2 Feb 2027
Tuesday
Process
27 Edition

The Veles Post

1 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

The view from the top for Veles

33 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.

Market

Oleg Smirnov agrees terms with Dinamo Bryansk

The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Veles people have started saying his name in the past tense.

Market

Krylya Sovetov come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Veles did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

The dugout

Ivan Nikin says Veles 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

Only the photograph left for Matvey Zakharzhevskiy

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Matvey Zakharzhevskiy will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Veles the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Words exchanged at Veles

Dmitry Sergeev 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.

Boardroom

Veles counting the cost

The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Veles now.

The dugout

Dmitry Sadov 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.

Boardroom

Open for business: Veles enter the window

The registration window is open and the phone has started. Between now and the deadline this club will be linked with forty players and sign three, which is the usual ratio.

In brief

Back issues
26 Edition

The Veles Post

25 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Artur Koloskov puts it in writing

“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 The request is on a desk at Veles, and it is not being withdrawn.

The dugout

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Squad

A falling-out at Veles

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

Boardroom

143% of the income goes out in wages at Veles

Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.

The dugout

No hiding place for Vladislav Galkin

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

Market

The Dmitry Sergeev talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Veles know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

In brief

25 Edition

The Veles Post

18 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A fracture rules Fedor Konstantinov out for 20 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Veles will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

Words exchanged at Veles

Dmitry Sadov 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 dugout

Ilja Kuptsov has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Veles 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.

In brief

24 Edition

The Veles Post

11 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

27 days out for Fedor Konstantinov after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Veles will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Market

Oleg Smirnov has one foot out of the door

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

The dugout

Bogdan Markov keeps the receipts

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

In brief

23 Edition

The Veles Post

4 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

The view from the top for Veles

33 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.

Squad

Karim Giraev is named among the best

There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Veles will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.

Market

Matvey Zakharzhevskiy has one foot out of the door

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

Squad

Dmitry Sadov 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 Veles this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Boardroom

Veles counting the cost

The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Veles now.

Market

Pavel Kotov linked with a move away

The name of Pavel Kotov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Veles say nothing, which says plenty.

In brief

22 Edition

The Veles Post

28 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Muslim Bammatgereev puts it in writing

“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 Veles, and it is not being withdrawn.

The dugout

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Squad

A falling-out at Veles

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

Boardroom

Wages swallow 362% of the Veles income

Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.

The dugout

Kirill Korolkov 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.

Market

The Dmitry Sergeev talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Veles know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

In brief

21 Edition

The Veles Post

21 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Dmitry Sergeev 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 Veles this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

Dmitry Sergeev 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.

The dugout

Ilja Kuptsov 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 Ilja Kuptsov is on it.

In brief

20 Edition

The Veles Post

14 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Oleg Smirnov has one foot out of the door

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

Squad

A falling-out at Veles

Dmitry Sergeev 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 Dmitry Kuchugura

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

The dugout

Dmitry Sergeev 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.

Market

The Zakhar Tarasenko question follows Veles around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Zakhar Tarasenko’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

Squad

Dmitry Kuchugura has had enough of the bench

“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Veles will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.

In brief

19 Edition

The Veles Post

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

The view from the top for Veles

33 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.

Market

Only the photograph left for Matvey Zakharzhevskiy

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Matvey Zakharzhevskiy will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Veles the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Dmitry Sadov 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 Veles this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Vladislav Galkin

“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.

Squad

A place in the month's best eleven for Karim Giraev

Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Karim Giraev has come out of that comparison in the side, and Veles have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.

Squad

A step back for Ivan Nikin at Veles

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.

The dugout

A door opens for Kirill Korolkov

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.

Market

Pavel Kotov linked with a move away

The name of Pavel Kotov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Veles say nothing, which says plenty.

The dugout

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

In brief

18 Edition

The Veles Post

30 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

The dugout

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Squad

A falling-out at Veles

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

Boardroom

407% of the income goes out in wages at Veles

Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.

