Marked for Dmitriy Sibilev
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market1 Feb 2027
Roman Kozel hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Niva can pretend not to have heard.
Market1 Feb 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Niva have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, and a scan that said otherwise. He goes back to Vitebsk; Niva go back to the market; and both will insist there is no story here.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Alexey Andreev arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Alexey Andreev has, at Niva, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
The deal with Vitebsk is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Squad1 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Niva this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Dmitriy Sibilev falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market25 Jan 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Niva, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad25 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Niva
Dmitriy Sibilev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad25 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Niva
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxim Mitskevich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Matvey Papulin
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad25 Jan 2027
The formation has left Stepan Asharin behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Niva will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Market25 Jan 2027
The best deals are the ones the accountants never notice. Stepan Asharin arrives at Niva with his wages the only cost and something to prove the only clause.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Jan 2027
A fracture rules Roman Seredyuk out for 19 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Niva will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Mukhammad Khalibegov has, at Niva, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Market11 Jan 2027
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Niva
Dmitriy Sibilev 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Artem Kuratnik falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Market11 Jan 2027
He is 20, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Market11 Jan 2027
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Egor Lunikhin, and the manager let it.
Market11 Jan 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Niva know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Jan 2027
26 days out for Roman Seredyuk after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Niva will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market4 Jan 2027
Roman Kozel hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Niva can pretend not to have heard.
Squad4 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Niva this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at Niva training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikita Kukhtik is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad4 Jan 2027
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Market4 Jan 2027
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Market4 Jan 2027
He is 18, and nobody at Niva signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Market4 Jan 2027
Niva shop where it costs nothing
Denis Khodyko signs, and the fee column stays empty. Deals like this look small in July and clever by March — or they are never mentioned again.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Dec 2026
16 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Niva lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 33 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market28 Dec 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Evgeniy Mashagin will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Niva the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Niva
Evgeniy Sakuta and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Niva training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitriy Sibilev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Dmitriy Sibilev
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager has not finished forgetting Igor Monich's mistake
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The dugout
Igor Monich asks for a word with the manager
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Market
The clock does Igor Monich’s negotiating for him
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Dec 2026
Mikita Ihnatovich damages knee ligaments — 23 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 23 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 40 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market21 Dec 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Niva is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Niva
Dmitriy Sibilev and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Niva training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Roman Durko is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Roman Kozel, and the manager let it.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
Evgeniy Sakuta knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Niva, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market21 Dec 2026
The clock does Mikhail Gordeychuk’s negotiating for him
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Niva could ask drops and the wages Mikhail Gordeychuk can ask rise.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Dec 2026
30 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Niva lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad14 Dec 2026
48 days out for Roman Seredyuk after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Niva will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market14 Dec 2026
Only the photograph left for Artem Kuratnik
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Artem Kuratnik will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Niva the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Niva
Dmitriy Sibilev was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“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.
Market14 Dec 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Roman Kozel knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Roman Kozel trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad14 Dec 2026
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Market14 Dec 2026
The Roman Durko talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Niva know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Dec 2026
Mikita Ihnatovich damages knee ligaments — 37 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 37 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 55 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market7 Dec 2026
Igor Monich has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Niva they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Matvey Papulin commits to Niva for another 4 years.
Squad7 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Niva this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mikhail Gordeychuk, and the manager let it.
Market7 Dec 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Niva, another week without a signature from Mikhail Gordeychuk.
Market7 Dec 2026
Evgeniy Bun is 20, and Niva have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Market7 Dec 2026
1 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Niva money.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Nov 2026
44 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Niva lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 62 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market30 Nov 2026
Only the photograph left for Dmitriy Galuza
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Dmitriy Galuza will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Niva the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets30 Nov 2026
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad30 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Niva
Dmitriy Galuza and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Niva training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitriy Sibilev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Igor Monich gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Igor Monich's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mikhail Gordeychuk trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Nov 2026
Mikita Ihnatovich damages knee ligaments — 51 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 51 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad23 Nov 2026
69 days out for Roman Seredyuk after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Niva will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market23 Nov 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mikhail Gordeychuk will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Niva the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Niva
Dmitriy Sibilev and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Roman Durko falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
Mikita Ihnatovich damages knee ligaments — 58 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 58 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 77 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market16 Nov 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Niva is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Niva have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Niva
Dmitriy Sibilev 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Dmitriy Galuza falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Dmitriy Galuza asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market16 Nov 2026
1 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Niva money.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Mikita Ihnatovich
65 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Niva lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 84 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market9 Nov 2026
Only the photograph left for Igor Monich
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Igor Monich will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Niva the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad9 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Niva this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Niva
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dmitriy Sibilev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Evgeniy Sakuta, and the manager let it.
