Dapamažycie!

[gavrenwick]

19th February 2013

The rain was lashing at her face, but she didn’t feel the cold of it. The water dripped from her chin onto her long black coat.

It had been two and a half years since the end of all she had accomplished at St Mirren, one of the best years of her life, and theirs.

4am came and went, prompting her to finally make a move from the railing she had found herself propped against. Belarus had been kind to her since she had arrived six months ago; keeping her head low and off-the-radar had been all too easy in the landlocked country.

Tina cut a striking figure against the Borisov night sky.

The feeling to emerge from her self-imposed exile had come a week ago, when the top job at BATE Borisov had emerged on the managerial market. At first it didn’t interest her, but slowly she dropped into the realisation that she wanted to be back in the driving seat and at the top of her game.

No, it wasn’t that she wanted to. It’s that she needed to.

[chesterfan2]

Oh Goody ! *Jumps up and down, all excited, like a little girl*

[gavrenwick]

The warmth of the diner provided a relief from the relentless downpour that had now blitzed the night. Tina put her phone on the table, shrugged her soaked through coat off her slight shoulders. “Я магу дапамагчы?” came a tender voice from her right. The sweet looking girl looked as tired as Tina felt.

“чорны кава, дзякуючы,” replied Tina in very broken Belarusian. The reply instantly drew a smile from the girl, who must have seen her fair share of tourists.

“English?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“Semester in Hull. One black coffee coming up,” she said, Hull sounding Hoool, and with a turn of her heel she was off to make it. Poor girl, a semester in Hull. Tina smiled inwardly.

Two minutes later, she had returned, and Tina was pulled away from looking at her phone by the fresh smell of coffee. Tina gave her the money, “Thanking you,” said the waitress before disappearing once more.

Tentatively sipping the coffee, her phone finally began to buzz. The name was the one she had been waiting for. “Clive, I’ve been waiting all night for you to call.”

“Some of us have other clients. What is it you’re wanting? I want to go to bed soon.”

“I need to you to grease some wheels and get me in with the BATE hierarchy. They’re managerless.”

“BATE as in Borisov BATE? As in Belarus?” he sound incredulous as he spoke. “I’ll call you tomorrow, crazy woman.”

[gavrenwick]

21st February 2013

Tina had gotten a bare minimum of sleep. She’d woken at 7am, and since then, had been on the treadmill. It was now 9am. She got off the machine and stood in front of her mirror, still dressed in her work-out clothing. The heavy rain had continued throughout the night, hampering Tina’s will to leave the house. Her expensive subscription to Sky allowed her to watch TV on her laptop, but the connection was lousy.

Tina had spent the better part of her morning routine catching up on St Mirren against Kilmarnock. A second half scorcher from Dougie Imrie had lit the game up and proven to be the only goal of the bout, sending St Mirren back up to 4^th. She had to reload her browser four times just to catch it without it cutting out intermittently.

As she stood in front of the mirror, she accepted that she was at excellent physical fitness now. Years out of the game had seen her lose that, but as of the last few months, she wanted it back. The call to Clive had been the last step of that process, and now all she could do was wait.

There was no desire to return to the UK, at least not in the short term. She really wanted to take the job in Borisov, if the footballing gods would permit it. The only other job available was in Luton. Clive had proposed it to her. She proposed to slap him in the face. “You can’t just jump back on at the best job. You need to rebuild your reputation.”

She didn’t agree with that.

BATE would be a fantastic opportunity. Over here she had no reputation, good or bad, and nothing to prove to anybody. She could begin fresh, and stick a finger up to all those in the UK. Her phone rang.

“You’re going to love me,” boasted Clive. “I’ve got you an interview.”

[gavrenwick]

24^th February 2013

It had been three days and she had been glued to her phone. Three days. Tina felt like she was going mad.

Clive had instructed her to be patient, having given her plenty of information regarding how well the interview had actually gone. The favourite for the role, Yuri Puntus, had distanced himself from the job after the interview and stated that ‘…the club and the ambitions didn’t match with my own philosophy.”

Whatever that meant.

Puntus had been the choice of the fans too, but Tina couldn’t argue that they didn’t want her. They didn’t even know she had been in line for the role. No news had broken of her interest, nor her meeting with club officials.

It was just so quiet. She hated it and couldn’t understand it.

And it wasn’t like she hadn’t been working behind the scenes herself. She had spoken with Alex McLeish yesterday and he said he was still on good speaking terms with Aliaksandr Hleb, the former Arsenal midfielder he signed on loan for Birmingham back in 2010. Hleb, now 31, is on the roster at BATE and McLeish said he would have a chat with him. There was hoping that it would ease the way.

As she sat down at her dinner table, she pensively turned her iPad on and read the news. Loading up the BATE page, and seeing nothing on their news section, she sighed and moved on to something else.

She kept running over everything they had asked her, partly in broken English and partly with the aid of a translator. She vaguely remembered something about the emphasis at BATE being on developing Belarusian youth and bringing them through the first team. They had never really stated whether that would limit her chances of signing players, but she didn’t care. BATE were the best team in Belarus, and their first team was thriving with Belarusian internationals.

Why wouldn’t they just get in touch?

[gavrenwick]

25^th February 2013

“We have to be certain that the decision we make right now, Anatoliy,” said Mikhail Dementsevich in Belarusian, “is the right and correct one.”

Anatoliy shrugged. “We are hardly imbued with worthwhile options here.”

“Mikhail Klus, now he stands out.”

“Mikhail is good with the kids, I know that. But he is not senior management material, at least not yet. I respect his application for the role, but he is just head of youth development after all.”

“What about Puntus? Any word?”

Anatoliy frowned, “No different to last time. He refused to speak with me about it again.”

He picked up a pot of coffee and poured some out. He nodded at Mikhail but he shook his head. “Our options are feeble.”

A minute passed before Anatoliy replied, “What about the woman?”

“Well in that case why don’t we just appoint my wife? Or the girl outside who takes my calls and gives me messages, that would save us some money.”

“I think you’re exaggerating. She won things, in a league where other teams are never meant to. That must account for some sign of real quality.”

“She is a walking PR disaster and you know it, especially over here.”

“Just give her the job, Mikhail. It could be one of the best things we ever do.”

“Or one of the worst,” he muttered as he picked up his phone.

[TwinsFan86]

Yay! Bookmarked!

[salkster2102]

Tina is back!!

[Dan BHTFC]

Cannot wait for the next instalment!

[gavrenwick]

27^th February 2013

Tina stood in her new office, taking in the surroundings of the room whilst ignoring the works that were going on in the car park. The noise was deafening, even with the window closed.

She sat down, sighing with relief to finally park herself in the soft office chair. She took out her battered old laptop and flipped the lid open. It booted to life in about three minutes, and she made a mental note to perhaps look at purchasing a new one. It was extremely dated and wouldn’t even run the new version of that pesky football management simulation game. And then all chaos ensued when she opened her inbox.

There were ninety five new emails.

Many of them were just simple congratulatory ones. They were nice to read, but most of them went unopened into a folder to be looked at another time, especially when some of them read “From the desk of”.

Four rooms away from Tina, Mikhail Dementsevich relaxed on his leather chair, casually flipping through a file on Tina. He had been sat there for twenty minutes, taking in everything that had been compiled on her. The building was heaving with people as the side sought to begin preparations for the new season and for once, Mikhail enjoyed the hustle and bustle outside. Every so often he looked up and cast an appraising eye on the occasional pretty intern who walked on by. Ten minutes later, and one more brief look up saw another lovely figure, this time standing in the frame of his door.

“Am I making for interesting reading?” said Tina.

Mikhail smiled, “How do you tell?”

“Just an educated guess,” she replied, smiling as he motioned for her to sit across the big oak desk from him.

“Will you share a drink with me?” he asked, pointing at his whiskey decanter. He patted his chest, “It can hit you right there.”

Tina shook her head no in response, before eyeing up the file now resting on the desk. “Satisfied with what you read in that?”

Mikhail nodded as he took a sip from his glass. “I am satisfied that the person who compiled the report for me is not in the line of work concerned with fiction and fairy tales.”

“I know that you weren’t keen on the idea of bringing me in to take charge. I don’t mind that.”

“I just want the success of this club to continue. I don’t care who is in charge, as long as success occurs. If it doesn’t, I can sack you and bring the next you in. I care little for getting attached to the people who come and go at the club.”

“I best get to it then,” she said, picking herself up out of the chair and heading towards the door.

“Make no mistake, Tina. You are not irreplaceable and I will take quick action if you fail to achieve expectations. You are Anatoliy's appointment, not mine.”

[tenthreeleader]

• Dapamažycie!
  

Gesundheit!

But will be following along.

[Dan BHTFC]

Go Tina!Read through all the other threads too, I hope she can keep up her good work!

