Marked for Mateush Montevka
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad29 Nov 2027
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Neman have had the benefit of it.
Market29 Nov 2027
Timur Minets 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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Words exchanged at Neman
Dmitry Radikovskiy 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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
13 clean sheets and the golden glove for Kirill Veidyger
The one award on the pitch nobody else can win. 13 games in a season in which nobody scored past him, and a career that will be measured against this one.
Boardroom29 Nov 2027
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Squad29 Nov 2027
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.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
Maxim Autko 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.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
Alexey Dayneko has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Neman 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.
Market29 Nov 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Neman know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market8 Nov 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kirill Semashko will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Neman the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad8 Nov 2027
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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
A falling-out at Neman
Yuriy Pantia and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Nov 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ruslan Radyukevich commits to Neman for another 4 years.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
“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 dugout8 Nov 2027
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 Andrey Vasiljev is on it.
Market8 Nov 2027
The name of Pavel Savitskiy keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Neman say nothing, which says plenty.
Match8 Nov 2027
Neman in the hunt for Europe
Position 4, 55 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
Squad8 Nov 2027
A window away with the national side, and a shirt at Neman that briefly doubles as an advertisement. A call-up flatters the player and the club that built him in the same breath.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market1 Nov 2027
Only the photograph left for Timur Minets
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Timur Minets will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Neman the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words exchanged at Neman
Dmitry Radikovskiy 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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Mikhail Kozlov 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 Nov 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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
The captaincy has been taken off Oleg Evdokimov. Neman will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Neman told Bogdan Levchenko something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
Yuriy Pantia 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 Yuriy Pantia is on it.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
“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.
Market1 Nov 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Neman know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market11 Oct 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 Neman, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market11 Oct 2027
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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Tempers go at Neman
Dmitry Radikovskiy 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 Oct 2027
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.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Yegor Kortsov, and the manager let it.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
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 Andrey Vasiljev is on it.
Looking ahead11 Oct 2027
Dinamo Minsk next, and one man in the Neman dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Market11 Oct 2027
The name of Pavel Savitskiy keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Neman say nothing, which says plenty.
Match11 Oct 2027
Neman have something to play for
Position 4 on 55 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match2 Oct 2027
The run is over for Neman
13 matches without defeat, and then Slavia Mozyr. Nobody at the ground pretended it would go on forever; nobody expected it to stop here either.
Market4 Oct 2027
“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 dugout4 Oct 2027
“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.
Market4 Oct 2027
Only the photograph left for Timur Minets
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Timur Minets will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Neman the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mikhail Kozlov and Neman agree another 2 years.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Words at Neman training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oleg Evdokimov 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.
Match2 Oct 2027
Slavia Mozyr left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Yuriy Pantia 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.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
Neman release $683.0K for the manager
The board have put money on the table rather than an encouraging word. What happens to it now is somebody else's problem, and somebody else's job.
In brief
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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Squad
Mikhail Kozlov named in the team of the month
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The dugout
A promise honoured for Dmitriy Girs
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market29 Mar 2027
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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Neman
Mikhail Kozlov 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Oleg Evdokimov 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 dugout29 Mar 2027
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 Tito Tito Yormie Jr. is on it.
Market29 Mar 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Pavel Savitskiy signs something — a contract at Neman or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Artur Nazarenko has seen what the next man earns
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Neman that is a harder question to answer.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market2 Nov 2026
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.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mateush Montevka, and the manager let it.
Market2 Nov 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.
Loan watch2 Nov 2026
“I watch every Neman game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Niva runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Pavel Savitskiy named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Pavel Savitskiy is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Maxim Skavysh stands down from international duty
“33 caps is more than I ever expected, and it is time somebody else had them.” At 37 he is finished with his country and nowhere near finished with Neman.