From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 Apr 2028
The words a physio says slowly. 17 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market17 Apr 2028
Ilja Kuptsov 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.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Tempers go at Veles
Ishkhan Geloyan 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.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Words at Veles training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Arseny Yurtaev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
“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.
Market17 Apr 2028
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.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
Ivan Nikin 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 Ivan Nikin is on it.
Market17 Apr 2028
4 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Veles could get for him.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Veles. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 Apr 2028
The words a physio says slowly. 25 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market10 Apr 2028
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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
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 dugout10 Apr 2028
“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.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Alamat Dzestelov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Apr 2028
The words a physio says slowly. 32 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market3 Apr 2028
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.
Squad3 Apr 2028
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.
Boardroom3 Apr 2028
The owner puts $35.3K into Veles
This is money that keeps the lights on rather than money that buys a centre-half, and the difference is the whole story. A club funded by its owner rather than by its football has exactly one conversation left ahead of it.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
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.
Boardroom3 Apr 2028
Veles cannot sign anybody
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Words at Veles training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alan Khachirov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Boardroom3 Apr 2028
Veles are $5.0M in the red
The borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
Boardroom3 Apr 2028
117% 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match27 Mar 2028
Veles refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 25 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Market27 Mar 2028
Bogdan Markov 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.
Boardroom27 Mar 2028
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Ilja Kuptsov has agreed terms with Rubin for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Words exchanged at Veles
Ishkhan Geloyan 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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
39 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
The dugout27 Mar 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.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
Dmitry Sergeev 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 Dmitry Sergeev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad27 Mar 2028
A row about effort at Veles
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Arseny Yurtaev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market27 Mar 2028
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market20 Mar 2028
Ilja Kuptsov 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.
Squad20 Mar 2028
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.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
The manager makes an example of Kirill Korolkov
“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 dugout20 Mar 2028
Ilja Kuptsov 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.
Squad20 Mar 2028
A row about effort at Veles
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alamat Dzestelov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market20 Mar 2028
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.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
When it matters, Ivan Nikin plays
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.
Market20 Mar 2028
The clock does Ilja Kuptsov’s negotiating for him
4 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Veles could ask drops and the wages Ilja Kuptsov can ask rise.
Market20 Mar 2028
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Matvey Zakharzhevskiy may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market13 Mar 2028
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.
Squad13 Mar 2028
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.
Squad13 Mar 2028
A row about effort at Veles
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alan Khachirov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout13 Mar 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.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
Ilja Kuptsov 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.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
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 Alexandr Shubin is on it.
Market13 Mar 2028
Veles have let the market know Alexandr Shubin can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Market13 Mar 2028
The name of Dmitry Sadov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Veles say nothing, which says plenty.
Market13 Mar 2028
6 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Veles could get for him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market6 Mar 2028
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Veles have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market6 Mar 2028
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.
Squad6 Mar 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ishkhan Geloyan and Veles agree another 2 years.
Squad6 Mar 2028
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.
Boardroom6 Mar 2028
The owner puts $12.0K into Veles
This is money that keeps the lights on rather than money that buys a centre-half, and the difference is the whole story. A club funded by its owner rather than by its football has exactly one conversation left ahead of it.
Boardroom6 Mar 2028
Veles cannot sign anybody
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
Boardroom6 Mar 2028
Veles are $4.8M in the red
The borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
Boardroom6 Mar 2028
Wages swallow 117% 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.
Market6 Mar 2028
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market28 Feb 2028
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Veles have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Match28 Feb 2028
Veles refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 25 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Boardroom28 Feb 2028
Window shuts: 2 in, 2 out at Veles
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 2 arrived, 2 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Boardroom28 Feb 2028
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Words exchanged at Veles
Ishkhan Geloyan 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.
Transfer targets28 Feb 2028
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.
Market28 Feb 2028
The name of Manuk Harutyunyan has come up in conversations Veles were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
The dugout28 Feb 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.
