The Neftekhimik Gazette
Squad15 Oct 2029
A falling-out at Neftekhimik
Marat Sitdikov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Oct 2029
A row about effort at Neftekhimik
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andrey Nikitin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom15 Oct 2029
Wages eat 103% of everything Neftekhimik earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad15 Oct 2029
Marek Duda wants to go home
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Neftekhimik know it.
The dugout15 Oct 2029
Alexandr Degtev 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.
Squad15 Oct 2029
The formation has left Alexey Matlakh behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Neftekhimik will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
The dugout15 Oct 2029
No hiding place for Tristan Parkes
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tristan Parkes, and the manager let it.
Looking ahead15 Oct 2029
Andrey Nikitin faces his old club
Arsenal Tula next, and one man in the Neftekhimik dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Market15 Oct 2029
The Islam Mashukov talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Neftekhimik know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
- The dugout Matvey Melnikov has become a man the manager trusts
- Looking ahead Neftekhimik travel to Arsenal Tula
- The dugout The manager plants his flag on Andrey Nikitin