[gavrenwick]

28^th February 2013

Tina woke up to a string of phone calls. With some relating to a bid from upcoming friendly opponents Gazovik Orenburg. They wanted Zaven Badoyan, 23, on-loan until the end of the season, whilst offering to pay his wages for the year. Tina hadn’t seen any of her players play a match yet, and didn’t want to send anyone out on loan that she could use in the first team.

She cast her eyes over the report that Yermakovich had compiled for her. It was in badly written English, with a fluent Belarusian copy to go with it. Aliaksandr Hleb had been thrilled when she asked him to help her. They went through and she made her own notes, before an hour had passed and Aliaksandr had to make his leave. Tina booted up the laptop and made herself a cup of tea while she waited. She found an article on the internet that highlighted the current BATE team for the upcoming season.

Goalkeepers;

35. Andrey Gorbunov [GK, 29, BLR]

34. Artem Soroko [GK, 20, BLR]

30. Germans Malins [GK, 25, LVA]

Defenders;

33. Dzyanis Palyakou [D/WBL, 21, BLR]

3. Vitaliy Gayduchik [DL/C, 23. BLR]

14. Artem Radzkov [DC, 27, BLR]

21. Ryhor Filipenka [DC/M, 24, BLR]

5. Aliaksandr Yurevich [DR/L/C, 33, BLR]

8. Aliaksandr Valadzko [D/WBR/DM, 26, BLR]

Midfielders;

32. Mikhail Sivakou [D/MC, 25, BLR]

23. Edgar Aliakhnovich [DM/C/MR , 25, BLR]

13. Aliaksandr Hleb [AMC/R/L, 31, BLR]

11. Zaven Badoyan [AML/R/C, 23, ARM]

17. Aliaksandr Pavlov [MC/AMR/C, 28, BLR]

Sergey Krivets [AML/R/C, 26, BLR]

Iliya Aleksievich [AMR/C, 22, BLR]

25. Dzmitry Baha [M/AMC, 23, BLR]

Strikers;

7. Artyom Kantsavy [AMR/ST, 29, BLR]

20. Vitali Radzionau [AMC/ST, 29, BLR]

19. Dmitriy Mozolevskiy [sT, 27, BLR]

The chat with Yermakovich had been a decent one, if not staggered, and Tina had a fairly structured view of her first team. She printed the list of players out, to give her something to work name wise.

She got back to reviewing her phone calls for the day so far, and throughout the afternoon, the club had received more bids from multiple European clubs for both Dzmitry Baha and Artem Radzkov. She issued rejections for both, and sat back on her seat. A quick check of her emails brought up a complete brain boggler for her and one likely to confuse many other managers.

Champions Cup Financial Fair Play Regulations

Teams competing in the European Champions Cup must avoid making a loss of more than £4.22m over a three season period in order to comply with financial fair play.

Failure to comply will result in the following sanction:

A ban from the competition for one season.

No sanctions will be imposed for failing financial fair play regulations in this competition until 2016.

The board is allowed to invest a maximum of £33.8m towards the calculated income.

She never made the end, her snoring echoing through the office.

[gavrenwick]

3^rd March 2013

The bids for her players just haven’t stopped coming.

“What the hell is going on?” said Tina, Aliaksandr and Yermakovich both shrugging.

“BATE are the best team in Belarus, people are going to want those players, whether it be permanent or on-loan,” said Hleb.

Artem Radzkov is attracting a hell of a lot of attention since steering the side to the title last season. The title was BATE’s seventh successive title, and Tina knew how much Dementsevich wanted to make that ten in a row over the next three years. No club could really compete with BATE at the moment, but both Dinamo Minsk and Shakhter Soligorsk were now beginning to build up something of a following.

Fellow league side FC Gomel had made a loan bid for Iliya Aleksievich, and while the bid made sense both experience wise and for value, she still hadn’t seen any of her players take to the field yet. She didn’t want to cast a gem of a player out, and she knew full well that most clubs were trying to take advantage. They knew she had a very basic grasp of the language and the current state of the league was always in a flux. They were trying to play her.

The trip to Gazovik Orenburg was tomorrow, and the team were leaving in a few hours to catch a flight. It would take them out of Belarus and into Russia, a country Tina had never visited, and close to the Kazakh border. The trip was due to take a little longer as the club was picking up its physio, German Jens Dehmelt, who had spent a month in Moscow undertaking new training. He was the head physio and Tina couldn’t wait to meet him, especially to crack out her rusty German. They would play Orenburg, and then fly back to Moscow to play Torpedo Moscow, and then make the journey home.

Orenburg’s Tsentralny Airport would welcome them with open arms, but the football team certainly wouldn't. The side is on the up after a period of years in the Russian doldrums. They currently play in the Russian First Division and boast Uzbekistan national captain Sanjar Tursunov.

Hleb and Dementsevich made their leave as they went to collect their belongings, and Tina’s PA confirmed the booking for the hotel for the next few days. She closed the door and sat back down on her chair. She had her first evaluation tomorrow, and having only led one training session, she wasn’t sure how ready they were, let her alone herself. She’d been out of the game for some time, and she had just a week before BATE’s first league game of the season. She had missed the whole of pre-season and now had a very limited time frame with which to set her side up. She had just two friendlies before the season kicked off.

Could a proper evaluation be made of who and what she had in just that short a time? She didn’t think so herself, but pushed it to the back of her mind. It would have to be enough.

Aliaksandr reappeared and he smiled through the glass in the door before opening gently, “It’s time to go, Tina.”

“I'm coming, I’ll catch you downstairs,” she said.

She felt so far from home. So alone.

[gavrenwick]

4^th March 2013

Gazovik Orenburg vs. BATE Borisov

Gazovik Stadium

Friendly

“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” Martin Luther King Jnr

Andrey Gorbunov; Aliaksandr Valadzko, Artem Radzkov, Ryhor Filipenka, Aliaksandr Yurevich; Mikhail Sivakou, Sergey Krivets, Aliaksandr Pavlov, Aliaksandr Hleb; Artyom Kantsavy, Vitali Radzionau

Subs; Artem Soroko, Germans Malins, Dzyanis Palyakou, Vitaliy Gayduchik, Edgar Aliakhnovich, Zaven Badoyan, Iliya Aleksievich, Dzmitry Baha, Pavel Niakhaichyk, Maxim Valadzko, Alexey Petrenko

“The only reason we aren’t playing at home is because our pitch is being re-laid,” said Yermakovich.

Tina smiled. He was trying his best to take the edge off the moment for her, and to be fair he was doing an atrocious but admirable job. The players looked raring to go, but they also had an air of uncertainty about them, one that Yerma described as being “…based around not knowing what to expect from you.”

The weather in Orenburg was horrific for Tina. When she got off the plane last night she had almost frozen right there. With the temperature currently hovering around -3c she had no misgivings that it would only get worse throughout the night. And then it began to snow.

“Does it even warm up around here?” she asked jokingly.

Yerma looked at her clothing, “Well, wearing that thin jacket will do you no favours. And that reminds me, the boys all put together to get you something.”

Tina frowned, “What?”

Yerma smiled and reached into his holdall. Out of it came a very expensive Ralph Lauren parka jacket. The faux fur around the neck looked so inviting and warm. It was a beautiful jacket. “They said that they can’t have you freezing to death on the side-lines in your first match in charge, they’d never know how good you truly are,” said Hleb from behind them. He smiled as he brushed past and went on to the dressing room.

Tina found the moment extremely touching, and when she took the jacket off Yerma, she felt a tear roll down her cheek. “I’m genuinely touched,” she said. Yerma nodded sweetly and picked his bag back up.

“Now man up and get ready to give your first pre-match team talk.”

Orenburg had been in the stadium since the morning, current manager Robert Yevodokimov running a tight ship since his arrival fifteen months ago. The former player had enjoyed spells all around Russia, but had never ventured out of the country. This was his fifth job in management, also wholly spent in Russia.

Tina had picked her strongest side, or at least what she gathered to be her strongest side. Yerma said that pairing Krivets with Sivakou in the centre of midfield would provide her with a solid basis for which to build around. There were no murmurs of disappointment when she put the team sheet up on the wall. All the players gathered to check it, and considering that all but one of the players she brought was on it, there was no reason to be disappointed. Dmitriy Mozolevskiy broke his nose on the training pitch yesterday, but he wanted to make the journey with his teammates.

Yerma motioned for Tina to begin her team-talk, and one solid gulp later, she was ready. Why was she nervous? She'd done this before, but this time the language barrier was something else.

“As you all know, I have no real clue on how to speak Belarusian and many people expect this to hinder us. But we all know that it doesn’t really matter. When it comes down to it, we all speak one language, and as cliché as it sounds, its football. You don’t need me to speak fluently to know that if you play like an idiot, I will be on your back about it and you might not feature again for a while. We can easily navigate this without worry, we know what needs to be done, and we all know how to do it. I will continue to learn the language, and I hope you’ll all help rather than block that process. Let’s play the game we all turn up for. Dobra udača.”

[gavrenwick]

It was snowing.

