 Smorgon can pretend not to have heard.
Squad18 Jun 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Smorgon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets18 Jun 2029
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.
Squad18 Jun 2029
Vladislav Kovalevich 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 Jun 2029
“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.
Looking ahead18 Jun 2029
A six-pointer for Smorgon
Belshina next, and both sides can do the sum. Win and the table looks different; lose and it looks the way everybody has been fearing.
Match18 Jun 2029
The half-term report on Smorgon
Position 13, 12 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings11 Jun 2029
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.53, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad11 Jun 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad11 Jun 2029
A falling-out at Smorgon
Alexandr Svirskiy and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match9 Jun 2029
It finished 3‑1, and it was Karim Giraev’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Smorgon.
Squad11 Jun 2029
A row about effort at Smorgon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Artem Stankevich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout11 Jun 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Karim Giraev, and the manager let it.
Player ratings11 Jun 2029
Egor Babich was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.36. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The dugout11 Jun 2029
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 3‑1, already talking about the next one.
The dugout11 Jun 2029
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 Artem Stankevich is on it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match30 May 2029
Smorgon win it in stoppage time
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 109th minute. Gomel will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Market4 Jun 2029
“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 Smorgon, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Player ratings4 Jun 2029
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Andrey Kukhotskovolets scored, was marked 7.92, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Player ratings4 Jun 2029
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Words exchanged at Smorgon
Alexandr Svirskiy 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 Jun 2029
Words at Smorgon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Kovalevich 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.
Match2 Jun 2029
Slutsk left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 May 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Smorgon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 May 2029
Vladislav Kovalevich 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 dugout28 May 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mykhaylo Olesik, and the manager let it.
Looking ahead28 May 2029
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Slutsk in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
The dugout28 May 2029
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Roman Gribovskiy trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout28 May 2029
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.
Looking ahead28 May 2029
They sit in position 9 and they will be waiting. Away form is where a season shows its true character, and this side has a point to make about its own.
The dugout28 May 2029
The manager plants his flag on Artur Tishko
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Artur Tishko’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match21 May 2029
Smorgon are in real trouble now
Position 15, 8 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Match19 May 2029
No end in sight to Smorgon's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Smorgon has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad21 May 2029
Words exchanged at Smorgon
Egor Babich 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.
Squad21 May 2029
Words at Smorgon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artem Stankevich is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match19 May 2029
No clean sheets in sight for Smorgon
4 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Match19 May 2029
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout21 May 2029
“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 May 2029
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout21 May 2029
Alexandr Svirskiy has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Smorgon 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
Crisis
The dugout14 May 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Smorgon may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings14 May 2029
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad14 May 2029
Egor Babich 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.
Squad14 May 2029
Vladislav Kovalevich 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.
Match12 May 2029
0‑2 to Slavia Mozyr, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout14 May 2029
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Yahor Hryshyn after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout14 May 2029
“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.
Squad14 May 2029
Every debut is a small story about the future: Maksim Sivakov, 17 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
Market14 May 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Alexandr Svirskiy’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad7 May 2029
16 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Smorgon lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market7 May 2029
“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 Smorgon, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 May 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Egor Babich commits to Smorgon for another 4 years.
Squad7 May 2029
Egor Babich 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 Smorgon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match5 May 2029
Karim Giraev among the goals in a wild afternoon
6 goals in one match, Karim Giraev on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Smorgon and Dinamo Minsk.
Match5 May 2029
Dinamo Minsk left with the points after a 2‑4 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad7 May 2029
A row about effort at Smorgon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vladislav Kovalevich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout7 May 2029
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings7 May 2029
Ninety minutes of Artem Stankevich at his very best
Marked 8.21. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Smorgon.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad30 Apr 2029
A knee injury of the worst kind for Dmitriy Fedortsov
23 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Smorgon lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad30 Apr 2029
11 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match28 Apr 2029
Beaten 0‑5 by Dinamo Brest, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Squad30 Apr 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Smorgon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Apr 2029
A row about effort at Smorgon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Artem Stankevich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom30 Apr 2029
Doors closed at Smorgon
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout30 Apr 2029
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑5 Yahor Hryshyn left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout30 Apr 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Andrey Kukhotskovolets, and the manager let it.
Player ratings30 Apr 2029
Successful dribbles: 12. 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
Uneasy
Squad23 Apr 2029
Dmitriy Fedortsov damages knee ligaments — 30 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 30 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 2029
The drought breaks for Smorgon
11 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Gomel were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Player ratings23 Apr 2029
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Alexandr Svirskiy 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 Apr 2029
A row about effort at Smorgon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vladislav Kovalevich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match21 Apr 2029
Gomel made Smorgon work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
The terraces23 Apr 2029
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Artem Stankevich 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.
Player ratings23 Apr 2029
A performance of 8.45 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings23 Apr 2029
Artem Stankevich was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.46. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad16 Apr 2029
Dmitriy Fedortsov damages knee ligaments — 37 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 37 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.
Match14 Apr 2029
No end in sight to Smorgon's wait for a win
11 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Smorgon has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Words exchanged at Smorgon
Alexandr Svirskiy 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.
Squad16 Apr 2029
A row about effort at Smorgon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vladislav Kovalevich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match14 Apr 2029
Minsk left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout16 Apr 2029
“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 dugout16 Apr 2029
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Player ratings16 Apr 2029
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Apr 2029
A knee injury of the worst kind for Dmitriy Fedortsov
44 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Smorgon lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match7 Apr 2029
10 matches without a win for Smorgon
The run now stands at 10, and the questions being asked around Smorgon are no longer polite ones.
Match4 Apr 2029
Smorgon through in the cup
A 0‑0 win over Orsha, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Squad9 Apr 2029
Daniil Perov is the hero from the spot
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Daniil Perov: 1 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Player ratings9 Apr 2029
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad9 Apr 2029
A falling-out at Smorgon
Alexandr Svirskiy and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Apr 2029
Artem Stankevich 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 dugout9 Apr 2029
The manager makes an example of Karim Giraev
“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.