Market28 Feb 2028
Dusan Sergej is 17, and Veles have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market21 Feb 2028
Terms done: Ivan Nikin is going
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and PSK Pervorechenskoe waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Veles is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Transfer targets21 Feb 2028
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Veles have done the hard part with Volgar, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad21 Feb 2028
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.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kirill Korolkov, and the manager let it.
Market21 Feb 2028
The name of Bogdan Markov has come up in conversations Veles were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad21 Feb 2028
A row about effort at Veles
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alan Khachirov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout21 Feb 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Dmitry Kuchugura trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad21 Feb 2028
“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.
Market21 Feb 2028
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Feb 2028
“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.
Market14 Feb 2028
The Irkutsk deal is off
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Matvey Zakharzhevskiy reports back to Veles with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Market14 Feb 2028
Only the photograph left for Bogdan Markov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bogdan Markov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Veles the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad14 Feb 2028
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.
Market14 Feb 2028
The phone has started ringing about Ivan Nikin again, and this time the name on the line is PSK Pervorechenskoe. Veles are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad14 Feb 2028
A row about effort at Veles
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alan Khachirov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout14 Feb 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matvey Zakharzhevskiy, and the manager let it.
The dugout14 Feb 2028
Dmitry Sergeev 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 Dmitry Sergeev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout14 Feb 2028
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market7 Feb 2028
“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.
Market7 Feb 2028
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.
Squad7 Feb 2028
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.
Transfer targets7 Feb 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dinamo Vologda have kept their man, and Veles go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad7 Feb 2028
14 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
The dugout7 Feb 2028
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.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Veles can only buy what they sell
Nobody has barred the club from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every incoming name comes with an outgoing one attached.
The dugout7 Feb 2028
Dmitry Sergeev 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.
Squad7 Feb 2028
A row about effort at Veles
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alamat Dzestelov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 Jan 2028
Karim Giraev 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.
Market31 Jan 2028
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Kuban Holding waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Veles is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Match31 Jan 2028
Veles up to position 3
25 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Transfer targets31 Jan 2028
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Veles have done the hard part with Chaika, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad31 Jan 2028
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 dugout31 Jan 2028
The manager makes an example of Karim Giraev
“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.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Words at Veles training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alan Khachirov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout31 Jan 2028
“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.
Market31 Jan 2028
The Ilja Kuptsov story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ilja Kuptsov signs something — a contract at Veles or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Jan 2028
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.
The dugout24 Jan 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kirill Korolkov, and the manager let it.
Squad24 Jan 2028
A row about effort at Veles
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alan Khachirov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom24 Jan 2028
Wages eat 88% of everything Veles earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The dugout24 Jan 2028
Karim Giraev 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.
Market24 Jan 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Karim Giraev’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market17 Jan 2028
Bogdan Markov 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.
Squad17 Jan 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 Veles this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
A promise honoured at Veles
Something was said to Alan Khachirov and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
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 Alexandr Shubin is on it.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Alamat Dzestelov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Market17 Jan 2028
The name of Ishkhan Geloyan keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Veles say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 Jan 2028
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.
Boardroom10 Jan 2028
Veles counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Veles now.
The dugout10 Jan 2028
The manager makes an example of Ilja Kuptsov
“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.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Alan Khachirov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout10 Jan 2028
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 dugout10 Jan 2028
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout3 Jan 2028
Artem Nadolskiy: 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.” Veles have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match3 Jan 2028
Veles are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 25 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Squad3 Jan 2028
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Veles have had the benefit of it.
Squad3 Jan 2028
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.
The dugout3 Jan 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.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Alan Khachirov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Market3 Jan 2028
“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 Jan 2028
Ilja Kuptsov 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.
Market3 Jan 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ilja Kuptsov’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout27 Dec 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Veles may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad27 Dec 2027
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.
