The Niva Courier
Market6 Dec 2027
Kirill Kovalevich 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.
Market6 Dec 2027
Artur Chuduk 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.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Words at Niva training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexandr Martysevich 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 dugout6 Dec 2027
Dawid Kanikowski 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.
Market6 Dec 2027
Still no ink between Niva and Evgeniy Mashagin
“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 Evgeniy Mashagin.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Cătălin Căpăţînă in a row with a teammate
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.
Market6 Dec 2027
The ambition of Bahri Hanan outgrows Niva early
Signings arrive with a picture of the club in their head, and this one’s picture was bigger than the building. He will play well and he will be gone, in that order, and everybody knows it.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Peter Ohaka signs on for more
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Peter Ohaka and Niva agree another 3 years.
Squad6 Dec 2027
“I want to play”: Daniil Bortsov speaks
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
In brief
- The dugout Nikita Dovnar has become a man the manager trusts
- The dugout Evgeniy Mashagin knocks on the manager’s door
- The dugout Kirill Kovalevich keeps his manager's vote