The dugout

No hiding place for Ionafan Sapozhnikov

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

The dugout

Vladislav Galkin 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 Veles, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Market

The Dmitry Sergeev talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Veles know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

In brief

17 Edition

The Veles Post

23 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Words exchanged at Veles

Dmitry Sadov 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 dugout

No hiding place for Oleg Smirnov

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

The dugout

Ilja Kuptsov has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Veles 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.

The dugout

Kirill Korolkov 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 Veles, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Market

The Dmitry Sadov question follows Veles around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Dmitry Sadov’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

Market

Veles put Muslim Bammatgereev up for sale

The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Muslim Bammatgereev may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.

In brief

16 Edition

The Veles Post

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Market

Oleg Smirnov is on his way

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

Match

Veles make it 4 in a row

Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Veles have 4 straight wins of it.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Dmitry Sadov

Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Tempers go at Veles

Dmitry Sadov 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.

Match

Veles see off Volgar

Three points for Veles, 2‑1 the final word against Volgar in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Match

Nobody wins at Veles

8 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.

The dugout

Kirill Korolkov 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.

Player ratings

The afternoon belonged to Zakhar Tarasenko

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.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Yuri Lukin kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.

In brief

15 Edition

The Veles Post

9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

The view from the top for Veles

30 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.

Player ratings

Ishkhan Geloyan runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Market

Matvey Zakharzhevskiy has one foot out of the door

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

Match

Veles cannot stop winning

3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.

Squad

Dmitry Sadov 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 Veles this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Muslim Bammatgereev the difference as Veles beat Textilschik

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Muslim Bammatgereev. 1‑0 against Textilschik, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Looking ahead

Veles and Volgar meet at the summit

The fixture the rest of the division is looking forward to more than either of the sides in it. Both know a win changes the season and a defeat does not end it, which is what makes it hard to play.

Player ratings

Muslim Bammatgereev was the difference for Veles

Marked 7.79. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.

The dugout

Yuri Lukin has his say

“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Yuri Lukin on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.

In brief

14 Edition

The Veles Post

2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Muslim Bammatgereev 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 Veles can pretend not to have heard.

The dugout

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Squad

Tempers go at Veles

Dmitry Sergeev 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.

Boardroom

Wages swallow 407% of the Veles income

Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Dmitry Sergeev

“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.

Match

Veles see off Sibir

Three points for Veles, 1‑0 the final word against Sibir in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Player ratings

Karim Giraev takes the honours

Marked 7.77 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Veles had the best player on the pitch.

Player ratings

Ishkhan Geloyan was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 15. 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.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Yuri Lukin kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.

In brief

13 Edition

The Veles Post

26 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Dmitry Sergeev 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 Veles this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Karim Giraev sends Veles past Leningradets

It finished 2‑0, and it was Karim Giraev’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Veles.

Player ratings

Karim Giraev in the eights

A performance of 8.46 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Squad

Veles are still strangers to each other

6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Yuri Lukin kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Vladislav Volkov

Defensive actions: 15. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

The dugout

Dmitry Sergeev 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.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Ionafan Sapozhnikov

“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.

Player ratings

Ishkhan Geloyan beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 12. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

In brief

12 Edition

The Veles Post

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Veles up to position 2

21 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.

Market

Only the photograph left for Oleg Smirnov

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Oleg Smirnov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Veles the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Player ratings

Alexandr Shubin pops up at the right end — 7.82

7.82, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Dmitry Sadov

Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Tempers go at Veles

Dmitry Sadov 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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Veles against Alania

1‑2 to Alania, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Looking ahead

Top-of-the-table clash for Veles

Leningradets next, and the two sides the division is watching meet each other. Whoever wins will be told nothing is decided in the same breath as being congratulated.

The dugout

Yuri Lukin: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

Market

No place for Oleg Smirnov in the plan

“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Oleg Smirnov has his answer from Veles; what he does with it is the next window’s story.