The hosts kicked the game off, but they were quick to lose the ball. Poluyakhtov squandered possession to Pavlov, but it was his lunge back in to retrieve the ball that led to the first chance of the game. Hleb picked the ball up and after evading Akhmedov’s challenge, crossed it for Krivets. The midfielder timed his run into the box perfectly, but his shot struck the post.

Gazovik had their own almost identical chance two minutes later, when a decent cross was headed on by Kobyalko and it skimmed over the top of the crossbar. Gorbunov couldn’t have reached it had it been lower.

“Moving the ball around well,” quipped Tina, pulling the parka up around her neck. Yerma was next to her now, talking in her ear.

“I told you about how well the midfield could play.”

Hleb was next to force a chance, and a save, from Astakhov. Hleb and Yurevich combined well down the left, with the winger pulling away and onto the inside. He skipped past Oyewole, who twisted his ankle in the process, and hit an audacious shot with his right. Astakhov did well to turn it wide.

Oyewole stayed down after his awkward turn, and the game was spared for a minute as he received on the field treatment from their physio. Krivets took the time to refresh himself too, a collision on the field with Breev moments earlier having kept him down for a couple of seconds longer than either Tina or Yerma liked.

There wasn’t much coming from Gazovik in terms of attacking moves, though Shogenov was making a couple of attempted runs down the right that had Valadzko sweating a little. And it was from one of those unsuccessful runs that allowed Sivakou to pump a long ball forward down the right. Pavlov played it across field to Hleb and he shot first time as it rolled across the field. Poluyakhtov caused it to deflect a little, but Astakhov once again made amends with a decent save. The midfielders were doing great, but the front line simply hadn’t shown up yet.

It took a half hour for Gazovik to mount an opportunity, and it had some potency about it. And it certainly came from nowhere. Breev and Malykh combined well to open up Tina’s defence, both Radzkov and Filipenka caught just a little too far from each other. Vasiev found himself through on goal at that point, though his shot looked more hopeful than well placed. Gorbunov got down well to smother the tame looking shot, and with that Gazovik’s attacking interest in the first half ended as quickly as it had emerged.

Tina smiled to herself as the half wore on. There had been plenty of positives to note, and Tina had been pleased with what she had seen. Gazovik weren’t half a bad side, but they hadn’t really got ticking just yet.

The referee was mid-booking Breev when Tina began to weigh up the options she had on the bench. She wasn’t disappointed with what she had seen; there was just an obvious need and desire to check out who was on the bench and what she had at her disposal.

Vasiev and Shogenov, captain for the first half, enjoyed some neat work in the middle but it fizzled out and allowed for Hleb to spark. A fit for EPL pass allowed Krivets to race towards goal with just one defender in his way. The player backed off and backed off, and Krivets used that one second of space to try his luck. The shot skidded off the sprinkling of snow and towards Astakhov, and he yet again had to get down low to palm it wide.

Two minutes later and the half time whistle blew. The thought of warmth lulled Tina into the stadium and the players followed. Yerma walked next to her, “A lot to think on,” he said with a smile.

[gavrenwick]

BATE kicked off the second half, with a different looking Gazovik side opposing them. They had made six changes, one notable being the replacement of the previously booked Breev. That was probably for the best, as he was beginning to look reckless with his challenges.

Tina hadn’t made any changes but within five minutes of the second half starting, there was a need to look at a change. Kantsavy had played himself in with a darting run between Shogenov and Khazov, combining with Sivakou and Yurevich before carrying on. Arziani and Shlyapkin closed him down and he ended up sandwiched between the pair. Kantsavy was down for a small while before eventually limping off. He re-appeared two minutes later, looking worse for wear but coping.

Krivets continued to make good on his first half performance by continuing the trend. His pass and run was exquisite and his work with Sivakou was getting him good praise from Yerma. He loved these two together in the centre of the park. Pavlov got involved and the one two allowed Krivets to shoot at goal, new keeper Moskvin getting down to stop it.

There was a great chance for Sivakou to open the scoring, but Tina had to watch her heart as it scraped wide. Her first goal in charge almost happened at that moment. Gazovik broke with some vigour after that chance, the goal kick allowing Andreev and Ivannikov to break. Ivannikov was the one who took the shot, after breaking the offside trap, but Gorbunov had it covered and took his save well.

And then Ivannikov was involved in the build up to what would be the first one of the match. A storming pass from Shogenov picked him out, but Ivannikov’s first touch led him to gift the ball to Valadzko. He made no mistake in picking out Pavlov with a better pass. He broke into the box, and after preparing to shoot, was taken down by Ganiev. “Penalty,” yelled Tina.

Her wish was granted when Anton Kopylov blew his whistle to give the penalty. There was joy around the bench, the match seemingly meaning more than just a friendly.

“They really want to do well for you,” said Yerma.

“They can win and that will be enough for me.”

There hadn’t been any discussion in training concerning penalty takers; they hadn’t progressed that far in their opening two sessions. So when central defender Artem Radzkov stepped up amidst persuasion from Hleb, the penalty he smashed past Moskvin was a peach, and it surprised Tina no end.

BATE were now a goal up, and the goal brought about a fair amount of cheer from the BATE contingent. Tina took the chance to make some substitutions at this point, bringing on Palyakou, Aliakhnovich, Aleksievich, Niakhaichyk and Petrenko all coming on. Hleb was one of those to come off, and he put a jacket straight on and took his place next to both Yerma and Tina. Yevodokimov made one change too, bringing off his captain and insofar best player Shogenov.

The young looking Petrenko took his spot up front and looked very eager to make an impact. He would have to wait for that chance though as Gazovik upped the ante and they made immediate headway with a sharp attack that BATE couldn’t handle. Ganiev and Sadykov, the replacement for Shogenov, combined to allow a decent cross to find the feet of veteran Anton Khazov. He made no mistake with a cool side sweep finish that rolled comfortably past Gorbunov and into the bottom of the goal. Tina made little notion of how it felt; she was disappointed but the goal was well worked.

Chances, and action, became few and far between as the game wore on it dampened the spirit of BATE to find an opening win for their new manager. They were playing well, but the end product was lacking. Kantsavy was replaced to allow some kind of fresh injection of skill, but it simply didn’t work. Zaven Badoyan was the player who took his spot, and he dropped in behind Petrenko to turn the system into a 4-5-1. He stayed absent well until the end of the match.

But there was one more ray of light to come. Two minutes had been signalled by the assistant’s board, and many of the fans seemed happy that the end was almost in sight. It was still snowing.

Substitute Edgar Aliakhnovich sprayed a delicious ball forward, and after Aleksievich flicked it on, Petrenko ran away towards goal. His pace took him away from the chasing defenders, and he tried an audacious first time shot off the ground.

The ball took off and rocketed into the roof of the net to give BATE the lead, and the victory.

"Welcome to BATE," smiled Hleb.

Gazovik Orenburg 1 (Anton Khazov 62)

BATE Borisov 2 (Artem Radzkov pen 59, Alexey Petrenko 90)

[Spav]

Quality, as always, gav.

[gavrenwick]

Thank you sir.

******

5^th March 2013

The win had thrilled Tina no end. All of the players had performed very well, and a few of the substitutes had acquitted themselves well. She sat in the hotel in Moscow, smiling to herself as she watched the locals go about their daily lives. The flight back from Orenburg had gone quickly and after landing at Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow, she had settled with a coffee and her laptop in a nearby café. She had received a few important emails whilst attending last night’s match, one of them being a list of players currently out on loan elsewhere. It was only then that she realised one of her most valuable players, and talented one too, was currently on-loan at Tom in Russia. Believed to be valued at over €9.5million, Maksim Bardachou is quite a player. With 22 international caps to his name he was the kind of player Tina wished to have at her disposal. He had played 110 games for BATE before leaving for Tom on loan. The positive, however, was that Yerma had already tied him up on a new contract until 2015 meaning BATE would at least get one more season out of him.

The day was full of transfer news, but with just a month of the transfer window left, Tina didn’t want any transfer saga to drag on. She knew what she wanted, and had already plotted to sneak a signing in under the radar.

34 year old Roman Vasiliuk had spent nine games on-loan at BATE last season, and the record league scorer for FC Gomel and had loved his time at the club. Often viewed as one of the Belarusian league’s best strikers, he hadn’t really won the titles that he seemed deserving of. He was now close to joining BATE permanently for the coming two season. FC Minsk had accepted an offer of €20,500 and Vasiliuk was due to meet up with Tina and Yerma when they returned from Moscow the day after tomorrow. Tina was not put off by his age. Teddy Sheringham, anyone?

Yerma worked his way through the crowd, “Mind if I join you?” he said.

Tina smiled, “Of course not.”

They set a date for both the Belarusian Super Cup and the start of the season, and Yerma had primarily come to deliver the information. “We play Naftan Novopolotsk on the 11^th. And our opening league game is against Torpedo Zhodino, at home, on the end of the month. Decent, yes?”