Match7 Apr 2029
Smorgon rescue it on 95 minutes
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 95. Dnepr Mogilev had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Apr 2029
Dmitriy Fedortsov damages knee ligaments — 51 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 51 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.
Match31 Mar 2029
8 matches without a win for Smorgon
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Smorgon are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings2 Apr 2029
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Vladislav Kabachevskiy provided it, and the 8.41 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad2 Apr 2029
A falling-out at Smorgon
Egor Babich and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Vladislav Kovalevich 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.
Match31 Mar 2029
A point taken on 92 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
Match31 Mar 2029
Smorgon and Neman take a point apiece
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Player ratings2 Apr 2029
Successful dribbles: 15. 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.
Squad2 Apr 2029
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Evgeniy Kasevich has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Mar 2029
A knee injury of the worst kind for Dmitriy Fedortsov
58 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Smorgon lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match24 Mar 2029
The wait goes on for Smorgon
7 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.
Squad26 Mar 2029
7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Words exchanged at Smorgon
Egor Babich 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.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Vladislav Kovalevich 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 dugout26 Mar 2029
Alexandr Svirskiy has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Smorgon 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 dugout26 Mar 2029
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Yahor Hryshyn chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Player ratings26 Mar 2029
Successful dribbles: 13. 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.
Match24 Mar 2029
Point won or two lost for Smorgon?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Vitebsk? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Mar 2029
65 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Smorgon lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match17 Mar 2029
6 matches without a win for Smorgon
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Smorgon are no longer polite ones.
Transfer targets19 Mar 2029
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Viktoria Plzen is saying, and nobody at Smorgon is enjoying the guessing.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Egor Babich 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.
Match17 Mar 2029
Late, late show earns Smorgon a point
Minute 94, against Torpedo-BelAZ, 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.
Player ratings19 Mar 2029
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match17 Mar 2029
A 1‑1 draw with Torpedo-BelAZ leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Yahor Hryshyn was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Smorgon dressing room was either.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 Mar 2029
A knee injury of the worst kind for Dmitriy Fedortsov
72 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Smorgon lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings12 Mar 2029
Successful dribbles: 29. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match10 Mar 2029
No end in sight to Smorgon's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Smorgon has to find a result from somewhere.
Transfer targets12 Mar 2029
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Vitebsk keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad12 Mar 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Alexandr Svirskiy commits to Smorgon for another 3 years.
Squad12 Mar 2029
A falling-out at Smorgon
Alexandr Svirskiy and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Vladislav Kovalevich 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.
Match10 Mar 2029
Belshina left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout12 Mar 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nikita Korzun, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Mar 2029
79 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Smorgon lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Player ratings5 Mar 2029
Successful dribbles: 29. 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.
Transfer targets5 Mar 2029
Everything agreed with Viktoria Plzen, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Match3 Mar 2029
4 matches without a win for Smorgon
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Smorgon are no longer polite ones.
Squad5 Mar 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nikita Korzun and Smorgon agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market5 Mar 2029
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.
Squad5 Mar 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Smorgon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom5 Mar 2029
5 academy graduates step up at Smorgon
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Boardroom5 Mar 2029
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Feb 2029
86 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Smorgon lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Boardroom26 Feb 2029
Smorgon close the window on a squad of their own making
0 in and 0 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Transfer targets26 Feb 2029
Everything agreed with Vitebsk, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Transfer targets26 Feb 2029
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Neman is saying, and nobody at Smorgon is enjoying the guessing.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Alexandr Svirskiy 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 targets26 Feb 2029
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.
Transfer targets26 Feb 2029
A loan enquiry to Viktoria Plzen: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout26 Feb 2029
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 Alexandr Svirskiy is on it.
Market26 Feb 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Artem Stankevich signs something — a contract at Smorgon or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Feb 2029
A knee injury of the worst kind for Dmitriy Fedortsov
93 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Smorgon lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market19 Feb 2029
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Words exchanged at Smorgon
Alexandr Svirskiy 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.
Transfer targets19 Feb 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Beroe have kept their man, and Smorgon go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad19 Feb 2029
A row about effort at Smorgon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vladislav Kovalevich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout19 Feb 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dmitriy Fedortsov, and the manager let it.
Transfer targets19 Feb 2029
Zenit 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.
Market19 Feb 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Vladislav Kabachevskiy’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout19 Feb 2029
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
Squad12 Feb 2029
100 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Smorgon lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Transfer targets12 Feb 2029
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Vitebsk keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Egor Babich 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 Smorgon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets12 Feb 2029
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.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Words at Smorgon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Kovalevich 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.
Squad12 Feb 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Rodion Kukhley and Smorgon agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Transfer targets12 Feb 2029
A loan enquiry to Neman: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout12 Feb 2029
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 Artem Stankevich is on it.
The dugout12 Feb 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Smorgon, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Feb 2029
A knee injury of the worst kind for Dmitriy Fedortsov
107 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Smorgon lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market5 Feb 2029
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Minsk waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Smorgon is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market5 Feb 2029
Vadim Galko 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 Smorgon can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets5 Feb 2029
Smorgon had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at ND Gorica, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad5 Feb 2029
A falling-out at Smorgon
Egor Babich and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout5 Feb 2029
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Transfer targets5 Feb 2029
A loan enquiry to Slavia Mozyr: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets5 Feb 2029
Smorgon have made the call to Dinamo Zagreb. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Market5 Feb 2029
The name of Alexandr Svirskiy keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Smorgon say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad29 Jan 2029
A knee injury of the worst kind for Dmitriy Fedortsov
114 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Smorgon lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Words exchanged at Smorgon
Egor Babich 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.
Transfer targets29 Jan 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Torpedo-BelAZ have kept their man, and Smorgon go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Words at Smorgon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Kovalevich 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.
Market29 Jan 2029
Add another name to the list: Minsk have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Vadim Galko. The answer from Smorgon has not changed — yet.
