Mateush Montevka

Striker - Neman
2 Nov 2028
Thursday
Process

Marked for Mateush Montevka

112 Edition

The Neman Chronicle

18 Sep 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

9 matches without a win for Neman

The run now stands at 9, and the questions being asked around Neman are no longer polite ones.

Market

Anton Suchkov 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 Neman can pretend not to have heard.

The dugout

Mikhail Kozlov keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Neman may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Market

Only the photograph left for Nikita Robak

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nikita Robak will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Neman the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

A falling-out at Neman

Guljigit Borubaev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Player ratings

Oleg Nikiforenko beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

The dugout

No hiding place for Oleg Evdokimov

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Oleg Evdokimov, and the manager let it.

Squad

Alexandr Zhukovskiy signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Alexandr Zhukovskiy commits to Neman for another 4 years.

Squad

A row about effort at Neman

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mikhail Kozlov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

In brief

Back issues
97 Edition

The Neman Chronicle

5 Jun 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Neman march on in the cup

Baranovichi are out and Neman go through, 2‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.

Player ratings

No sign of nerves from Mateush Montevka at 21 — 7.73

The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Mateush Montevka did not need any: 7.73, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.

Market

Nikita Matysyuk has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Neman they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

A falling-out at Neman

Guljigit Borubaev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

Pavel Savitskiy’s goal not enough for Neman

Pavel Savitskiy scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Vitebsk, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Alexey Dayneko

At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Egor Khoroshun

Marked 8.39 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Player ratings

Guljigit Borubaev beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

The dugout

Mikhail Kozlov 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.

In brief

89 Edition

The Neman Chronicle

10 Apr 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Guljigit Borubaev was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 48. 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.

Match

Tito Tito Yormie Jr. sends Neman through

Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Tito Tito Yormie Jr. obliged against Osipovichi. 3‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Neman.

Player ratings

Mateush Montevka, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.16

A mark of 8.16 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.

Market

Only the photograph left for Nikita Matysyuk

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nikita Matysyuk will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Neman the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Match

Whatever happens, Neman do not lose

7 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.

Squad

Tempers go at Neman

Sergey Pushnyakov 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.

Squad

Alexey Dayneko stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Alexey Dayneko and Neman agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

The terraces

One of their own: Kirill Semashko

He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Sergey Pushnyakov

“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

76 Edition

The Neman Chronicle

10 Jan 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Guljigit Borubaev 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 Neman this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Artem Devyaten stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Artem Devyaten and Neman agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

The dugout

No hiding place for Artem Devyaten

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Artem Devyaten, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Kirill Veidyger gets picked when it counts

Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Kirill Veidyger is on it.

The dugout

Oleg Nikiforenko 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 Oleg Nikiforenko trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Market

The clock does Yuriy Pantia’s negotiating for him

7 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Neman could ask drops and the wages Yuriy Pantia can ask rise.

In brief

70 Edition

The Neman Chronicle

29 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A falling-out at Neman

Guljigit Borubaev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The dugout

No hiding place for Mikhail Kozlov

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mikhail Kozlov, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Sergey Pushnyakov gets picked when it counts

Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Sergey Pushnyakov is on it.

The dugout

Ilya Kirko 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 Neman, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Market

The Guljigit Borubaev story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Guljigit Borubaev signs something — a contract at Neman or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

Match

Continental football is in reach for Neman

44 points from position 5. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.

Market

Danil Ananka leaves for nothing

Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Danil Ananka leaves Neman the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.

Market

Daniil Zhidkevich leaves for nothing

Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Daniil Zhidkevich leaves Neman the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.

Squad

Good reports on Maxim Autko

The word out of the training ground is that he has been the sharpest man there all week. It is the quietest story a paper carries and it usually runs the week before somebody's run in the side begins.

In brief

65 Edition

The Neman Chronicle

25 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Yahor Kislyak damages knee ligaments — 14 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 14 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.

The dugout

Mateush Montevka says Neman went back on their word

“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.

Market

Danil Ananka 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 Neman can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Nikita Matysyuk is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Neman is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Sergey Pushnyakov 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 Neman this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

Dmitry Radikovskiy is still paying for one afternoon at Neman

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.

In brief

25 Edition

The Neman Chronicle

18 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The dugout

Mateush Montevka says Neman went back on their word

“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.

Squad

A falling-out at Neman

Sergey Pushnyakov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Guljigit Borubaev

“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

19 Edition

The Neman Chronicle

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The dugout

Shérif Jimoh: 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.” Neman have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Tempers go at Neman

Sergey Pushnyakov 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.

Squad

Anton Suchkov stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Anton Suchkov and Neman agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

The dugout

Mikhail Kozlov 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.

Squad

A step back for Mateush Montevka at Neman

Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.

Squad

A row about effort at Neman

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yuriy Pantia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

In brief