Marked for Alexandru Gîţ
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Apr 2029
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.
Player ratings30 Apr 2029
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings30 Apr 2029
A performance of 8.14 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad30 Apr 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Árni Snær Ólafsson, and the manager let it.
Match28 Apr 2029
Honours even between Neman and Minsk
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad30 Apr 2029
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nikita Matysyuk trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Apr 2029
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.
Squad23 Apr 2029
The medical room confirms 37 days on the sidelines for Mikalai Arlouski, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad23 Apr 2029
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nikita Matysyuk trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
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Squad
The manager makes an example of Nikita Robak
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Market
Experience through the door at Neman
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Market
The Alexandru Gîţ story refuses to die
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Boardroom
Neman keep producing them
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market16 Apr 2029
“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 The request is on a desk at Neman, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market16 Apr 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mateush Montevka will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Neman the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad16 Apr 2029
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.
Squad16 Apr 2029
“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.
Match14 Apr 2029
Neman come up short against BATE
BATE left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings16 Apr 2029
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match24 Mar 2029
The wait goes on for Neman
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad26 Mar 2029
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.
Player ratings26 Mar 2029
A performance of 8.51 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad26 Mar 2029
“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.
Squad26 Mar 2029
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Árni Snær Ólafsson knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Match24 Mar 2029
It needed Ivan Kontsevoy to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Belshina, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Andrey Vasiljev 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.
Market26 Mar 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Alexandru Gîţ signs something — a contract at Neman or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Player ratings26 Mar 2029
Successful dribbles: 9. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Feb 2029
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.
Squad26 Feb 2029
“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.
Squad26 Feb 2029
This league is too small for Artem Zaychuk
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Neman will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market8 Jan 2029
Only the photograph left for Petar Vitanov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Petar Vitanov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Neman the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad8 Jan 2029
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.
Squad8 Jan 2029
16 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad8 Jan 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Artem Devyaten and Neman agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Jan 2029
“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.
Market8 Jan 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Alexandru Gîţ’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Dec 2028
Tempers go at Neman
Petar Vitanov 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.
Market18 Dec 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Artur Nazarenko’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market18 Dec 2028
The clock does Kamil Mullin’s negotiating for him
2 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Neman could ask drops and the wages Kamil Mullin can ask rise.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market11 Dec 2028
Petar Vitanov 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.
Squad11 Dec 2028
The medical room confirms 45 days on the sidelines for Andrey Vasiljev, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad11 Dec 2028
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad4 Dec 2028
At 21, Bogdan Levchenko is already the best thing here
An average of 7.24 in a first team he is several years too young for. Neman have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Market4 Dec 2028
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.
Squad4 Dec 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Sergey Pushnyakov and Neman agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match13 Nov 2028
Neman up to position 1
48 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad13 Nov 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Neman may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market13 Nov 2028
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Oct 2028
Tempers go at Neman
Petar Vitanov 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.
Squad23 Oct 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ivan Kontsevoy commits to Neman for another 4 years.
Market23 Oct 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Artur Nazarenko’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match16 Oct 2028
Neman are in among the leaders
Position 1 and 48 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market16 Oct 2028
Petar Vitanov 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.
Squad16 Oct 2028
104 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad16 Oct 2028
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.
Squad16 Oct 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Anzor Amiraliev, and the manager let it.
Market16 Oct 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Alexandru Gîţ’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad25 Sep 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Neman may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Tempers go at Neman
Petar Vitanov 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.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Yuriy Pantia 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match18 Sep 2028
Neman are in among the leaders
Position 1 and 48 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market18 Sep 2028
Only the photograph left for Petar Vitanov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Petar Vitanov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Neman the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market18 Sep 2028
So close: Kamil Mullin’s move dies late
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Dinamo Brest moved on, Kamil Mullin reports back to Neman, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Market18 Sep 2028
Smorgon come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Neman did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad18 Sep 2028
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.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Yuriy Pantia 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 Yuriy Pantia trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match21 Aug 2028
Neman are in among the leaders
Position 1 and 45 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market21 Aug 2028
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.
Market21 Aug 2028
Neman say no — this time
The offer from Slavia Mozyr for Mateush Montevka was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Market21 Aug 2028
The name of Petar Vitanov has come up in conversations Neman were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Player ratings21 Aug 2028
Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Tempers go at Neman
Petar Vitanov 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.
Squad21 Aug 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Yuriy Pantia, and the manager let it.
Match19 Aug 2028
Volna Pinsk left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad21 Aug 2028
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Neman pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market8 May 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mateush Montevka will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Neman the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match6 May 2028
Whatever happens, Neman do not lose
9 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.
Squad8 May 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Sergey Pushnyakov and Neman agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 May 2028
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.
Player ratings8 May 2028
Marked 8.88 — 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.
Squad8 May 2028
“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.
Match6 May 2028
Neman and Orsha take a point apiece
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Market8 May 2028
The name of Petar Vitanov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Neman say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad8 May 2028
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Neman would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match11 Mar 2028
The wait goes on for Neman
23 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Market13 Mar 2028
“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.
Market13 Mar 2028
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.
Squad13 Mar 2028
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.
Player ratings13 Mar 2028
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad13 Mar 2028
The manager makes an example of Alexandru Gîţ
“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.
Match11 Mar 2028
Uni-X Labs left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Boardroom13 Mar 2028
Doors closed at Neman
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Loan watch13 Mar 2028
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Neman, and 1 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom29 Nov 2027
Pressure builds in the Neman boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market29 Nov 2027
“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.
Market29 Nov 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Yaroslav Yarotskiy will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Neman the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad29 Nov 2027
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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Bogdan Levchenko 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.
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market8 Nov 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.
Market8 Nov 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Tempers go at Neman
Petar Vitanov 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Artur Nazarenko 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.
Market8 Nov 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Petar Vitanov signs something — a contract at Neman or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad8 Nov 2027
A season on the outside for Alexandru Gîţ
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Neman has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match25 Sep 2027
The wait goes on for Neman
22 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Match27 Sep 2027
Neman are in real trouble now
Position 15, 18 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market27 Sep 2027
“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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Tempers go at Neman
Petar Vitanov 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.
Match25 Sep 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad27 Sep 2027
The manager makes an example of Yuriy Pantia
“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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Alexandru Gîţ 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 Alexandru Gîţ trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match18 Sep 2027
21 matches without a win for Neman
The run now stands at 21, and the questions being asked around Neman are no longer polite ones.
Market20 Sep 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.
Squad20 Sep 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
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.
Match18 Sep 2027
A bad afternoon for Neman against Vitebsk
1‑2 to Vitebsk, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad20 Sep 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
The medical room confirms 15 days on the sidelines for Yuriy Pavlyukovets, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.24, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Market20 Sep 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.