Transfer targets29 Jan 2029
A loan move for Dominik Kartelo is in the works
Smorgon have made the call to ND Gorica. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets29 Jan 2029
A loan enquiry to Vitebsk: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout29 Jan 2029
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 Alexandr Svirskiy is on it.
Market29 Jan 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Artem Stankevich signs something — a contract at Smorgon or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Jan 2029
121 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Smorgon lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market22 Jan 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Smorgon is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Egor Babich 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.
Squad22 Jan 2029
A row about effort at Smorgon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vladislav Kovalevich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market22 Jan 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Vladislav Kabachevskiy’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout22 Jan 2029
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 Zakhar Podzolkov is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Jan 2029
A knee injury of the worst kind for Dmitriy Fedortsov
128 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Smorgon lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad15 Jan 2029
A falling-out at Smorgon
Alexandr Svirskiy and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout15 Jan 2029
Artem Stankevich has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Smorgon 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
Steady
Squad8 Jan 2029
135 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Smorgon lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad8 Jan 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Smorgon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Words at Smorgon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Kovalevich 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 dugout8 Jan 2029
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Market8 Jan 2029
The name of Alexandr Svirskiy keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Smorgon say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout8 Jan 2029
Artem Glotsko 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 Artem Glotsko is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 Jan 2029
142 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Smorgon lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Egor Babich is named among the best
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Smorgon will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Alexandr Svirskiy 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.
Market1 Jan 2029
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Smorgon has been clear about where Andrey Kukhotskovolets stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout1 Jan 2029
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.
Squad1 Jan 2029
The captaincy has been taken off Dmitriy Fedortsov. Smorgon will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad25 Dec 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Dmitriy Fedortsov
149 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Smorgon lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market25 Dec 2028
Vadim Galko has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Smorgon they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Egor Babich was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad25 Dec 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Vadim Zavadskiy and Smorgon agree another 4 years.
Market25 Dec 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Vladislav Kabachevskiy’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout25 Dec 2028
Zakhar Podzolkov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Smorgon 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
Steady
Squad18 Dec 2028
Roman Gribovskiy damages knee ligaments — 53 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 53 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.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Egor Babich 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 Smorgon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Words at Smorgon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Kovalevich 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
Squad11 Dec 2028
Roman Gribovskiy damages knee ligaments — 60 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 60 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.
Squad11 Dec 2028
A falling-out at Smorgon
Egor Babich and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Words at Smorgon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Kovalevich 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 dugout11 Dec 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
The dugout11 Dec 2028
Artem Glotsko 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 Artem Glotsko is on it.
Market11 Dec 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Smorgon know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Dec 2028
Roman Gribovskiy damages knee ligaments — 67 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 67 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.
Squad4 Dec 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Dmitriy Fedortsov commits to Smorgon for another 2 years.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Words exchanged at Smorgon
Egor Babich 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 Dec 2028
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Dmitriy Volkovets is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
The dugout4 Dec 2028
Alexandr Svirskiy has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Smorgon 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 dugout4 Dec 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kirill Balanovich, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Boardroom27 Nov 2028
Up they go: Smorgon promoted
Confirmed, mathematical, and a town awake all night. Whatever else the season contained, it finishes a division higher than it started.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Roman Gribovskiy damages knee ligaments — 74 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 74 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.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Egor Babich is named among the best
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Smorgon will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Market27 Nov 2028
Vadim Galko has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Smorgon they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Words exchanged at Smorgon
Alexandr Svirskiy 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.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Words at Smorgon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nazar Kosevich 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
Squad20 Nov 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Roman Gribovskiy
81 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Smorgon lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match20 Nov 2028
Smorgon are in among the leaders
Position 2 and 51 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Squad20 Nov 2028
A falling-out at Smorgon
Alexandr Svirskiy and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Words at Smorgon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Kovalevich 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 dugout20 Nov 2028
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 dugout20 Nov 2028
Nikita Korzun 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 Nikita Korzun trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad13 Nov 2028
88 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Smorgon lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad13 Nov 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Smorgon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout13 Nov 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
The dugout13 Nov 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Artem Stankevich, and the manager let it.
The dugout13 Nov 2028
Nikita Korzun 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 Smorgon, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout13 Nov 2028
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
Squad6 Nov 2028
Roman Gribovskiy damages knee ligaments — 95 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 95 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.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Artur Tishko 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 Nov 2028
Words at Smorgon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Kovalevich 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 Nov 2028
Alexandr Svirskiy has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Smorgon 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 dugout6 Nov 2028
“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.
Squad6 Nov 2028
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
The dugout6 Nov 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Roman Gribovskiy trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market6 Nov 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Artem Stankevich signs something — a contract at Smorgon or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout6 Nov 2028
The manager plants his flag on Max Zhestarev
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Max Zhestarev’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
In brief
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Boardroom
The Smorgon production line keeps running
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Boardroom
Smorgon board back the manager
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Oct 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Roman Gribovskiy
102 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Smorgon lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market30 Oct 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Smorgon is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Words exchanged at Smorgon
Artur Tishko 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.
Squad30 Oct 2028
A row about effort at Smorgon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vladislav Kovalevich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market30 Oct 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Vladislav Kabachevskiy’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout30 Oct 2028
Zakhar Podzolkov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Smorgon 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
Steady
Squad23 Oct 2028
109 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Smorgon lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match23 Oct 2028
Smorgon refuse to drop out of the race
Position 2, 51 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Squad23 Oct 2028
A falling-out at Smorgon
Artur Tishko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout23 Oct 2028
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 Artem Stankevich is on it.
The dugout23 Oct 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vadim Galko, and the manager let it.
Squad23 Oct 2028
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Oct 2028
Artur Tishko 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 Smorgon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Words at Smorgon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Kovalevich 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 dugout16 Oct 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
The dugout16 Oct 2028
Artem Glotsko has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Smorgon 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.