“We couldn’t have asked for anything better. How are negotiations going with those two players I asked you to sort out for me?”

BATE were raiding FC Minsk a second time for a young striker called Evgeniy Shevchenko and Dinamo Minsk for a Gleb Rassadkin. Both were exciting young talents that Tina had been alerted to by Aliaksandr Hleb. And she felt that he was right on the both of them.

“We have left it to Mikhail Klus to finalise the deals, but I have no doubt the transfers will go through without a hitch. They could be great, those two.”

It had been known that Klus had been allowed a portion of the transfer budget to secure young Belarusian talent. Tina had no issues with that. And she was even more grateful for the side she already had in front of her. They looked solid.

“We need to prepare for tomorrow,” said Tina. “How about a jog?”

Yerma seemed put off by the request, “You want to join the players for their jog?”

“Yes, I’m hands on and like to be involved. So sue me.”

His confusion rose, “Why would I sue you?”

Tina smiled, “It’s a joke. Come on; let’s go get ready for this run. I have a feeling that we’re going to need a few layers.”

[chesterfan2]

Glad you are getting on with the story now Gav. after all it gets a bit tiring jumping up and down like a little girl all day.

Any road up, this does remain an excellent read, sir, thank you.

[gavrenwick]

Thanks mate, keep on checking in.

*******

March 6^th 2013

Torpedo Moscow vs. BATE Borisov

Saturn

Friendly

“There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Andrey Gorbunov; Aliaksandr Valadzko, Artem Radzkov, Vitaliy Gayduchik, Dzyanis Palyakou; Edgar Aliakhnovich, Dzmitry Baha, Aliaksandr Pavlov, Aliaksandr Hleb;, Gleb Rassadkin, Vitali Radzionau

Artem Soroko, Germans Malins, Aliaksandr Yurevich, Ryhor Filipenka, Mikhail Sivakou, Zaven Badoyan, Iliya Aleksievich, Sergey Krivets, Pavel Niakhaichyk, Maxim Valadzko, Alexey Petrenko, Artyom Kantsavy

Gleb Rassadkin was now officially a BATE player for a figure of €120,000, with the figure set to rise based on goals scored by another €5,000. The 17 year old had finalised his deal overnight, citing the fact that BATE “…are a super club to play for and he wanted to improve his chances of a future in the national team.”

Tina met the youngster as he met up with the rest of his fellow players in Moscow. The fallout from his signing, however, was heavy. Things hadn’t taken long to hit a road block.

BATE supporters were apparently said to be slightly concerned with the fact that Rassadkin was signed from a rival club but were completely prepared to give the former Dinamo Minsk player the benefit of the doubt for the time being. His departure reportedly received a mixed reaction from all supporters at Dinamo, but there was a murmur going around that they believed the management had done well to receive as much as they had for him. They were also fairly confident that the transfer would turn out to be a poor piece of business for BATE.

“They are hilarious,” muttered Tina.

Yerma smiled, “Just ignore them; you know full well that they are just trying to annoy you.”

“And doing a great job. You know, even if they just aim it at me, there is no need to try and dampen the spirit of a kid who has just moved to the biggest club in his native country.”

Torpedo don’t care about any of that, Tina knew. They weren’t a bad side and would be meeting Gazovik in the league this season. They were, however, of less quality than BATE’s former opponents in Russia. A scouting report noted that they had lost three defenders in their last game to injury, and as such their replacements weren’t the fastest defenders in the business.

“Let’s play Rassadkin.”

Yerma almost coughed his coffee back out, “What? But the kid has only just got here.”

“I know he’s match fit,” she said. “He’s featured twice this pre-season already.”

“I don’t know. It could horribly wrong and make Dinamo look like they were right. We don’t need that on our hands.”

“I’m making the decision; Rassadkin plays. He has nothing to lose and neither do we.”

[gavrenwick]

The early going was all Moscow, and they seemed fully knowing of all the holes in the tattered pitch. The weather wasn’t helping of course.

The first move for BATE came down the right when Pavlov and Radzionau combined perfectly to allow the midfielder a run down the wing. Hleb and Aliakhnovich pulled the defenders across and Pavlov gifted himself an open run into the box. He opened himself up to plant a shot in the bottom right, but adjusted himself at the last second. He jinked a defender and decided to hit a wayward shot with his left that went across goal and well wide for the position it started from. He would have been much better off with an attempt on his right at the first chance.

Hleb and Baha were putting together some decent passes in the centre of the park too. For a few minutes they kept the ball flowing from midfield, but it would Aliakhnovich who would open the defence for Pavlov once more. The defensive midfielder lifted a beautiful pass over the top and Pavlov’s first time volley was timed to perfection. It wasn’t however performed with aplomb and it slinked past the same post he went the last time.

They were also troubling from set pieces, and every time Radzkov went up for the ball, he looked menacing. Twice he had the potential to force at least a routine save but on neither occasion could he do so, and by this point twenty minutes were on the clock without an actual shot on goal. Six attempts though.

The next move all started from a throw in, Palyakou giving the ball away cheaply with a poor clearance. Baha received it, looked uncomfortable and played a dire pass back to Aliakhnovich. At this point Moscow were beginning to close down the now out of sync midfield pack and pressured them into hurrying. Bagaev and Svezhov combined to dispossess Aliakhnovich and from there they were bearing down on the defence. Postnikov had found himself far upfield and played the ball out wide to 23 year old Denis Voinov. From there the little winger pulled inside and unleashed an absolute fizzer of a shot from twenty yards. It flew high, true and past the flapping arms of Gorbunov.

“Just like that and we are a goal down,” snapped Tina. “What on earth just happened?”

“They didn’t look at all happy when being pressured. They seemed incapable of handling the brutish approach.”

“My brutish approach is ten times worse.”

The goal injected a little bit of resilience into the visitors and they began to build some momentum going forward, but they constantly found themselves lacking in the final third. Tina was hard pressed to even remember either of her front two touching the ball outside of the kick-off. Rassadkin would go on to silence her by popping up with a late challenge. He somehow escaped without punishment or even a foul given. He played the ball through for Aliakhnovich, and the first time drilled effort skidded across the ground. Budakov was caught off guard but still managed to sprawl his frame across goal to stop it going in.

Torpedo were now spending most of their time camped in their own third and it was beginning to take its toll. The ball was finding itself behind their defence on multiple occasions and was it not for the decent sweeping of Budakov they would have succumbed long before they did. Rassadkin appeared again with a snap shot from inside the six yard box after a corner scramble and the keeper thwarted him again, though quite how not even his own manager could believe.

Half time was beginning to dawn on both sides by now and with the raining having just appeared there was a sense of urgency to try and see out the half without injury. A bright spark then turned into an ember when Valadzko decided to try his luck. The full back, with only seven goals to his name in his career, unleashed an almighty shot from thirty yards that smashed off the crossbar. Budakov was nowhere near, but his attempt to save it cost him dearly. Rassadkin was on hand to stroke the ball home, and after having escaped booking earlier now escaped with a clearly offside goal. Tina didn’t care.

Her side were level going into half time and her new player had scored it. She was also glad to escape the rain.

[copperhorse21]

It's always nice when the new player scores, isn't it?

[gavrenwick]

The gusty weather continued to batter Saturn Stadium and as the players made their way back onto the field, there was a chill in the air that Tina didn’t care much for. Russia was cold.

There were quite a few substitutions at half time, most for Moscow. Tina made a solitary change, Aliaksandr Hleb joining her and Yerma back in the technical area while Sergey Krivets was his replacement.

The second half saw BATE get the game underway, and with just a forty six on the clock, a shot struck the post. The visitors were lucky not to be on the wrong side of a 1-0 deficit, Tesak hitting from way out and watching as Gorbunov couldn’t reach yet thanked his lucky stars that his post was in the way. Krivets and Valadzko tried to spark a rebellion down the right from the oppressive Moscow attack, but failed to break away. The move almost cost them again, this time Knyazev heading wide from a wide reaching cross.

The midfielder began to enjoy more freedom as the half moved along, and it was encouraging for Tina to see his creative freedom finally coming to the fore. A lovely one-two with Radzionau allowed Krivets to break through on goal. He split out to the right side, and whipped a lovely cross in. Rassadkin met it square on but got under it too much and it ballooned well over the bar. The midfielders were good at sparking counter attacks but the forwards were not on the same wavelength yet.

Ten minutes had passed and a double substitution was called upon. Both Rassadkin and Boyarintsev had injured themselves from within the same tackle, clashing legs at thigh level. The game played on for a few seconds, but both managers saw the need for another change and subsequently made them. Badoyan came on for Gleb while Kornilov was the home side’s replacement.

The clock found itself speeding along now, and with little to shout home about, both BATE and Moscow were teetering on boring and lifeless. Kornilov had a shot go woefully wide while Pavlov almost put in his own net after a timid Moscow corner found its way through the crowd.

