Vitaliy Kibuk 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.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Rufat Garayev is 33 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Volna Pinsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Volna Pinsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kirill 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.
Vitaliy Kibuk 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 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Volna Pinsk know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Volna Pinsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Vitaliy Kibuk 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 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Volna Pinsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Volna Pinsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kirill 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.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
91% of the income goes out in wages at Volna Pinsk
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Volna Pinsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Volna Pinsk know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
It is the least glamorous business a club does and the reason seasons do not collapse in February. Basil Al-Hassan is here for the weeks when three men are injured and somebody still has to play.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Volna Pinsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Maxim Zhabitskiy and Volna Pinsk agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Volna Pinsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kirill 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.
Yegor Vedernikov 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Volna Pinsk they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Volna Pinsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Roman Babaev commits to Volna Pinsk for another 1 years.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
87% of the income goes out in wages at Volna Pinsk
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Volna Pinsk they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Volna Pinsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Volna Pinsk they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Volna Pinsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Volna Pinsk they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Vitaliy Kibuk 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Volna Pinsk, another week without a signature from Yaroslav Oreshkevich.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Volna Pinsk, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Volna Pinsk they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Juan Gómez 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 easiest signature of my career.” Kirill Kovalevich and Volna Pinsk agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
“I watch every Volna Pinsk game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Slonim runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
87% of the income goes out in wages at Volna Pinsk
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Volna Pinsk is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Volna Pinsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vitaliy Kibuk will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Volna Pinsk the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Juan Gómez 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Volna Pinsk is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Volna Pinsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Volna Pinsk they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Juan Gómez 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.
“I watch every Volna Pinsk game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Slonim runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Volna Pinsk, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Azam Radzhabov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Volna Pinsk the goodbyes have quietly begun.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Artem Vlasov has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Yaroslav Oreshkevich 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Yaroslav Oreshkevich trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody at Volna Pinsk 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Volna Pinsk they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Volna Pinsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Sep 2026
10 new faces, and Volna Pinsk are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kirill Polkhovskiy will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Volna Pinsk the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Volna Pinsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Volna Pinsk would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Volna Pinsk is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Stanislav Letsko and Volna Pinsk agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Juan Gómez 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Maxim Grechikha will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Volna Pinsk the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Volna Pinsk can pretend not to have heard.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Maxim Grechikha has agreed terms with Dinamo Brest for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Volna Pinsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Dmitriy Matyash. 1‑0 against Lida, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Nobody at Volna Pinsk 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Volna Pinsk is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The offer from Slonim for Arseniy Asonov was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Daniil Tkachik has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Juan Gómez 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.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Volna Pinsk know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
9 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Yegor Vedernikov is living that version at Volna Pinsk, and it tends to show in the first month.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alexey Stroychuk will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Volna Pinsk the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Yaroslav Oreshkevich has agreed terms with Dinamo Brest for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Volna Pinsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Azam Radzhabov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Volna Pinsk the goodbyes have quietly begun.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Azam Radzhabov has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Vitaliy Kibuk 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Ramazan Ibragimov has just signed for Volna Pinsk, and for once the answer mattered.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Volna Pinsk, another week without a signature from Maxim Grechikha.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Volna Pinsk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Volna Pinsk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Anton Susha 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Volna Pinsk has been clear about where Anton Susha stands, which is more than many ever get.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Volna Pinsk, another week without a signature from Vitaliy Kibuk.