Market16 Oct 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Smorgon know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
Vadim Galko 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 Oct 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Artur Tishko commits to Smorgon for another 2 years.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Alexandr Svirskiy 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.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Words at Smorgon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Kovalevich 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 dugout9 Oct 2028
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 dugout9 Oct 2028
“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.
Market9 Oct 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Artem Stankevich signs something — a contract at Smorgon or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market2 Oct 2028
Vadim Galko has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Smorgon they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad2 Oct 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Artur Tishko and Smorgon agree another 2 years.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Words exchanged at Smorgon
Alexandr Svirskiy 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 dugout2 Oct 2028
Nikita Korzun 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.
Squad2 Oct 2028
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.
Market2 Oct 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Vladislav Kabachevskiy’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match25 Sep 2028
Smorgon are in among the leaders
Position 2 and 51 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Squad25 Sep 2028
A falling-out at Smorgon
Alexandr Svirskiy and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Words at Smorgon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Kovalevich 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 dugout25 Sep 2028
“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 dugout25 Sep 2028
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 Artem Stankevich is on it.
The dugout25 Sep 2028
Nikita Korzun 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 Smorgon, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Sep 2028
Artur Tishko 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 Smorgon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Sep 2028
A row about effort at Smorgon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vladislav Kovalevich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout18 Sep 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Transfer targets18 Sep 2028
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Smorgon will try again when the window opens; Dnepr Mogilev may not be selling by then.
The dugout18 Sep 2028
Artem Glotsko 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 Artem Glotsko is on it.
Market18 Sep 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Smorgon know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Boardroom11 Sep 2028
Window shuts: 9 in, 9 out at Smorgon
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 9 arrived, 9 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Words exchanged at Smorgon
Artur Tishko 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.
Transfer targets11 Sep 2028
The clock did what Baranovichi would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
The dugout11 Sep 2028
Alexandr Svirskiy has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Smorgon 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 dugout11 Sep 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daniil Perov, and the manager let it.
Market11 Sep 2028
The name of Artem Stankevich keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Smorgon say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout4 Sep 2028
Nikita Korzun: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Smorgon have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Transfer targets4 Sep 2028
Smorgon and Baranovichi have settled on $160.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Market4 Sep 2028
Only the photograph left for Vadim Galko
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vadim Galko will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Smorgon the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Artur Tishko 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.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Words at Smorgon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Kovalevich 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.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Smorgon will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
The Smorgon board find $678.2K for the manager
Money, not words, and it is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending $678.2K well is entirely his problem now.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Egor Babich makes the team of the month
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Market4 Sep 2028
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Maxim Zhordochkin has his answer from Smorgon; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match28 Aug 2028
Smorgon are in among the leaders
Position 2 and 51 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Player ratings28 Aug 2028
Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Dmitriy Volkovets arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Dmitriy Volkovets has, at Smorgon, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Transfer targets28 Aug 2028
The deal with Neman 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.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Artur Tishko 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 Smorgon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Words at Smorgon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Kovalevich 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.
Player ratings28 Aug 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.18, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match26 Aug 2028
A goal on 90 minutes turned three points into one and a good afternoon into an argument about game management that will run until Saturday.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Egor Babich is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.20 with 7 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings21 Aug 2028
Egor Babich beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 36. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Transfer targets21 Aug 2028
Smorgon and Slutsk have settled on $1.4M. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Market21 Aug 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets21 Aug 2028
Smorgon offered $560.0K; Slutsk said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Squad21 Aug 2028
A falling-out at Smorgon
Alexandr Svirskiy and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout21 Aug 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
The dugout21 Aug 2028
“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 Aug 2028
A promise honoured at Smorgon
Something was said to Evgeniy Kasevich and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout21 Aug 2028
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Yahor Hryshyn after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match14 Aug 2028
First, on 49 points. The table is a fact and a fact is allowed to be enjoyed, which is as far as anybody at the club is prepared to go in public.
Market14 Aug 2028
Evgeniy Gremza has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Smorgon they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Transfer targets14 Aug 2028
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Minsk is saying, and nobody at Smorgon is enjoying the guessing.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Words exchanged at Smorgon
Alexandr Svirskiy 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.
Player ratings14 Aug 2028
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Christian Intsoen 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.
Match12 Aug 2028
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout14 Aug 2028
“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 dugout14 Aug 2028
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Yahor Hryshyn to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
The dugout7 Aug 2028
Mykhaylo Olesik: 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.” Smorgon have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Transfer targets7 Aug 2028
Everything agreed with Minsk, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Alexandr Svirskiy 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 terraces7 Aug 2028
The town asked, and Smorgon paid $280.0K
Nikita Korzun was the name on every phone-in, and the club has gone and signed him for $280.0K. For one week the board can do no wrong, which is a week most boards never get.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Words at Smorgon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Christian Intsoen 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.
Match5 Aug 2028
It finished 2‑1, and it was Egor Babich’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Smorgon.
Looking ahead7 Aug 2028
The fixture the rest of the division is looking forward to more than either of the sides in it. Both know a win changes the season and a defeat does not end it, which is what makes it hard to play.
Player ratings7 Aug 2028
Egor Babich was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.29. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad7 Aug 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Yaroslav Chistyakov and Smorgon agree another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings31 Jul 2028
Egor Babich beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 41. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Player ratings31 Jul 2028
A brace, and Dmitriy Fedortsov takes the afternoon — 8.27
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Dmitriy Fedortsov provided it, and the 8.27 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Match29 Jul 2028
Nobody wins at Smorgon
13 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Transfer targets31 Jul 2028
The clubs have shaken hands with Torpedo-BelAZ; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Market31 Jul 2028
Vadim Galko has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Smorgon they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Artur Tishko 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 Smorgon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match29 Jul 2028
A 2‑1 win over Slonim, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout31 Jul 2028
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Yahor Hryshyn, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The dugout31 Jul 2028
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Smorgon told Roman Gribovskiy something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout24 Jul 2028
Daniil Perov: 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.” Smorgon have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings24 Jul 2028
Successful dribbles: 26. 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.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Smorgon have done the hard part with Dinamo Minsk, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Market24 Jul 2028
Only the photograph left for Artem Telepov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Artem Telepov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Smorgon the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
Smorgon had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Neman, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
Smorgon offered $560.0K; Slutsk said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Squad24 Jul 2028
A falling-out at Smorgon
Artur Tishko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout24 Jul 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
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.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings17 Jul 2028
Egor Babich beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 48. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match15 Jul 2028
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.