Boardroom27 Dec 2027
144% 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 dugout27 Dec 2027
The manager makes an example of Alan Khachirov
“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 dugout27 Dec 2027
Dmitry Sergeev 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 Dmitry Sergeev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Words at Veles training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alamat Dzestelov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market20 Dec 2027
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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Tempers go at Veles
Ishkhan Geloyan 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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
A row about effort at Veles
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alan Khachirov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alexandr Shubin, and the manager let it.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
Dmitry Sergeev 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 Dmitry Sergeev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Alexandr Shubin is on it.
Market20 Dec 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Bogdan Markov has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Veles.
Market20 Dec 2027
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.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
The manager comes out for Karim Giraev
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Karim Giraev has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad13 Dec 2027
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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Rayane El Fenniri is 18, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kirill Korolkov, and the manager let it.
Squad13 Dec 2027
A row about effort at Veles
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alan Khachirov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market13 Dec 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Alan Khachirov has his answer from Veles; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Boardroom13 Dec 2027
Belts tighten at Veles
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
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 dugout13 Dec 2027
Karim Giraev 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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Rayane El Fenniri, 18, is the weekend’s best young player
Measured against every other kid in the division and first among them. The senior award is where Veles would like this to lead.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match4 Dec 2027
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Mashuk, and it could have been more.
Match6 Dec 2027
Veles finish in position 3
25 points, and the season has a number on it. Whatever it felt like from the inside, this is what it will look like in a book.
Player ratings6 Dec 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.57, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Match6 Dec 2027
Veles up to position 3
25 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Player ratings6 Dec 2027
No sign of nerves from Rayane El Fenniri at 18 — 7.75
The hardest thing about being 18 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Rayane El Fenniri did not need any: 7.75, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Match4 Dec 2027
At last: Veles win one
7 matches without a win, and then this, against Mashuk. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Squad6 Dec 2027
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.
The terraces6 Dec 2027
He is 18 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
The manager makes an example of Ishkhan Geloyan
“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
Crisis
Match27 Nov 2027
The wait goes on for Veles
7 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.
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 Veles this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom29 Nov 2027
Wages eat 189% of everything Veles earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Match27 Nov 2027
A bad afternoon for Veles against Chaika
0‑1 to Chaika, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad29 Nov 2027
A row about effort at Veles
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alan Khachirov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bogdan Markov, and the manager let it.
Player ratings29 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 12. 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 dugout29 Nov 2027
Yury Zavezen 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match20 Nov 2027
No end in sight to Veles's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Veles has to find a result from somewhere.
Market22 Nov 2027
Only the photograph left for Bogdan Markov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bogdan Markov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Veles the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Tempers go at Veles
Ishkhan Geloyan 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.
Match20 Nov 2027
Zakhar Tarasenko scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑3 to Kuban, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Alan Khachirov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑3 Anton Suslov left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad22 Nov 2027
6 new faces, and Veles 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 dugout22 Nov 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Looking ahead22 Nov 2027
A test against the best for Veles
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Chaika.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Nov 2027
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 dugout15 Nov 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words at Veles training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alamat Dzestelov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Market15 Nov 2027
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.
Match15 Nov 2027
Continental football is in reach for Veles
22 points from position 4. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
Squad15 Nov 2027
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Veles has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Christian Benedict Hansen trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad15 Nov 2027
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match6 Nov 2027
No end in sight to Veles's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Veles has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad8 Nov 2027
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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Pavel Kotov reaches 200 appearances
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at Veles training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alan Khachirov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Zakhar Tarasenko, and the manager let it.
Squad8 Nov 2027
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.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
No place for Yury Zavezen on the big day
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Veles pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
Boardroom8 Nov 2027
Belts tighten at Veles
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Anton Suslov after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match30 Oct 2027
The wait goes on for Veles
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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
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.
Player ratings1 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Boardroom1 Nov 2027
Wages eat 157% of everything Veles earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad1 Nov 2027
A row about effort at Veles
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alan Khachirov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match30 Oct 2027
It needed Karim Giraev to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against SKA Khabarovsk, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
“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.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market25 Oct 2027
Bogdan Markov 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.
Squad25 Oct 2027
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.
Match23 Oct 2027
Sibir take the points off Veles
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Karim Giraev, and the manager let it.
