From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Nov 2026
Franck Kanouté and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Stefan Purtić
“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.
Looking ahead16 Nov 2026
Spartak Subotica next, and one man in the Radnicki Nis dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Market16 Nov 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Alexandr Shestyuk signs something — a contract at Radnicki Nis or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Gboly Ariyibi has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Radnicki Nis 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Stefan Purtić has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad9 Nov 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Franck Kanouté and Radnicki Nis agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Match7 Nov 2026
OFK Beograd left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Issah Abass 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 Radnicki Nis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“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.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Novak Bogdanovic after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Squad9 Nov 2026
One booking too many, and a game watched from the stand. Radnicki Nis lose him for the most avoidable reason in the sport.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Stefan Purtić 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 Stefan Purtić trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market9 Nov 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Franck Kanouté’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match28 Oct 2026
A 1‑0 win over Jedinstvo Ub, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Match2 Nov 2026
7 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
The terraces2 Nov 2026
The mood at Radnicki Nis has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Squad2 Nov 2026
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match31 Oct 2026
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 8 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Match31 Oct 2026
0‑2 to Napredak, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“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.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Novak Bogdanovic to a room that had heard them before.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match25 Oct 2026
8 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.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.64, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Radnicki Nis may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match25 Oct 2026
Whatever happens, Radnicki Nis 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.
Match25 Oct 2026
A goal on 91 minutes turned three points into one and a good afternoon into an argument about game management that will run until Saturday.
Match25 Oct 2026
It finished 3‑3, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Squad26 Oct 2026
8 new faces, and Radnicki Nis are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 3‑3 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Petar Petrović
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match17 Oct 2026
7 matches without a win for Radnicki Nis
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Radnicki Nis are no longer polite ones.
Squad19 Oct 2026
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A muscle injury sidelines Bojan Kovačević for 15 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Radnicki Nis will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Match17 Oct 2026
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad19 Oct 2026
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 34 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Ranko Jokić 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.
Match17 Oct 2026
It needed Alexandr Shestyuk to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Cukaricki, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Market19 Oct 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Radnicki Nis, another week without a signature from Stefan Nikolić.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Novak Bogdanovic chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Radnicki Nis may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Dušan Jovanović
“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.
Market12 Oct 2026
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Dejan Stanivuković has his answer from Radnicki Nis; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Looking ahead12 Oct 2026
Cukaricki next, and one man in the Radnicki Nis dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Market12 Oct 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Miloš Spasić’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
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 Petar Petrović is on it.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Market12 Oct 2026
Radnicki Nis have made Marko Petković available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Radnicki Nis have no good answer.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match5 Oct 2026
Every point is an argument now for Radnicki Nis
Position 15 and 5 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Match3 Oct 2026
6 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Stefan Purtić 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.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Gboly Ariyibi has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
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 Dušan Jovanović is on it.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Uroš Vitas watches a signing take the shirt he was promised
At 34 the pathway was supposed to be open. Instead Radnicki Nis went to the market, and a local readership is asking the question the academy staff are too diplomatic to ask out loud.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
Milijan Ilić dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match26 Sep 2026
5 matches without a win for Radnicki Nis
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Radnicki Nis are no longer polite ones.
Squad28 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Radnicki Nis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
8 new faces, and Radnicki Nis are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Defensive actions: 16. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Squad28 Sep 2026
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Radnicki Nis will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
A defender's goal wins it for Radnicki Nis — 7.89
1 for Franck Kanouté, marked 7.89, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Match19 Sep 2026
4 matches without a win for Radnicki Nis
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Radnicki Nis are no longer polite ones.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Miloš Spasić and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Issah Abass 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.
Match19 Sep 2026
A 1‑1 draw with IMT leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The form table has caught Milijan Ilić
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Looking ahead21 Sep 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Radnik Surdulica in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Sep 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Dušan Jovanović and Radnicki Nis agree another 4 years.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ibrahim Mustapha, and the manager let it.
Match12 Sep 2026
The goal that put Zeleznicar Pancevo ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Radnicki Nis equalised, 2 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
A mark of 7.84, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Match12 Sep 2026
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Looking ahead14 Sep 2026
IMT next, and one man in the Radnicki Nis dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Radnicki Nis close the window on a squad of their own making
17 in and 2 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Market7 Sep 2026
The deal that would have taken Mateja Radonjić to Napredak has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Radnicki Nis with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Market7 Sep 2026
The phone has started ringing about Petar Šoškić again, and this time the name on the line is Kozármisleny. Radnicki Nis are listening politely and promising nothing.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
“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 dugout7 Sep 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Franck Kanouté's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Ibrahim Mustapha has moved up it.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
Dušan Jovanović has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Radnicki Nis 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Radnicki Nis will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.
Looking ahead7 Sep 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Zeleznicar Pancevo in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.70 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
$1.1M on the table at Partizan. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Market31 Aug 2026
Taraz come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Radnicki Nis did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
One scored and one made, which is a different afternoon from scoring twice and an easier one to overlook. Marked 7.92, and involved in 2 of his side's goals.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Radnicki Nis asked and Partizan said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Radnicki Nis offered $64.0K; Radnik Surdulica said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Match29 Aug 2026
Late, late show earns Radnicki Nis a point
Minute 88, against Partizan, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Franck Kanouté, and the manager let it.
Match29 Aug 2026
It needed Alexandr Shestyuk to find the net to bring anything home at all: 3‑3 against Partizan, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match22 Aug 2026
Chastening afternoon for Radnicki Nis
A 0‑4 beating by Crvena Zvezda was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Market24 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
No sign of nerves from Dušan Jovanović at 20 — 8.15
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Dušan Jovanović did not need any: 8.15, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Market24 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Radnicki Nis can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
The offer went to Novi Pazar this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Boardroom24 Aug 2026
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $68.2K — a club that wants Savo Rašković enough to be asked twice.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Radnicki Nis have gone to Radnicki 1923 with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Novi Pazar wanted more than $63.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market17 Aug 2026
The offer from Vojvodina for Stefan Nikolić 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.
Market17 Aug 2026
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $68.2K — a club that wants Anes Rušević enough to be asked twice.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Issah Abass beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 23. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
$63.0K on the table at Novi Pazar. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Radnicki Nis have gone to Radnik Surdulica with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Stefan Purtić 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
Radnicki 1923 left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market10 Aug 2026
The unthinkable, invoiced: Babacar Mboup sold
Francs Borains arrived with $1.9M and left with the best player in the building. The board will call it business; the queue at the ticket office will use other words.
Market10 Aug 2026
The offer from Crvena Zvezda for Strahinja Manojlović 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The terraces10 Aug 2026
Babacar Mboup has gone, the accounts have $1.9M in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A move Mitar Ergelaš would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Mitar Ergelaš is living that version at Radnicki Nis, and it tends to show in the first month.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Radnicki Nis have gone to TSC with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Boardroom10 Aug 2026
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $621.0K — a club that wants Andrej Petrović enough to be asked twice.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Alexandr Shestyuk and Radnicki Nis agree another 3 years.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match1 Aug 2026
1‑4 to TSC, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Market3 Aug 2026
The offer from Paksi for Dušan Jovanović 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
The name of Babacar Mboup has come up in conversations Radnicki Nis were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Miloš Spasić and Radnicki Nis agree another 4 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Miloš Spasić 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Petar Šoškić arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Petar Šoškić has, at Radnicki Nis, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Boardroom3 Aug 2026
Nobody left the Radnicki Nis dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑4, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.