Match17 Jul 2028
43 points and nobody above them. The word is not being said around the ground yet, and it is being thought in every seat.
Player ratings17 Jul 2028
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.37, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market17 Jul 2028
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Smorgon people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Match15 Jul 2028
Smorgon 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.
Transfer targets17 Jul 2028
Fee done, terms next for Ilja Kutepov
Smorgon and Dinamo Minsk have settled on $50.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Match15 Jul 2028
The run at home goes on for Smorgon
12 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Transfer targets17 Jul 2028
Everything agreed with Neman, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market10 Jul 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Transfer targets10 Jul 2028
Everything agreed with Lida, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Alexandr Svirskiy 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 targets10 Jul 2028
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.
Market10 Jul 2028
The name of Vadim Galko has come up in conversations Smorgon were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad10 Jul 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Dmitriy Simankov and Smorgon agree another 3 years.
The dugout10 Jul 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dmitriy Simankov, and the manager let it.
Transfer targets10 Jul 2028
A loan enquiry to Neman: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Market10 Jul 2028
Signings arrive with a picture of the club in their head, and this one’s picture was bigger than the building. He will play well and he will be gone, in that order, and everybody knows it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market3 Jul 2028
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Belshina waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Smorgon is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Transfer targets3 Jul 2028
The clubs have shaken hands with Dinamo Minsk; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Player ratings3 Jul 2028
Egor Babich beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 27. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match1 Jul 2028
Smorgon cannot stop winning
4 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.
Match1 Jul 2028
Nobody wins at Smorgon
11 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Transfer targets3 Jul 2028
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Minsk is saying, and nobody at Smorgon is enjoying the guessing.
Squad3 Jul 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Vladislav Kabachevskiy commits to Smorgon for another 3 years.
Squad3 Jul 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Smorgon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets3 Jul 2028
Smorgon asked and Baranovichi said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings26 Jun 2028
Successful dribbles: 28. 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.
Market26 Jun 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market26 Jun 2028
Only the photograph left for Artem Telepov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Artem Telepov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Smorgon the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets26 Jun 2028
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Smorgon have done the hard part with Torpedo-BelAZ, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Match24 Jun 2028
Nobody wants to play Smorgon right now
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Boardroom26 Jun 2028
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Artem Telepov has agreed terms with Molodechno for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Transfer targets26 Jun 2028
Smorgon offered $560.0K; Slutsk said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Match24 Jun 2028
Smorgon make home a hard place to visit
10 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Squad26 Jun 2028
A falling-out at Smorgon
Alexandr Svirskiy and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match19 Jun 2028
The view from the top for Smorgon
34 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Words exchanged at Smorgon
Alexandr Svirskiy 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.
Market19 Jun 2028
The name of Vadim Galko has come up in conversations Smorgon were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Transfer targets19 Jun 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Neman have kept their man, and Smorgon go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The terraces19 Jun 2028
At 23 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.
Match17 Jun 2028
Orsha made Smorgon work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Looking ahead19 Jun 2028
The fixture the rest of the division is looking forward to more than either of the sides in it. Both know a win changes the season and a defeat does not end it, which is what makes it hard to play.
Player ratings19 Jun 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.17, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings19 Jun 2028
A performance of 8.10 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match10 Jun 2028
Lokomotiv Gomel will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Smorgon were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings12 Jun 2028
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.62, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Artur Tishko 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 Jun 2028
Nobody wins at Smorgon
9 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Kirill Yelagin 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 ratings12 Jun 2028
Marked 8.19 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
The dugout12 Jun 2028
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Yahor Hryshyn, on a 3‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Player ratings12 Jun 2028
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Looking ahead12 Jun 2028
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Orsha in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match31 May 2028
Smorgon bow out of the cup
Gomel go through and Smorgon go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Match5 Jun 2028
Smorgon are in among the leaders
Position 2 and 28 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market5 Jun 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Smorgon is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Artur Tishko 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 Smorgon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Vladislav Kovalevich 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.
Match5 Jun 2028
The half-term report on Smorgon
Position 2, 28 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
Player ratings5 Jun 2028
A mark of 7.55, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Player ratings5 Jun 2028
Successful dribbles: 15. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings29 May 2028
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match27 May 2028
Still nobody has beaten Smorgon
The unbeaten run reaches 9. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad29 May 2028
A falling-out at Smorgon
Artur Tishko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 May 2028
Words at Smorgon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kirill Yelagin 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.
Match27 May 2028
Smorgon make home a hard place to visit
8 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Match27 May 2028
Three points for Smorgon, 1‑0 the final word against Uni-X Labs in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad29 May 2028
The medical room confirms 25 days on the sidelines for Ivan Laptev, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Player ratings29 May 2028
Marked 7.54 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Smorgon had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout29 May 2028
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Yahor Hryshyn, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match22 May 2028
The view from the top for Smorgon
24 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
Squad22 May 2028
7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
The dugout22 May 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Match20 May 2028
Still nobody has beaten Smorgon
The unbeaten run reaches 8. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad22 May 2028
Words exchanged at Smorgon
Alexandr Svirskiy 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.
Match20 May 2028
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Smorgon and Lida in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad22 May 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Evgeniy Kasevich commits to Smorgon for another 3 years.
Squad22 May 2028
Kirill Yelagin 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 ratings22 May 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.32, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings15 May 2028
Egor Babich beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 23. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match13 May 2028
Still nobody has beaten Smorgon
The unbeaten run reaches 7. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad15 May 2028
Alexandr Svirskiy 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.