Squad25 Oct 2027
100 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
“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.
Squad25 Oct 2027
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.
Squad25 Oct 2027
A row about effort at Veles
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alamat Dzestelov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Looking ahead25 Oct 2027
SKA Khabarovsk next, and one man in the Veles dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Oct 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match13 Oct 2027
Veles bow out of the cup
Sochi go through and Veles go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Match18 Oct 2027
Veles are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 20 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Player ratings18 Oct 2027
Dmitry Sadov beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 28. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Market18 Oct 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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
100 goals for this club, and somewhere in the stand there is a person who can still tell you where they were for most of them.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Alan Khachirov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad11 Oct 2027
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.
Boardroom11 Oct 2027
The numbers do not look good at Veles
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Alan Khachirov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
Alexandr Shubin 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Karim Giraev named player of the week
One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Karim Giraev has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.
The dugout11 Oct 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.
Looking ahead11 Oct 2027
Alania next, and one man in the Veles dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Market11 Oct 2027
The Dmitry Sadov story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Dmitry Sadov signs something — a contract at Veles or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market11 Oct 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Veles, another week without a signature from Matvey Zakharzhevskiy.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match2 Oct 2027
4‑1, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.88 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.28 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad4 Oct 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 Veles this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
155% 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 terraces4 Oct 2027
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Match2 Oct 2027
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Leningradets tried to reorganise, Veles did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
Squad4 Oct 2027
A row about effort at Veles
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Semyon Yemelin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad4 Oct 2027
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Dmitry Sergeev 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market27 Sep 2027
Bogdan Markov 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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
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.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match25 Sep 2027
Three points for Veles, 1‑0 the final word against Irtysh in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Alan Khachirov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Market27 Sep 2027
Signings arrive with a picture of the club in their head, and this one’s picture was bigger than the building. He will play well and he will be gone, in that order, and everybody knows it.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
Marked 7.92. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Market27 Sep 2027
He is 20, and nobody at Veles signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Squad27 Sep 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout20 Sep 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Veles have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad20 Sep 2027
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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Victor Aamann 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. Victor Aamann has, at Veles, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Match18 Sep 2027
Veles come up short against Mashuk
Mashuk left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dmitry Sergeev, and the manager let it.
Market20 Sep 2027
Add another name to the list: Chertanovo have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Bogdan Markov. The answer from Veles has not changed — yet.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Words at Veles training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alan Khachirov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match20 Sep 2027
Halfway: Veles sit in position 4
13 points at the turn. The first half of a season is a promise; the second is a bill, and the town is about to find out which of the two this one was.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Anton Suslov after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market13 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.
Boardroom13 Sep 2027
Veles close the window on a squad of their own making
13 in and 16 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.
Market13 Sep 2027
Veles say no — this time
The offer from Kyzyltash for Bogdan Markov 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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
At 35, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
Boardroom13 Sep 2027
The numbers do not look good at Veles
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Match11 Sep 2027
Veles come up short against Chaika
Chaika left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
Ilja Kuptsov 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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Alan Khachirov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market6 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 Veles, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market6 Sep 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Veles have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market6 Sep 2027
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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
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.
Loan watch6 Sep 2027
“I watch every Veles game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Arsenal Tula runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Looking ahead6 Sep 2027
The big one: Chaika come into view
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Veles will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
128% 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Karim Giraev makes the team of the month
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
In brief
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The dugout
A promise honoured at Veles
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Market
The shop window has Karim Giraev in it
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Squad
A row about effort at Veles
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market30 Aug 2027
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.
Market30 Aug 2027
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.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.38 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Match30 Aug 2027
Veles are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 13 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market30 Aug 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.