Moscow were mounting pressure, slowly but surely, and eventually found gold, much to the chagrin of the BATE non-playing staff. The clock had somehow reached 89 minutes, time having gone nowhere.

Kornilov and Gauracs were the instigators of a sandwich move on Krivets that saw the midfielder fouled. But no whistle was blown and the culprits raced away at the defence. Gauracs lured Radzkov in, when he should have known better, and found himself one-on-one with Gorbunov. There was no doubt on his finish and Moscow were 2-1 to the good. With just four minutes of injury time left, the fans had resigned themselves to a defeat. It was only a friendly, but it’s always nice to get one over on your country neighbours, especially Russians.

Vitali Radzionau however had other ideas.

The kickoff brought a renewed sense of urgency from BATE and they all just seemed to click together. At first it seemed like the chance of finding a goal was unlikely, but then a miskick allowed Radzionau a snap shot and it somehow lulled its way past the Moscow stopper. He was thoroughly embarrassed by what had happened, but knew it was better to get these kind of things out of his system now rather than during the season.

And then the unthinkable occurred. Tina had a flashback to the moment that Ronaldinho lurched that ugly free kick over the head of David Seaman. A foul forty yards out by Katsapalov set alarm bells ringing, and Konyhukov was looking noticeably on edge. What happened then was a moment of sublime, though some wouldn’t view it that way. In a moment reminiscent of Thierry Henry’s cheeky freekick, Radzionau curled the freekick over the head Konyhukov, whilst no-one was paying attention but the referee, and straight into the back of the net.

BATE should never have the won the game, but somehow they had found a way. It wasn’t pretty, in fact it was downright ugly, but they had won regardless.

That was all that mattered.

Torpedo Moscow 2 (Denis Voinov 22, Edgar Gauracs 89)

BATE Borisov 3 (Gled Rassadkin 42, Vitali Radzionau 90, 90+3)

[gavrenwick]

7^th March 2013

The match against Naftan Novopolotsk was lurking just four days away. There didn’t seem to be to worry about coming from the players. She herself was extremely worried. The board wanted a straight up victory. There was no middle ground on this one.

The day began with the potentially wonderful news that out on-loan Maksim Bordachou would now be returning back from Tom Tomsk and his loan deal seven months early. A deal had been reached with Tom in that they had three days to decide whether or not to finalise his transfer. Part of his loan agreement was an agreed figure of €1.6million. She sincerely hoped they either couldn’t stump up the funds or decided against it altogether.

Two other players had been recalled from their loan clubs, Nikolay Signevich and Filipp Rudzik. Both were key first team players that would have a role to play in the coming season and Tina didn’t want them out at fellow league sides. Fees would have to be paid to cancel the deals, but at least it was in motion.

The media introduction to Gleb Rassadkin happened today too, yet the focal point of the whole discussion was about Dinamo Minsk employing a Director of Football to handle their contract negotiations and transfers. “It’s quite often misunderstood as a role, but when well executed, it can be very successful,” said Tina. She was proud of her obviously well rehearsed and researched answer. Yet she also didn’t care one bit that they had employed someone for this role.

There was sadly no word from them on how Rassadkin had put in a hell of a shift on his debut. There was brief mention on whether he’d start Monday’s clash with Naftan, but his injury had curtailed that chance. She could almost feel Minsk’s Director of Football sniggering at her when he fell with his dead leg. Four days was the prognosis on that.

The players who had featured yesterday were now given the day having travelled back late from Moscow. Tina was in her office anyway, regardless of the fact that no-one she would actually need was anywhere near the office. Yerma had made a brief appearance as he had forgotten something from being here a few days ago and had then rushed off to spend time with his kids.

The day had dragged by, and as such, Tina felt compelled to end it earlier than usual and look in to getting a new car for herself.

One other positive came an hour before she dragged herself off home. Roman Vasiliuk, the 34 year old journeyman striker, was in line to become her first acquisition for the first team. His €27,500 transfer had almost been concluded along with the acceptance of the contract offered to him. It was Roman’s chance to finally play full time for the best club in Belarus. He would have taken it with any contract offered, especially aged 34.

He would be visiting the stadium tomorrow to put pen to paper on the contract with his agent. Until then, Tina had a date with a bottle of wine and her Friends boxset.

[Panpardus]

Hey Gav,

Following Tina again on her travels, well done, still as good as ever.

[gavrenwick]

Cheers Pan, glad to have you back along!

*******

8^th March 2013

Roman Vasiliuk arrived at BATE early on the Friday morning, impressing Tina with the commitment he had shown already to sealing the deal. His agent was a nice enough fellow too, and he spoke decent English. Terms had already been agreed between both Roman and BATE, and the transfer fee was decided as public knowledge. FC Minsk were sad to be losing one of their iconic signings, and arguably their most notable player since their formation in 2005. But then the €20,500 seemed to make them happy enough to do so. The transfer in total was €27,500, though she had no clue where the other €7,000 was going, and she didn’t quite care.

Vasiliuk left at noon, at the same time declaring how he would be fit and ready to meet Naftan in three days’ time. You have to commend him for wanting to be cast straight into the first team.

Two other players were also being chased, though Mikhail Klus was in charge of these ones. Both Evgeniy Shevchenko and Evgeny Klopotskiy were under observation by Klus and were fully expected to become part of BATE’s youth squad. Tina didn’t mind, Yerma spoke highly of the pair and stated that they could become stars. That and it wouldn’t cost her much of the budget he was given. It still grated slightly though that the budget was indeed a shared one with Klus.

There was also a news article regarding a possible move to Belarus for a one Kenny Miller, formerly of Rangers and Celtic. Tina had no clue how it had come about as a possibility, but she knew one Mike Kowalski would never forgive her if he made the move to Gorodskoy.

Yerma had joined her at the office for an hour around 3pm, and Tina was happy talking with him. He was a good assistant manager; knew what he was on with and got it done to a good level of success.

“There is just one other recommendation I would make,” he said. “We need a back-up goalkeeper. There isn’t much in the way of one now, as Germans Malins simply doesn’t cut it for us. I’d advise Sergey Chernik. He’s good and Neman Grodno are looking to sell him to keep the club afloat. I even have faith that he will rival Gorbunov.”

Tina nodded, “I didn’t much rate Malins either. He looks stagnant in training, like he doesn’t really care to be here. Got anything of Chernik that I can see to decide for myself?”

“A couple of the saves he made last season are available via the internet, I can search them up for you if you would like?”

“Yes, that would be great,” replied Tina.

But her mind was focused on just one more signing. She was very happy with the players she had, and the arrival of a second goalkeeper could only be improved with the arrival of a new midfielder. A one with flair, and one that could, possibly, turn the tide of a game single handed.

She knew who she wanted and she knew he was transfer listed after falling out with staff at his current club.

Now she had to find out a price.

[gavrenwick]

9^th March 2013

Yerma was running around like a giant kid today. Tina was pleased to see the positive feeling continue around the stadium, and the hive was buzzing with activity. Evgeniy Shevchenko had joined the club, under the radar, and without anyone hacking the deal, for €32,500. Klus and Yerma both rated him highly, but Klus was about to serve up a notice of extreme importance.

“I’ve been offered a management role,” said Mikhail as he took a seat in Tina’s office. “I have been loyal to the current moment, and as such even finalised Evgeniy’s arrival at the club. But I have an offer for something better and wanted to round off everything I’d started here before announcing my decision to leave.”

Tina was disappointed. She had only just gotten started working with Mikhail, his joint opinion in the signing of Rassadkin had impressed upon her. “And there is nothing we can do to make you stay?”

“I’m afraid not. Dementsevich has already agreed the terms and compensation. He said you should look for my replacement. I’d consider that a good sign,” he said with a smile.

“Well it is a shame that we couldn’t work together for a better period of time, but I wish you all the best Mikhail.”

The now former Head of Youth Development shook her hand and left the office. Tina had a few names in mind for his replacement, but for now, there was other work to be done.

Yerma came to see her an hour later. He already knew of Mikhail’s leaving and offered his thoughts. They were on a par with Tina’s, and he was very impressed with her idea of a replacement.

There was also discussion today regarding the bonus structure for the upcoming season. This didn’t affect Tina; it was for the squad only. Both Dementsevich and Kapski had decided on being generous, though to her it clearly looked like they were worried by her appointment still and had upped he bonuses simply to keep the players on top of the league. The players’ representatives left the stadium happy.

“It is not an attempt to undermine our belief in your charge,” said Dementsevich. “We just want the players to feel looked after. If they do, they perform to the best of their abilities.”

“They will be performing to the best of their abilities; otherwise they won’t be playing for me at all.”

“We have Naftan in two days. Get you and the players ready for that and leave the worrying over these decisions to me and Anatoly.”

Tina frowned, “In that case, I have a few things that I would like sorting out. “

Dementsevich looked up from his paperwork, “Yes?”

Anatoly was in the office too, and he had swivelled around in his chair with a smile on his face.