Match13 May 2028
Three points for Smorgon, 1‑0 the final word against Neman in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Looking ahead15 May 2028
The big one: Lida come into view
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Smorgon will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
Squad15 May 2028
Words at Smorgon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Kovalevich 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.
Player ratings15 May 2028
A mark of 7.76, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout15 May 2028
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Yahor Hryshyn, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Squad15 May 2028
Young player of the week: Vadim Galko
At 20 he was the best of everybody his age in the division for one weekend. Nobody should build a career on it and everybody quietly does.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom8 May 2028
Yahor Hryshyn has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Smorgon can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Boardroom8 May 2028
The Smorgon board call everybody in
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Player ratings8 May 2028
Two goals and a mark of 8.65 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Match8 May 2028
Smorgon refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 20 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Squad8 May 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market8 May 2028
Only the photograph left for Vadim Galko
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vadim Galko will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Smorgon the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad8 May 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Dmitriy Fedortsov commits to Smorgon for another 2 years.
Squad8 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Smorgon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match6 May 2028
6 unbeaten for Smorgon
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Smorgon did not have in the autumn.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings1 May 2028
Egor Babich beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 22. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad1 May 2028
A falling-out at Smorgon
Alexandr Svirskiy and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 May 2028
Words at Smorgon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kirill Yelagin 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 dugout1 May 2028
“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 dugout1 May 2028
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The dugout1 May 2028
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.
Match29 Apr 2028
Point won or two lost for Smorgon?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Slonim? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
The dugout1 May 2028
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Yaroslav Chistyakov's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
Looking ahead1 May 2028
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Osipovichi in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout24 Apr 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad24 Apr 2028
Words exchanged at Smorgon
Artur Tishko 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.
Match22 Apr 2028
Three points for Smorgon, 1‑0 the final word against Bumprom Gomel in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad24 Apr 2028
The medical room confirms 28 days on the sidelines for Ivan Laptev, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad24 Apr 2028
A row about effort at Smorgon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vladislav Kovalevich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings24 Apr 2028
Marked 7.72. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Squad24 Apr 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Maksim Kislyak and Smorgon agree another 3 years.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
Alexandr Svirskiy has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Smorgon 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
Upbeat
Player ratings17 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 32. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Artur Tishko 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.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Words at Smorgon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kirill Yelagin 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 dugout17 Apr 2028
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Yahor Hryshyn after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Match15 Apr 2028
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Niva defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Looking ahead17 Apr 2028
Bumprom Gomel next, and one man in the Smorgon dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Squad17 Apr 2028
A first team debut at 17 for Egor Klimovich
Off the academy pitches and into a senior shirt, at 17. The parents in the stand will keep the programme, and so will he.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
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
Triumph
Squad10 Apr 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Artem Stankevich
20 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Smorgon lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match5 Apr 2028
Smorgon march on in the cup
Lida are out and Smorgon go through, 2‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
The terraces10 Apr 2028
Supporters organise against the Smorgon board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.11, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
A debut Maksim Kislyak will not forget — 7.45
There is exactly one of these per career and it does not usually go like this. 0 on the scoresheet, 7.45 beside the name, and a crowd that had never seen him before chanting it by the end.
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
No sign of nerves from Nikita Solomatin at 21 — 7.69
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Nikita Solomatin did not need any: 7.69, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Market10 Apr 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Smorgon is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Artur Tishko 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 Smorgon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
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The terraces
Smorgon supporters have found a favourite in Vadim Galko
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Squad
A row about effort at Smorgon
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad3 Apr 2028
Artem Stankevich damages knee ligaments — 27 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 27 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.
Squad3 Apr 2028
A falling-out at Smorgon
Vladislav Kabachevskiy and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match1 Apr 2028
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Egor Babich. 1‑0 against Volna Pinsk, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings3 Apr 2028
Ninety minutes of Egor Babich at his very best
Marked 8.21. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Smorgon.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Vladislav Kovalevich 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.
Squad3 Apr 2028
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.
Player ratings3 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Yahor Hryshyn on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
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
Upbeat
Player ratings27 Mar 2028
Successful dribbles: 44. 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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Artem Stankevich damages knee ligaments — 34 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 34 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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
A fracture rules Kirill Yelagin out for 18 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Smorgon will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad27 Mar 2028
Words exchanged at Smorgon
Alexandr Svirskiy 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.
Match25 Mar 2028
Baranovichi left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
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 Alexandr Svirskiy is on it.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vadim Galko, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad20 Mar 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Artem Stankevich
41 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Smorgon lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad20 Mar 2028
25 days out for Kirill Yelagin after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Smorgon will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match18 Mar 2028
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 86th, and Orsha spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
Player ratings20 Mar 2028
At 34 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.24, and nobody on the pitch better.
Match18 Mar 2028
Smorgon make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Smorgon have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Alexandr Svirskiy 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.
Match18 Mar 2028
Orsha made Smorgon work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑2 at the end and the table does not ask how.
The terraces20 Mar 2028
At 23 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.
Player ratings20 Mar 2028
A performance of 8.16 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad13 Mar 2028
Artem Stankevich damages knee ligaments — 48 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 48 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.
The terraces13 Mar 2028
Anger at Smorgon spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 32 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings13 Mar 2028
A brace, and Artem Stankevich takes the afternoon — 8.93
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Artem Stankevich provided it, and the 8.93 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market13 Mar 2028
Only the photograph left for Vadim Galko
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vadim Galko will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Smorgon the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad13 Mar 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Alexandr Svirskiy and Smorgon agree another 4 years.
Squad13 Mar 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Smorgon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match11 Mar 2028
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Smorgon and Lokomotiv Gomel in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Match11 Mar 2028
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Artem Stankevich. 4‑2 against Lokomotiv Gomel, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad6 Mar 2028
A fracture rules Kirill Yelagin out for 40 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Smorgon will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings6 Mar 2028
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad6 Mar 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Artur Tishko commits to Smorgon for another 2 years.