In brief

11 Edition

The Veles Post

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Yury Zavezen wins it after the whistle should have gone

91 minutes played. Yury Zavezen found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Mashuk went from a point to nothing inside one movement.

Market

Only the photograph left for Matvey Zakharzhevskiy

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Matvey Zakharzhevskiy will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Veles the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Dmitry Sadov 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 Veles this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Still nobody has beaten Veles

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.

Match

Veles find a way past Mashuk

Mashuk made Veles work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Player ratings

Dmitry Sergeev was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 18. 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.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Yury Zavezen

Marked 8.04 — 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.

The dugout

Yuri Lukin has his say

“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Yuri Lukin on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.

The dugout

Mikhail Rybalko 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

10 Edition

The Veles Post

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Muslim Bammatgereev 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 Veles can pretend not to have heard.

Player ratings

Dmitry Sadov runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

A falling-out at Veles

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

Boardroom

Wages swallow 597% of the Veles income

Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.

Squad

200 appearances for Zakhar Tarasenko

200 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.

The dugout

Kirill Korolkov 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

Yury Zavezen named in the team of the month

A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Yury Zavezen is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.

Boardroom

Veles counting the cost

The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Veles now.

The dugout

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.” Yuri Lukin chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.

In brief

9 Edition

The Veles Post

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Words exchanged at Veles

Dmitry Sadov 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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Ishkhan Geloyan

Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

Veles get the job done against Tyumen

A 1‑0 win over Tyumen, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Player ratings

Yury Zavezen in the eights

A performance of 8.09 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Match

Veles at the halfway mark

Half the programme played, position 2, 17 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.

Squad

Veles are still strangers to each other

6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.

The dugout

A satisfied Yuri Lukin

“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Yuri Lukin could afford to be generous.

Squad

The division's best last weekend was a Veles man

It is a small honour and it is not nothing: somebody watched every match in the division and decided that Zakhar Tarasenko was the best thing in any of them.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Alexandr Krasnopevtsev

“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

8 Edition

The Veles Post

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Veles tear Dinamo Moscow 2 apart

Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Dinamo Moscow 2, and it could have been more.

Match

Veles up to position 2

14 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.

Player ratings

Ishkhan Geloyan, 34, rolls back the years — 7.83

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.83 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Market

Only the photograph left for Oleg Smirnov

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Oleg Smirnov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Veles the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Tempers go at Veles

Dmitry Sadov 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.

Match

Ishkhan Geloyan at the heart of a fast Veles start

2 goals inside twenty minutes with Ishkhan Geloyan in the middle of it, and Dinamo Moscow 2 unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.

Player ratings

Zakhar Tarasenko in the eights

A performance of 8.27 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

One of those days for Yury Zavezen

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.07, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

The dugout

Yuri Lukin: “That is the standard”

“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 3‑0, already talking about the next one.

In brief

7 Edition

The Veles Post

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Alexandr Krasnopevtsev 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 Veles can pretend not to have heard.

Boardroom

Deadline passes with 11 signed and 0 gone

That is the business done at Veles until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.

Market

Only the photograph left for Matvey Zakharzhevskiy

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Matvey Zakharzhevskiy will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Veles the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Market

Alexandr Krasnopevtsev’s move to Kosmos falls through

The deal that would have taken Alexandr Krasnopevtsev to Kosmos has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Veles with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.

Squad

Ishkhan Geloyan 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 Veles this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Volgar snatch it back from Veles

A goal on 90 minutes turned three points into one and a good afternoon into an argument about game management that will run until Saturday.

The dugout

A promise honoured for Vladislav Galkin

It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Veles told Vladislav Galkin something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.

Match

Veles share the spoils with Volgar

A 1‑1 draw with Volgar leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.

The dugout

No hiding place for Artur Koloskov

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

In brief

6 Edition

The Veles Post

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Terms done: Oleg Smirnov is going

Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Luki-Energiya waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Veles is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.