“Firstly, I need a new Head of Youth Development. Now I know full well that Michael Owen has just signed a non-contract agreement with a lower league English side. I want him. No questions asked over why and how I know, I just want him on my staff. I was originally going to poach him as U-19 manager, but needs have changed.”

Dementsevich made no expression, “And the second thing?”

“Zenit St. Petersburg have transfer listed Andrei Arshavin.”

“And?”

“I want him. I will sign no other players for the coming season if you can get me Arshavin.”

Anatoly laughed, “You think we can pull that kind of deal off?”

Tina smiled, “You saying you can’t?”

[gavrenwick]

March 11^th 2013

Naftan Novopolotsk vs. BATE Borisov

Dinamo

Belarusian Super Cup

“Pressure makes diamonds.” George S. Patton Jr.

Andrey Gorbunov; Aliaksandr Valadzko, Artem Radzkov, Ryhor Filipenka, Maksim Bardachou; Mikhail Sivakou, Dzmitry Baha, Sergey Krivets, Aliaksandr Hleb; Roman Vasiliuk, Vitali Radzionau

Artem Soroko, Vitaliy Gayduchik, Dzyanis Palyakou, Edgar Aliakhnovich, Aliaksandr Pavlov, Artyom Kantsavy, Nikolay Signevich

The club had been a hive of activity over the past two days, and it had everyone real excited. There hadn’t been any word on Arshavin, though Tina hadn’t expected any. She’d played a dangerous game with the two men at the top.

Yesterday Tina had spent her time at home nursing a slightly upset stomach, but her phone was that active throughout it she’d have been better served just being there. Mikhail Klus had one final gift before he left this morning, the permanent signing of Evgeny Klopotskiy. The youngster had signed from Dinamo Brest for €60,000 and he looked raring to go. Sadly, he picked up an injury in his first training session. The twisted ankle would see him out for up to four weeks.

Sergey Chernik also made his move final, becoming the second Neman Grodno keeper in two year to make the shift to Borisov. His €52,000 deal was a real snip for BATE and gifted them a good second choice goalkeeper. Germans Malins knew his career with the club was over now. Soroko would stay on as third choice and reserve team keeper. Chernik, however, had his agent sneak in a €275,000 minimum fee to foreign clubs clause. He had arrived this morning, and along with Vasiliuk, wanted to know if a place in the first team for today’s game was available.

And then there was the return of Maksim Bardachou. He looked thrilled to be back and his name went straight onto the team sheet.

“I think Roman needs to start,” said Yerma. “He is extremely hungry for it, and you would get so much out of him this season if he starts this fixture. It will get him going immediately.”

Tina nodded, “I agree. There is no place for Chernik though; he doesn’t need to be on the team for this match.”

Filipp Rudzik would also miss this match through injury after his return from Gomel on-loan. Quite why the previous incumbent had felt it necessary to loan Rudzik out would always be a mystery to Tina.

The players were beginning to get slightly nervous before the match, eager to bring back the trophy that FC Gomel currently held. Naftan weren’t about to let that happen easily though, and with former Naftan player and Belarusian international Valeriy Stripeikis in charge, he knew how he wanted them to play.

There was only fifteen minutes to kick-off, and Tina could feel the pressure mounting.

It was a far cry from managing St Mirren.

[gavrenwick]

The ageing Naftan squad looked as old as it technically was, with just four players under twenty five and six over thirty. They also looked like they had been set up to cause some physical scarring.

There physical prowess came to fore pretty quickly when both Degterev and Zyulev combined to squeeze Vasiliuk off the ball. He held himself up well but eventually stumbled and earned a freekick. He was noticeably peeved by it but didn’t react the way his opposition wanted him to. Sivakou whipped the freekick into the box, and who else but Vasiliuk stuck his head on it. Naftan needed a super point blank stop from Romanyuk to deny the BATE striker, but it mattered little as at the end a foul had been committed in the box.

All of the early chances went through Vasiliuk, and it was extremely positive to see as the veteran forward loved being the focal point of the attacks. Both Baha and Bardachou were causing chaos from the left side of the field, and when Bardachou sent a fizzing cross through the six yard box, Vasiliuk got his toe on the end. There wasn’t enough of a connection and it simply trickled wide.

The pressure kept mounting and Naftan just couldn’t cope with the passes being played. It was splendid football and the four in midfield were bossing it with ease. Krivets had dropped slightly deeper than everyone else and it was working like it had been planned. Baranok lost the ball to him in the centre circle, and he happily sent it out wide to Bardachou. The wing back flew down the left and sent a carbon copy of his fizzing cross from earlier in the game. Vasiliuk met it with a right footed half volley and just like that BATE were a goal ahead.

The fans loved it and were singing, yet Naftan were giving as good as they got. They returned to their usual style of play having tried too hard to get forward before the goal. The reversion seemed to help them for the meanwhile, but a yellow card for Kryvobok dampened their spirits.

Hleb and Baha began to link up superbly, the former having been rather absent from the beginning of the game. Baha saw Romanyuk save a fantastic low ground shot, before he then popped up to send a header wide from a Hleb cross. Radzionau also had a similar headed chance, but there was little he could do to steer it goalbound with Chonka almost on his back.

A couple of shouts from the sideline forced BATE to up the ante in search of a second goal. Baha was still dominating the whole game, and it would be he who launched the next attack.

Radzionau finally piped up in the middle of the field, initially holding up the ball on the edge of the box. Krivets caused a diversion before Radzionau lay it off to Baha. The midfielder struck a venomous shot into the roof of the net and just like that BATE were two goals to the good.

And from there, BATE ran riot. Naftan capitulated into a farcical mess and nothing they did worked. Every clearance found a BATE player, every attack finding a blockade. Radzkov launched the ball forward as the clock wore on, and the five minute double salvo was complete. Shkabara tried to beat Radzionau to a header but ended up impeding him. Vasiliuk was adamant he wanted the freekick, and Baha even conversed with Hleb. He checked over to Tina, who thumbed up the idea.

Vasiliuk bent it up and around the wall from twenty five yards. It was an absolutely sublime freekick that sent the fans crazy.

There was euphoria from every BATE affiliate, so much so that when a minute later Sivakou hit a cracking twenty yard effort with his left boot. There was nothing stopping him, and he just unleashed it from distance. Romanyuk, one of the better performers of the half, just stood there clueless.

The half time whistle was pure relief to Naftan ears.

Tina couldn’t get enough of the forty five minutes just gone. They were rampant.

[gavrenwick]

There was little to be said at half time, and the players were eager to get back on to the field. The fans could be heard singing from inside, and Tina had kept her speech to a minimum, mainly to save Yerma the translating.

The second half kicked off with BATE looking to increase the cricket score they were beginning to mount. An early chance fell to Radzionau when he broke a poorly worked offside trap. He seemed genuinely surprised to have gotten through the back line with such alarming ease and squandered the chance gifted to him.

“What a plank,” thought Tina.

Vasiliuk continued to terrorise the Naftan defence, and it was a pleasure to behold. The 34 year old looked thoroughly refreshed to be playing for BATE and he saw what would have been a potential hat-trick endearing header come back off the post. Naftan just couldn’t find any cohesion.

Captain Aliaksandr Degterev tried, in vain, to spur his team with a semi-encouraging display from midfield. Yet no other player was on his wave length, and despite being a better performer, saw him pulled for consistently losing his temper with his teammates. As for their striker, he just didn’t seem to exist on the field. His white shirt was spotted every so often, yet his touches for the whole match must have been still in single digits.

The second half was disappearing rather quickly, quicker than both Tina and the fans wanted. They were creating more chances but now the defence had become more resilient and weren’t playing ball for the BATE attack.

Bardachou was still marauding down the left, something Tina had stressed that she wanted from her full backs. The decision to play with a defensive midfielder and two central midfielders, along with one attacking midfielder meant that the wings were open for the full backs. Valadzko hadn’t gotten that memo by the looks of it, but the result meant that at the current moment, she wasn’t too fussed. He’d pick it up eventually.

Romanyuk continued to outperform his teammates and saved well again from a Baha header, the young midfielder seeing his effort saved before a haphazard clearance from Naumov.

Seventy eight minutes had arrived, and Tina finally brought off the super Vasiliuk to a rapturous applaud from both sets of fans. His performance had been that exemplary. His replacement, Nicholas Signevich, was making his debut too. His first touch of the ball saw him dribble past Obrazov before trying to get a cross in from the right. It led to a corner, which in turn, led to a goal kick.

There was to be one goal left in the goal, and it came from a Naftan player. Baha floated a lovely ball in from a corner kick seven minutes after the last one, and when Radzkov headed to goal, it seemed certain to go in. Romanyuk saved, before Kryvobok attempted a clearance. It smashed off the back of Igor Zyulev and into the net from three yards. It was comical at best, but the look on the face of the Naftan staff wasn’t of laughter.

BATE had been, and were, light years ahead of Naftan.