Squad6 Mar 2028
A falling-out at Smorgon
Artur Tishko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom6 Mar 2028
Graduation day at Smorgon
1 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Market6 Mar 2028
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Valery Stasevich is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Match4 Mar 2028
It finished 1‑0, and it was Vladislav Kabachevskiy’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Smorgon.
Transfer targets6 Mar 2028
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Smorgon will try again when the window opens; Lokomotiv Gomel may not be selling by then.
Boardroom6 Mar 2028
Smorgon board go back on their word
Something was promised, a deadline passed, and it did not arrive. Trust inside a football club is built over years and spent in an afternoon.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Feb 2028
47 days out for Kirill Yelagin after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Smorgon will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market28 Feb 2028
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Smorgon have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Boardroom28 Feb 2028
Deadline passes with 5 signed and 4 gone
That is the business done at Smorgon 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.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Words exchanged at Smorgon
Artur Tishko 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.
Transfer targets28 Feb 2028
Smorgon ran out of time with Slutsk. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Vladislav Kovalevich 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 dugout28 Feb 2028
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 dugout28 Feb 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Smorgon, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Feb 2028
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.
Market21 Feb 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Smorgon can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets21 Feb 2028
The clubs have shaken hands with Slutsk; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Artur Tishko 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.
Market21 Feb 2028
The name of Vadim Galko has come up in conversations Smorgon were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Words at Smorgon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Kovalevich 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
The terraces14 Feb 2028
The mood at Smorgon has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Squad14 Feb 2028
A fracture rules Kirill Yelagin out for 63 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Smorgon will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Boardroom14 Feb 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Smorgon
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Nikita Golyakevich 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.
Market14 Feb 2028
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Evgeniy Gremza had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Squad14 Feb 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Smorgon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market14 Feb 2028
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Kirill Balanovich 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.
Market14 Feb 2028
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Maksim Kislyak is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market14 Feb 2028
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Ruslan Arlouski 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Feb 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 70 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Nikita Golyakevich damages knee ligaments — 22 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 22 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.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Emergency meeting at Smorgon
The whole football department in one room on a weekday morning. Nothing was announced afterwards, which is what a board announces when it has run out of patience.
Transfer targets7 Feb 2028
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 targets7 Feb 2028
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 Feb 2028
A falling-out at Smorgon
Alexandr Svirskiy and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Words at Smorgon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Kovalevich 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 dugout7 Feb 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dmitriy Simankov, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad31 Jan 2028
77 days out for Kirill Yelagin after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Smorgon will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad31 Jan 2028
29 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Smorgon lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The dugout31 Jan 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad31 Jan 2028
Words exchanged at Smorgon
Alexandr Svirskiy 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.
Transfer targets31 Jan 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Neman have kept their man, and Smorgon go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad31 Jan 2028
A muscle injury and 14 days out for Dmitriy Simankov
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Smorgon will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Jan 2028
84 days out for Kirill Yelagin after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Smorgon will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad24 Jan 2028
36 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Smorgon lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Alexandr Svirskiy 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 dugout24 Jan 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mykhaylo Olesik, and the manager let it.
The dugout24 Jan 2028
Pavel Gorbach has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Smorgon 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.
Market24 Jan 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Artem Stankevich signs something — a contract at Smorgon or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces17 Jan 2028
The mood at Smorgon has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Squad17 Jan 2028
91 days out for Kirill Yelagin after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Smorgon will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Boardroom17 Jan 2028
Pressure builds in the Smorgon boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Nikita Golyakevich damages knee ligaments — 43 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 43 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.
Market17 Jan 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Smorgon can pretend not to have heard.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Artur Tishko 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 Smorgon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Jan 2028
A row about effort at Smorgon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vladislav Kovalevich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
The manager makes an example of Daniil Perov
“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 dugout17 Jan 2028
Maxim Zhordochkin has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Smorgon 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
Squad10 Jan 2028
A falling-out at Smorgon
Artur Tishko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Kirill Yelagin 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.
Squad10 Jan 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Vadim Galko and Smorgon agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout10 Jan 2028
Vadim Galko gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout10 Jan 2028
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout10 Jan 2028
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom3 Jan 2028
Yahor Hryshyn has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Smorgon can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Boardroom3 Jan 2028
Crisis meeting at Smorgon
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
The dugout3 Jan 2028
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad3 Jan 2028
A falling-out at Smorgon
Artur Tishko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Kirill Yelagin 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.
Squad3 Jan 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Vadim Zavadskiy commits to Smorgon for another 3 years.
Market3 Jan 2028
He is 20, and nobody at Smorgon signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
The dugout3 Jan 2028
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 Alexandr Svirskiy is on it.
The dugout3 Jan 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alexandr Svirskiy trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad27 Dec 2027
17 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Smorgon lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad27 Dec 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 Smorgon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout27 Dec 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.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Vladislav Kovalevich 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 dugout27 Dec 2027
Pavel Gorbach has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Smorgon 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.
Market27 Dec 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Artem Stankevich’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces20 Dec 2027
Anger at Smorgon spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Boardroom20 Dec 2027
Pressure builds in the Smorgon boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad20 Dec 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Maxim Zhordochkin
24 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Smorgon lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market20 Dec 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Smorgon, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Alexandr Svirskiy 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 Dec 2027
Words at Smorgon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Egor Babich 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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Nikita Golyakevich commits to Smorgon for another 3 years.
The dugout20 Dec 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.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Smorgon, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad13 Dec 2027
Maxim Zhordochkin damages knee ligaments — 31 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 31 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Words exchanged at Smorgon
Alexandr Svirskiy 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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
A row about effort at Smorgon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Egor Babich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
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 Artem Stankevich is on it.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
Dmitriy Simankov asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market13 Dec 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Pavel Gorbach signs something — a contract at Smorgon or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom6 Dec 2027
It is arithmetic now, and the arithmetic is done. A summer of hard questions starts early at Smorgon, and next season's fixture list reads very differently.