Market9 Nov 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Dmitriy Galuza asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Nov 2026
72 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Niva lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad2 Nov 2026
91 days out for Roman Seredyuk after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Niva will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market2 Nov 2026
Dmitriy Galuza has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Niva they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Niva
Dmitriy Sibilev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Dmitriy Galuza
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Niva training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abena Ottou Felix Christanval is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Oct 2026
79 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Niva lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad26 Oct 2026
98 days out for Roman Seredyuk after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Niva will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market26 Oct 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mikhail Gordeychuk will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Niva the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Niva
Evgeniy Sakuta and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Niva training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitriy Sibilev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
94 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Niva lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Niva may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market12 Oct 2026
Igor Monich has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Niva they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad12 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Niva this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Niva
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abena Ottou Felix Christanval was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Igor Monich
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Oct 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Mikita Ihnatovich
101 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Niva lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market5 Oct 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Niva is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Dmitriy Galuza 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Niva
Dmitriy Sibilev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Dmitriy Galuza falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
93% of the income goes out in wages at Niva
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 dugout5 Oct 2026
Igor Monich is still paying for one afternoon at Niva
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Niva will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market28 Sep 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Niva is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom28 Sep 2026
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Igor Monich 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Niva
Dmitriy Galuza and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad28 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Niva
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dmitriy Sibilev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Evgeniy Mashagin, and the manager let it.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Too much change too quickly at Niva
15 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.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
Nikita Dovnar has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Niva 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 dugout28 Sep 2026
Dmitriy Galuza knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Niva, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market28 Sep 2026
2 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Niva could ask drops and the wages Vladimir Skomarovskiy can ask rise.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market21 Sep 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Niva is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad21 Sep 2026
The medical room confirms 49 days on the sidelines for Evgeniy Mashagin, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Niva
Dmitriy Sibilev 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Niva training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abena Ottou Felix Christanval is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Dmitriy Galuza asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market21 Sep 2026
The Roman Durko talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Niva know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
Window shuts: 22 in, 10 out at Niva
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 22 arrived, 10 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad14 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Niva this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Niva training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitriy Galuza 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.
Market14 Sep 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Mikita Ihnatovich has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market14 Sep 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Dzmitry Klimovich has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Roman Kozel, and the manager let it.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Niva will try again when the window opens; Isloch may not be selling by then.
Market14 Sep 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
Nikita Kukhtik knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nikita Kukhtik trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Sep 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Niva they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Vladimir Skomarovskiy has agreed terms with Arsenal Dzerzhinsk for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Niva
Dmitriy Galuza and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Dmitriy Sibilev falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market7 Sep 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Nikita Dovnar makes the team of the month
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
Igor Monich is still paying for one afternoon at Niva
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Market7 Sep 2026
Niva have made Roman Kozel available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 Aug 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Niva is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market31 Aug 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Boardroom31 Aug 2026
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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Niva
Dmitriy Sibilev and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad31 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Niva
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Maxim Mitskevich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Too much change too quickly at Niva
15 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market24 Aug 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Niva, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
At 36 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.36, and nobody on the pitch better.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Up for the corner, and Dmitriy Sibilev delivers — 7.67
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Dmitriy Sibilev scored, was marked 7.67, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Market24 Aug 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Evgeniy Mashagin will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Niva the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A move Artem Kholyusev would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Artem Kholyusev is living that version at Niva, and it tends to show in the first month.
Boardroom24 Aug 2026
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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Niva
Dmitriy Sibilev was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Match22 Aug 2026
Three points for Niva, 2‑0 the final word against Slonim in a contest settled by the finer margins.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad17 Aug 2026
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Nikita Dovnar: 2 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Match12 Aug 2026
The small margins put Niva out
Out, 0‑0 to Gomel, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.64 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad17 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Niva this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Niva
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dmitriy Sibilev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Market10 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Niva
Dmitriy Sibilev and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Neman wanted more than $190.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Roman Durko falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Mikita Skavysh has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Aliaksandr Nekhaichik has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Mikita Savitski is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.64 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Dmitriy Sibilev and Niva agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Niva
Dmitriy Sibilev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match1 Aug 2026
A 2‑0 win over Uni-X Labs, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad3 Aug 2026
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Squad3 Aug 2026
8 new faces, and Niva 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.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
A loan enquiry to Minsk: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Vadzim Klimovich on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.