Nothing came of the final minutes, and when the final whistle went, Tina and her players were crowned Super Cup champions for the third time out of the four times it had been played since its inception.

BATE Borisov 5 [Roman Vasiliuk 14, 40, Dzmitry Baha 36, Mikhail Sivakou 43, Igor Zyulev og85]

Naftan Novopolotsk 0

Attendance: 6866

[gavrenwick]

March 13^th 2013

Tina returned to the office late Wednesday night, having given the players two days off to enjoy their cup success over Naftan. She herself had enjoyed the time too, a time to reflect on the whirlwind start and the upcoming season opener in just under two weeks time. “Dobry viečar,” said Tina as she whirled past the doorman. “Dobry viečarvam taksama,” he replied, impressed with her learning of thelanguage. “What brings you here tonight?” he asked, buzzing the door for the corporate rooms and Tina's office upstairs.

“A little late night research and shopping,” she replied, smiling courteously as she made her through the door.

Her office felt cold, but that would soon change as she turned the heating on. She sat herself down, old laptop dragged from her bag, and opened the lid.

There had been much going on in the footballing world as of late, not to mention the fact that Gleb Rassadkin had attracted part-time interest from clubs in BATE's division. Slavia Mozyr and Dinamo Brest both had expressed interest yesterday and left enquiries regarding a possible loan move. Slavia had also submitted a formal offer, discussing how they wanted to play Gleb in their first team, nurture him while BATE continued to grow this season.

They were correct in their assumptions that he wouldn't be quite ready for first team football, at least not on a regular basis in the BATE team, so a loan move would do the youngster great. Mozyr were offering Tina a loan move until the end of the season, with a clause built in that he could be recalled at any time. They were also offering to pay €700 a month in contribution to his wages. Fifteen minutes later, and a late night chat with Slavia Mozyr manager Yury Maleev (and an interpreter),Gleb was on the verge of regular first team football for the coming year. He was an ambitious kid and this would suit him perfectly.

So with Gleb likely on his way, the news afterwards that Nikolay Signevich had left the cup match against Naftan with a damaged heel and would be out for just over two weeks was a slap to the face. She felt like another striker would be needed. And then she remembered.

She had done this all before at St Mirren. She bloated the squad to an unnecessary level, which resulted in an unhappy squad, that although did fantastic ended up fearing for their places and losing interest at fighting each week.

It had made the club lose money and in the end she turned to measures that were drastic for a manager to need to undertake. Six months later, and a points deduction, her tenure was over and she was dismissed from the Welsh job without so much a competitive match under her belt. She wanted to laugh sometimes at how unfortunate it had been. But it wasn't worth it. Time had come and gone, as had Cassie, and now she lived in a very foreign country and was out of the eye of everything she had known.

And she was loving it.

No, she was certain that she wouldn't make the same mistakes again.

There were just two acquisitions she needed. Then she was done and the side would be ready. She left the office knowing that she was almost ready for the season kick off.

A few friendlies came first, however.

The walk to the car seemed to take forever though, and when she finally got there she had a dark sensation that there was someone looking at her. She looked again, there definitely wasn't anyone there. She shivered and climbed into her car. As she pulled out of the parking lot a woman was walking on the pavement. She looked a lot like Cassie.

[gavrenwick]

March 15th 2013

There was a lot to discuss when Tina met up with Yerma at the stadium. "Are you sure you want to go ahead with the move for Emile Heskey?" he asked, wanting to be certain with what she was asking him to do.

Tina smiled, "I primarily want his experience. He knows what to do, and believe it or not he can and has scored goals before. We have a young squad, and they need a couple of leaders. It's what we lack."

Yerma shrugged, "I can't argue with that logic."

Today saw the window open in regards to squad registration, and thankfully it didn't pose her with any issues. All she had to do was make sure the players were registered, and she could have up to 99. It was difficult to go wrong from there.

Bielarus manager Georgiy Kondrat'ev named his squad for the upcoming matches against Sierbija and Ispanija. There was a nice surprise call-up for Dinamo Minsk defender Sergey Politevich having impressed towards the end of last season and the beginning of the pre-season period this year too. Kondrat'ev certainly opted to look abroad for most of his selection, but it was very pleasing to witness eight BATE players on the list.

Vitali Radzionau

Ryhor Filipenka

Artem Radzkov

Maksim Bardachou

Aliaksandr Valadzko

Edgar Aliakhnovich

Dzmitry Baha

Dzyanis Palyakou

There was a frosty atmosphere when Aliaksandr Pavlov learned he had been dropped in place of Dzmitry Baha, but there would not likely be any hard feelings in the long run.

Dinamo Brest finally made an offer for Gleb Rassadkin today, a season-long loan deal much like the one Mozyr made. It was a little too late for them, and they found out the hard way for dallying over whether to take him on for awhile.

The calls were put in to bring Emile Heskey over to Belarus for talks regarding a possible move after an early call to his club Newcastle United Jets over in Australia. "Are you sure he's right for us?"

"Yes," Tina nodded, "And you're going to love the last player I move for."

"Not unless it's Wesley Sneijder," said Yerma as he handed Tina a sheet with the youth call up's listed on it. Gleb Rassadkin's name stood out and it was his first call-up. Tina was chuffed to bits for him.

With an upcoming friendly against SkVich, this would be prime opportunity to bring in some different legs and work out who would be in that opening league fixture.

[unitedmanager]

Great read KUTGW I'm looking forward to seeing how the first season in charge pans out. Looking forward to finding out the next player on Tina' s shopping list.

[gavrenwick]

March 16^th 2013

SKVICh Minsk vs. BATE Borisov

S.O.K.

Friendly

“If you even dream of beating me, you'd better wake up and apologize.” Muhammad Ali

Sergey CHERNIK; Aliaksandr VALADZKO, Aliaksandr YUREVICH, Artem RADZKOV, Maksim BARDACHOU; Mikhail SIVAKOU, Zaven BADOYAN, Iliya ALEKSIEVICH, Dzmitriy BAHA; Roman VASILIUK, Gleb RASSADKIN

Artem SOROKO, Vitaliy GAYDUCHIK, Dzyanis PALYAKOU, Edgar ALIAKHNOVICH, Aliaksandr PAVLOV, Artyom KANTSAVY, Dmitriy MOZOLEVSKIY, Vitali RADZIONAU, UNNAMED TRIALIST, Aliaksandr HLEB

It had been only five days since Tina's BATE side had levelled Naftan in the cup, yet to Tina herself it felt like months had passed. Little had changed over the past days, though she had decided to accept a pair of loan offers for Nikolay Signevich from both Dnepr Mogilev and Torpedo Zhodino. They were looking to take him for the season, and Tina saw no harm. He was lacking match fitness anyway and could do with time away from the club having stagnated over previous seasons.

There was a load of furore surrounding the club today though as there had been an information leak regarding a player who was currently on trial with BATE and due to appear in the evening friendly.

"How on earth has this leaked out," seethed Tina as she scrolled through the social media sites currently discussing the unnamed trialist on the team sheet. "There were only a select few on the know list."

Yerma shrugged his shoulders in his typical Belarus way, "I don't know but I'll put the fingers out."

"You mean feelers," said Tina.

Yerma shrugged again, "Probably. Anyway, when does he arrive?"

"He has been playing with the reserves of Sassuolo since the start of the month to keep his fitness up. He gets here in about an hour."

The deal to bring Emile Heskey over for a trial stalled almost as quickly as it began when he made clear his contract demands. The man would never have gotten them had he been in his prime. Which hadn't really even happened either.

"Vasiliuk is looking sharp in training," continued Tina.

The 34 year old striker had snatched two good goals against Naftan, and the former Minsk man was setting a prime example in training, despite having many years over some of his counterparts.

There wasn't much to change regarding the formation for the upcoming friendly, a simple 4-1-3-2 being the option Tina was going with. SKVICh weren't exactly Manchester United, but she was certain how much she wanted more than five goals this time. Vasiliuk looked ready to fulfil her wish. It was a shame the friendly was yet another away game, she craved her first match at home. That honour would be on 22nd, when they welcomed FC Kobenhavn. The first game of the season was Torpedo Zhodino and that was a home televised appearance. She was looking forward to it immensely.

SKVICh were without six first team players, but were more than happy to just be allowing their other players a chance to shine and get some fitness. And against the Belarusian champions no less.

The team bus would be leaving in an hour, and a car had just pulled outside the stadium.

Vincenzo Iaquinta stepped out and smiled. The 33 year old former Juventus and Udinese striker made his way up with his agent and shook Tina's hand at the front entrance. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance," he said whilst kissing the hand in typical Italian fashion.

Tina smiled. SKVICh awaited, and there was much to think on before kick off time.

[gavrenwick]

The game was a real late bloomer, with seven minutes on the clock before anyone even mustered the energy to get forward. The cold winter weather was giving heavy snow storms across Minsk, and Tina pulled her parka up tight round her neck. Rassadkin made a rare foray forward but he was called offside, and for that, the action was over for another ten minutes. The BATE backline looked rigid, both Radzko and Bardachou forming a strong partnership, and there was little chance for the moment of anything getting past them.