Boardroom6 Dec 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Yahor Hryshyn has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Boardroom6 Dec 2027
The Smorgon board call everybody in
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad6 Dec 2027
A falling-out at Smorgon
Alexandr Svirskiy and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Words at Smorgon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Kovalevich 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 Dec 2027
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 Alexandr Svirskiy is on it.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Christian Intsoen is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
Market6 Dec 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Mykhaylo Olesik has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Smorgon.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Nov 2027
A row about effort at Smorgon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Egor Babich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad29 Nov 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mykhaylo Olesik and Smorgon agree another 3 years.
Squad29 Nov 2027
A falling-out at Smorgon
Artem Devyaten and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daniil Perov, and the manager let it.
The dugout29 Nov 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.
Market29 Nov 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Artem Stankevich’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces22 Nov 2027
The mood at Smorgon has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Boardroom22 Nov 2027
Pressure builds in the Smorgon boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market22 Nov 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Smorgon can pretend not to have heard.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Artur Tishko 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.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Egor Babich 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 dugout22 Nov 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Smorgon, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match15 Nov 2027
Smorgon are in real trouble now
Position 14, 27 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words exchanged at Smorgon
Artur Tishko 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 dugout15 Nov 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
A row about effort at Smorgon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vladislav Kovalevich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alexandr Svirskiy trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom8 Nov 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Yahor Hryshyn has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Squad8 Nov 2027
A falling-out at Smorgon
Alexandr Svirskiy and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Egor Babich 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 dugout8 Nov 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.
The dugout8 Nov 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.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
Roman Gribovskiy 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
Uneasy
Squad1 Nov 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Smorgon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words at Smorgon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Egor Babich 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 dugout1 Nov 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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Smorgon will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
Pavel Gorbach gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Pavel Gorbach is on it.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Nikita Golyakevich is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces25 Oct 2027
The mood at Smorgon has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Boardroom25 Oct 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Smorgon
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Smorgon is running low.
Market25 Oct 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
Artem Devyaten: 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.” Smorgon have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Alexandr Svirskiy was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Vladislav Kovalevich 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
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.
Market25 Oct 2027
The name of Roman Gribovskiy keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Smorgon say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Smorgon, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match18 Oct 2027
Smorgon sink to position 14
27 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words exchanged at Smorgon
Alexandr Svirskiy 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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Egor Babich 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 Oct 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.
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.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
Artem Devyaten 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
Uneasy
Squad11 Oct 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Egor Babich and Smorgon agree another 3 years.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Egor Babich 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.
Squad11 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 Smorgon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
Alexandr Svirskiy has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Smorgon 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 dugout11 Oct 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Smorgon, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Vadim Galko is doing the arithmetic
The table has started to be checked before the results are in, and that is always the tell. Nobody at Smorgon says the word out loud, and everybody in the building is thinking it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Yahor Hryshyn has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
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.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Dmitriy Fedortsov and Smorgon agree another 2 years.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Artur Tishko 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 Smorgon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Oct 2027
A row about effort at Smorgon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vladislav Kovalevich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad4 Oct 2027
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Smorgon have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
Christian Intsoen loses the manager who believed in him
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Christian Intsoen's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
Pavel Gorbach has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Smorgon 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
Crisis
The terraces27 Sep 2027
The mood at Smorgon has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Boardroom27 Sep 2027
Pressure builds in the Smorgon boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market27 Sep 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Smorgon can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Artur Tishko 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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Egor Babich 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.
Match25 Sep 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Yahor Hryshyn left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
The manager makes an example of Daniil Perov
“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
Upbeat
Match20 Sep 2027
Every point is an argument now for Smorgon
Position 14 and 27 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Squad20 Sep 2027
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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
29 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Words exchanged at Smorgon
Alexandr Svirskiy 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Max Zhestarev commits to Smorgon for another 3 years.
Match18 Sep 2027
A 2‑1 win over Slutsk, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Transfer targets20 Sep 2027
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Smorgon will try again when the window opens; Lida may not be selling by then.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
Ninety minutes of Egor Babich at his very best
Marked 8.23. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Smorgon.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Yahor Hryshyn could afford to be generous.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market13 Sep 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
Nazar Kosevich: 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.” Smorgon have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom13 Sep 2027
Deadline passes with 4 signed and 3 gone
That is the business done at Smorgon 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.
Transfer targets13 Sep 2027
The deal with Lida 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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
A falling-out at Smorgon
Alexandr Svirskiy and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets13 Sep 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dinamo Brest have kept their man, and Smorgon go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad13 Sep 2027
A row about effort at Smorgon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vladislav Kovalevich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout13 Sep 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.
The dugout13 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market6 Sep 2027
Pavel Gorbach 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 Smorgon can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad6 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 Smorgon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Sep 2027
A row about effort at Smorgon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Egor Babich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces6 Sep 2027
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.
Match4 Sep 2027
Smorgon get the job done against BATE
A 2‑0 win over BATE, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
Marked 8.23 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad6 Sep 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Maxim Zhordochkin and Smorgon agree another 4 years.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces30 Aug 2027
Anger at Smorgon spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Boardroom30 Aug 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Smorgon
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market30 Aug 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 Smorgon, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad30 Aug 2027
There were 8 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 ratings30 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 30. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
Mykhaylo Olesik: 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.” Smorgon have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Alexandr Svirskiy 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.
Match28 Aug 2027
Smorgon cannot find the net
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Transfer targets30 Aug 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dinamo Brest have kept their man, and Smorgon go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match23 Aug 2027
Smorgon are in real trouble now
Position 14, 20 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Match21 Aug 2027
Beaten 0‑3 by Dinamo Minsk, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market23 Aug 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 Smorgon, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 24. 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.
Transfer targets23 Aug 2027
The offer went to Lida 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Egor Babich 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 targets23 Aug 2027
Smorgon asked and Slavia Mozyr said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alexandr Svirskiy, and the manager let it.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at Smorgon training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladislav Kovalevich 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.