Torpedo on the way up in Belarus

FC Torpedo Zhodino has been the revelation of the new Belarus season so far, with a side that finished 2008 just one place above the relegation zone only goal difference away from second in the table.

Flying start
Tipped as prime candidates for the drop before the season started, Torpedo's rise up the table is a remarkable achievement for a club that have no big-name players, even at national level. Torpedo have also had to play all of their 'home' league matches away from the city this season as the club's ground is being rebuilt. Yet the future looks bright for a club who were Belarus champions four times during the Soviet Union era but who spent much of the 1990s in the second division. Torpedo, whose local rivals FC BATE Borisov are only 15 kilometres away, returned to the top flight in 2002 under the late Yakov Shapiro and enjoyed a promising first season, finishing fifth. Though the club stayed in the top six over the next three seasons, it also had to cope with the loss of Shapiro, who collapsed while celebrating his team's stoppage-time winner in a league match in July 2004 and later died.

League reduction
Since then, the club have had mixed fortunes, finishing 11th, 4th and 13th over the last three campaigns. Many had expected their prospects for this season to be another tough battle against the drop, particularly as the league has been reduced from 16 to 14 clubs but with the same number of clubs - three - dropping down to the second tier. Instead, they are firmly ensconced in the upper reaches of the table, lying third behind Dinamo Minsk and league leaders BATE Borisov. Clearly, much of the credit for the credit for the current revival goes to 43-year-old coach Oleg Kubarev, who took charge of his hometown side in November 2006. Kubarev is able draw on a wealth of experience in the game, having featured not only in his own national championship, but also those of Russia, Latvia and Kazakhstan in his playing career. As a coach, he worked at FC Darida Zhdanovichi and was head coach of FC SKA Minsk before being appointed by Torpedo.

Changing tactics
Though even he may be privately surprised at how well his team have done in recent months, Kubarev never shared the scepticism felt by others as he prepared for the new season. "Despite the hard times, we've been able to strengthen a number of positions in the squad and I've also got versatile players who allow us to change tactics," he said before the start of the campaign. "Sometimes I don't know where best to use a particular player – but it's a nice problem to have." Kubarev has based his team's system of play around having a strong defence and plenty of discipline, qualities which are partly imposed by having to play all their matches away. Torpedo's influential midfielder Dmitri Klimovich is well aware of what his side are missing out on this season, saying: "I won't argue – having a home pitch is important and having the support of home fans helps a lot. But we've already got used to playing away matches the whole time. In fact, we've forgotten now what it's like to play at home."

Match preparations
Kubarev's meticulous match preparation is another key feature of his team's success, according to Klimovich. "Above all, we win because of tactics, along with a scrupulous examination of our opponents' strengths and weaknesses," he said. "The coaching staff regularly give us detailed information on this and even provide certain special exercises during training sessions. It means we know exactly what we have to do on the pitch. Another factor is that we worked well together during the winter and that's improved the mutual understanding within the squad. After all, if we play well as a team, we'll get a result."