Market

Vladislav Galkin puts it in writing

“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 Veles, and it is not being withdrawn.

Player ratings

Ishkhan Geloyan beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 25. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

A falling-out at Veles

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

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Alexandr Shubin

At 23 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.

Match

Veles find a way past Textilschik

Textilschik made Veles work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Player ratings

Alexandr Shubin was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.20. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

Squad

Vladislav Galkin is no longer first choice

The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Vladislav Galkin 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 dugout

The manager’s verdict

“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Yuri Lukin kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.

In brief

5 Edition

The Veles Post

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Muslim Bammatgereev asks to leave Veles

“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.

Market

Terms done: Matvey Zakharzhevskiy is going

Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Strogino waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Veles is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.

Match

4 matches without a win for Veles

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Veles are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Words exchanged at Veles

Dmitry Sadov 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.

Player ratings

Yury Zavezen was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 20. 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

A bad afternoon for Veles against Sibir

1‑2 to Sibir, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Market

Vladislav Galkin is free to find somewhere else

“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Veles has been clear about where Vladislav Galkin stands, which is more than many ever get.

The dugout

Yuri Lukin: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

Squad

Too much change too quickly at Veles

6 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.

In brief

4 Edition

The Veles Post

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

The cup run ends for Veles

0‑1 against Khimik, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.

Match

Chastening afternoon for Veles

A 0‑3 beating by Leningradets was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.

Squad

8 saves: Ilja Kuptsov was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Market

Artur Koloskov 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 Veles can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Tempers go at Veles

Dmitry Sadov 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.

Match

3 matches without a goal for Veles

The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.

Market

Strogino watching Matvey Zakharzhevskiy

The interest is real enough to have reached print. Veles have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Yury Zavezen

Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Boardroom

Doors closed at Veles

The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.

In brief

3 Edition

The Veles Post

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Ishkhan Geloyan 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.

Squad

Dmitry Sadov 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 Veles this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Vladislav Galkin

“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 dugout

The manager’s verdict

“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Yuri Lukin was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Veles dressing room was either.

Market

Veles put Vladislav Galkin up for sale

The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Vladislav Galkin may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.

Match

Veles draw a blank against Alania

The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Alania defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.

Looking ahead

A reunion for Zakhar Tarasenko

He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Leningradets in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.

The dugout

The plan did not have a place for Mikhail Rybalko

Nobody at Veles is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.

Market

The Yury Zavezen question follows Veles around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Yury Zavezen’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

In brief

2 Edition

The Veles Post

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Squad

Words exchanged at Veles

Dmitry Sadov 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.

Market

One of our own: Yuriy Ryazantsev joins the Veles first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Yuriy Ryazantsev is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Market

Veles promote Vadim Bystrov from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Vadim Bystrov has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

Market

Mark Goncharov steps up from the Veles academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Mark Goncharov has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.

Market

One of our own: Denis Martynov joins the Veles first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Denis Martynov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Match

Veles see off Mashuk

Three points for Veles, 1‑0 the final word against Mashuk in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Player ratings

Karim Giraev was the difference for Veles

Marked 7.89. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.

The dugout

Yuri Lukin: “That is the standard”

“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Vladislav Volkov

12 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.

In brief

1 Edition

The Veles Post

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Market

Muslim Bammatgereev asks to leave Veles

“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.

Squad

Dmitry Sadov signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Dmitry Sadov commits to Veles for another 4 years.

Squad

A falling-out at Veles

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

Match

Veles see off Dinamo Kirov

Three points for Veles, 1‑0 the final word against Dinamo Kirov in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Market

Talks stall between Veles and Dmitry Sadov

“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.

Player ratings

Karim Giraev takes the honours

Marked 7.91 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Veles had the best player on the pitch.

Market

49 months and counting on Kirill Korolkov

Still no offer on the table, and Kirill Korolkov’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.

Squad

Veles are still strangers to each other

6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Yuri Lukin, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.

In brief