A rough challenge by SKVICh forward Shalimo on full back Valadzko caused a stoppage that the players were not in need of. The knock on him was too much to risk continuing in the game, so Tina was called into an early substitute. Dzyanis Palyakou stripped down to his kit, much to his chagrin, and lined up on the side. Valadzko hobbled off, though the general consensus from the physio was that he just needed some warmth. "Looks like muscle cramp," he said before leading him away.

Tina nodded to Palyakou, and he was away as soon as the referee called for the sub to occur. Shalimo was given a yellow for his tackle, and this was quickly followed by another yellow, this time for Safrankov as he yanked Vasiliuk back from a clear scoring position. Evgeniy Basenko picked up his sides third yellow in six minutes for getting involved in the fracas regarding the challenge on Vasiliuk. They said he dived, nobody else believed so.

As the game progressed there just wasn't anything to call on. A coming together between Radzkov and Krivetskiy resulted in yellows for both men, and the temperament of the BATE defender was escalating. Tina didn't want him to see red, and with multiple SKVICh players targeting him, it was safer to bring him off. Gayduchik was his replacement, equally as chuffed to be going in the cold.

Just as people were beginning to lose interest in the first half, a long ball over the top eluded all of the BATE defenders, allowing Khodnevich in. The forward seemed just as surprised as Chernik when they came together, the shot vicious but Chernik equal to it to send it out for a corner. Considering this was the first shot on goal, the crowd didn't really respond.

Safrankov sent the corner in and a loose header by Gayduchik allowed Khodnevich a free header from a yard out. Palyakou was on the line to clear it, but it was a really poor clearance that landed right at the feet of Golik, though he was unaware and his shot was weak and cleared, this time, properly.

Half time came, and everyone was delighted to just go and get a coffee or soup from the vendors. And at half price, it was even more welcome.

The second half came to and neither Rassadkin nor Badoyan had done anything to warrant their continued place for the next forty five. Their replacements were Pavlov and Iaquinta, Tina keen to see if the 33 year old Italian still had the touch.

The first real BATE foray of the match came down the right hand side, when Palyakou crossed in for Aleksievich. He couldn't get any connection with his shot and it took a wicked deflection anyway. He took the corner himself, but couldn't get any purchase on the ball as the snow continued to affect vision.

Then came a real issue. Vasiliuk, under no real challenge, went down and couldn't quite make it up. There was no debate; he was coming straight off. "Get Mozolevskiy ready."

The game was slowing down considerably, and when the first goal came, there was absolutely nothing that could be done by Chernik. Pyrkh, worming his way down the left, prepared to put in a cross, but it took a horrible deflection, off who it wasn't certain, and looped over Chernik from thirty yards to go in his far corner. It was cruel, but the game needed some life, and if this was where it was to be found, so be it. Tina silently cursed, but there was no blame to be laid anywhere. It was just pure luck.

A shift in formation to allow for a five man midfield altered very little in the game, and if anything continued to hamper the BATE side as they tried to move forward. The constant fouling from SKVICh, evident by their picking up of two more yellows, just wouldn't allow any chance of continued flowing football.

It took a sweeping move to get BATE into the game, and when it happened, it happened nicely. Aleksievich, the standout performer of the second half, played a lovely ball over the top to Iaquinta. With little to be done from his position, he headed it down for Mozolevskiy. His partner took it well, but instead of wrapping his foot around it, he turned it back to Iaquinta who coolly slotted the ball home from six yards.

Two minutes later, and a superb long ball over the top got Mozolevskiy in on goal. A goal would have put him right in contention to start the next friendly, but he offered nothing up for the keeper to worry about and a routine save cost him. Pavlov whipped the corner in, achieved nothing from it, and with that the whistle went.

It had been a cold, disappointing evening for Tina. SKVICh had fouled them off the park, and in the process left her worried about two key players. Iaquinta had been decent though, one slimmer of light in a frosty Minsk.

SKVICh Minsk 1 (Sergey Pyrkh 56)

BATE Borisov 1 (Vincenzo Iaquinta 85)

Attendance: 798

[gavrenwick]

March 19th 2013

IF Elfsborg vs. BATE Borisov

Boras Arena

Friendly

"Be yourself. The world worships the original." Ingrid Bergman

4-4-2

Sergey CHERNIK

Aliaksandr VALADZKO, Maksim BARDACHOU ©, Artem RADKOV, Aliaksandr YUREVICH

Mikhail SIVAKOU, Sergey KRIVETS, Aliaksandr PAVLOV, Dzmitriy BAHA

Aliaksey BODHEY, Artyom KANTSAVY

Sweden had a wonderfully welcoming nature. Tina smiled as the side warmed up on the pitch at Boras Arena. BATE were all for this game, their final pre-season match before the start of the season. Yerma hadn’t made this trip, he needed to help out his family with something and had politely requested to miss this trip. Announcements the day before had seen Maksim Bardachou become the new club captain, his beaming and proud face splashed all over the clubs website ever since. Vitali Radzionau relinquished the vice-captaincy a week ago, allowing Artyom Kantsavy to take up that new role. Both were very proud players.

Vincenzo Iaquinta had signed a six month deal to play for the club, and news travelled fast as one more player signed up. Having tried and failed to sign up Andrey Arshavin weeks prior, Tina settled on bringing one more striker to the club, though this one divided many.

31 year old former Inter Milan man Adriano stood chatting with Iaquinta, reminiscing about former times in Italy. They both looked comfortable, and at one time in the past, would have formed a stupendous partnership in Serie A. It didn’t quite work out for Adriano in the end as his career dwindled as he entered his thirties. Released from Flamengo last season, BATE appeared to be his next stop. Tina believed it to be a monumental coup for both the league and for the club.

Many other people, however, viewed the move as stupid and financially unviable, despite no details actually being released. "How can they complain about what he is paid, when they don't even know?"

Michael Owen smiled, "You know that is how the game is interpreted. Adie will have earned millions previously, and when he wasn't so fit and working hard, they will have taken note. Football is a fickle world."

In reality Adriano had also only signed a six month deal, clearly with the intention of making a last push for his career in time for he summer and to be snapped up by one more big club with money to spare. But in the meantime, he is only taking home €775.

As the first half drew nearer, Mr Head of Youth Development Owen worked with the younger players who had made the trip, taking notes, and Tina led the players back off the pitch. It was game time again soon, and everyone looked keen. Shame it was snowing.

[gavrenwick]

Michal Strombergsson pushed the whistle to his lips. The over two thousand strong cheered in the cold weather, ignorant of their skin slowly freezing over thanks to the excitement of anything football related. Only the hardcore and the loyal stick it out during heavy snow.

The game began and with the quick flick of the ball down the left an early chance fell to the home side. Boras Arena exploded when Englishman James Keene burst into the box, but he terribly scuffed his kick and his shot didn't even test Chernik. It was so lame it trickled wide.

Radzkov and Bardachou had some slight communication issues, and with the snow flowing freely, there was a real issue with visibility. The ball, a bright yellow ghastly looking thing, was tough to see. A failure too bserve allowed Keene another run at goal, but Chernik was on a different level and stormed out to smash it away.

That in turn freed up ample space for both Pavlov and new vice-captain Kantsavy to break away. They combined with a lovely one two that saw Kantsavy one on one. The Elfsborg defence was nowhere insight, and the striker slotted coolly, though the ball did struggle in the now laying snow.

A decision was made to swap the ball out for an orange one, prompting cries of complaint from the home fans. But of course they would do that.

The most effective players on the field in the first twenty minutes turned out to be both sets of full backs. Valadzko was having the time of his life down the right, while young Pontus Bodin on the left was having the time of his life for Elfsborg.

The change of ball colour prompted a welcomed improvement to the tempo of the game, and with the increasing Elfsborg pressure, their formation changed to a 4-3-2-1, giving Keene a more central role. Tina responded by moving Sivakou and Krivets behind Baha, allowing them to monitor the growing midfield threat.

The plan worked, and when Bohdey wasted a good header from a Pavlov cross, there was a sense that BATE had the upper hand. Two more crosses came flying in, with only the second causing any trouble. Baha stuck a foot on it but it was easily gobbled up by Ellegaard. Krivets was dominating in midfield now and was running the whole show.

Pressure continued to mount on the Elfsborg defence, Michele Ferri almost slicing into his own goal before Randiani gifted a loose ball to Kantsavy. The vice-captain couldn't convert, much to his own chagrin and Tina's.

Michael Owen was taking many notes on Bodhey. But the youngster didn't really contribute during the whole first half, but for a 45 minute appearance, he didn't do all that bad. The snow was falling at a heavy rate, but it didn't seemed to be alarming anyone. Not even James Keene, who slipped on his way down the tunnel.

A warm drink was welcomed by all, Tina leading the way as the players headed down the tunnel.