Marked for Rafael Assis
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market26 Oct 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 The request is on a desk at Veles, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Berk Kızıldemir: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Veles have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad26 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 Veles this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match24 Oct 2026
Leningradets made Veles work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad26 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.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
A performance of 8.57 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Loan watch26 Oct 2026
“I did not go to Zenit Penza to sit and watch. I want to come back to Veles and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Rafael Assis wants a proper job in this side
Shifted about, taken off before the hour, asked to do somebody else's running — Rafael Assis has had enough of being useful and would like to be picked. Veles know, and have known for weeks.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Oct 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.
Market19 Oct 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.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 23 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Veles
Ishkhan Geloyan 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.
Squad19 Oct 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.
Match17 Oct 2026
Point won or two lost for Veles?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Alania? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
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 Veles this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rasul Mitsaev, and the manager let it.
Match12 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Shots: 9. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Veles, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad14 Sep 2026
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Veles would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Market14 Sep 2026
The name of Ishkhan Geloyan keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Veles say nothing, which says plenty.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Marked 5.44, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Sep 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.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Veles
Ishkhan Geloyan 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.
Market7 Sep 2026
Veles get their man
The chase for Nikita Zavjalov ended with $35.0K changing hands and Murom out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Defensive actions: 22. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
1312% of the income goes out in wages at Veles
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.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Defensive actions: 20. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rafael Assis, and the manager let it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Rafael Assis has outgrown this division
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Veles know it, and so does everybody who watches him.