Market30 Aug 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Andranik Karapetyan will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Veles the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match28 Aug 2027
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.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
Two of the goals had his name somewhere on them, which is the afternoon a manager wants from anybody asked to both create and finish. 7.97, and 2 involvements.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Tempers go at Veles
Ishkhan Geloyan 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.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match18 Aug 2027
Veles march on in the cup
Sibir are out and Veles go through, 2‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Market23 Aug 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.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
A brace, and Andranik Karapetyan takes the afternoon — 8.57
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Andranik Karapetyan provided it, and the 8.57 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad23 Aug 2027
A one-man rearguard from Ilja Kuptsov
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.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
Yury Zavezen goes up and wins it — 7.80
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.80 for the rest of it.
Market23 Aug 2027
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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Veles
Ishkhan Geloyan 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 terraces23 Aug 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Andranik Karapetyan has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Match21 Aug 2027
Veles get the job done against Volgar
A 1‑0 win over Volgar, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad16 Aug 2027
37 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Market16 Aug 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ionafan Sapozhnikov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Veles the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad16 Aug 2027
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.
Boardroom16 Aug 2027
Veles counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Veles now.
Match14 Aug 2027
0‑1 to SKA Khabarovsk, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout16 Aug 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.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Anton Suslov after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Market16 Aug 2027
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Veles has been clear about where Muslim Bammatgereev stands, which is more than many ever get.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Pirverdi Seyidov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market9 Aug 2027
Sochi 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.
Market9 Aug 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vladislav Volkov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Veles the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad9 Aug 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 Veles this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Oleg Smirnov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Market9 Aug 2027
“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.
Market9 Aug 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Mikhail Rybalko has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Veles.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Anton Suslov was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Veles dressing room was either.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Dmitry Kuchugura trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Shots: 6, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market2 Aug 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.
The dugout2 Aug 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.
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market2 Aug 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Andranik Karapetyan will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Veles the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Tempers go at Veles
Ishkhan Geloyan 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.
Match31 Jul 2027
Veles get the job done against Alania
A 2‑1 win over Alania, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dmitry Sergeev, and the manager let it.
Squad2 Aug 2027
A row about effort at Veles
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kirill Korolkov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
Yury Zavezen was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.05. 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings26 Jul 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.33 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market26 Jul 2027
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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
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.
Match24 Jul 2027
Nobody wins at Veles
9 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Match24 Jul 2027
Three points for Veles, 3‑1 the final word against Leningradets in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Market26 Jul 2027
The name of Bogdan Markov has come up in conversations Veles were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 3‑1, already talking about the next one.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
In brief
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The dugout
Dmitry Sergeev knocks on the manager's door
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Squad
A row about effort at Veles
-
Looking ahead
The leaders are next for Veles
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market19 Jul 2027
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 dugout19 Jul 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.
Market19 Jul 2027
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.
Match17 Jul 2027
No end in sight to Veles's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Veles has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad19 Jul 2027
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.
Boardroom19 Jul 2027
2 academy graduates step up at Veles
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Boardroom19 Jul 2027
Belts tighten at Veles
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Oleg Smirnov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Jul 2027
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.
Market12 Jul 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Oleg Smirnov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
Dmitry Sadov is still paying for one afternoon at Veles
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
Karim Giraev 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.
Market12 Jul 2027
The Karim Giraev story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Karim Giraev signs something — a contract at Veles or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The terraces12 Jul 2027
The Ishkhan Geloyan rumours reach the terraces
What was a back-page link has become a chant, and the chant is not friendly. Veles would rather it were settled quietly, and it has stopped being quiet.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Alexandr Shubin has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market5 Jul 2027
Oleg Smirnov 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.
Market5 Jul 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Veles have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market5 Jul 2027
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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Tempers go at Veles
Ishkhan Geloyan 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.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ishkhan Geloyan, and the manager let it.
Squad5 Jul 2027
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.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
Veles sign 3 boys into the academy
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
Karim Giraev 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at Veles training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pirverdi Seyidov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market28 Jun 2027
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.
Market28 Jun 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 Veles, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words exchanged at Veles
Ishkhan Geloyan 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
At 18 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.
Market28 Jun 2027
Everyone has stopped pretending: Kolomna will make the call about Alexandr Krasnopevtsev this week. Veles have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Oleg Smirnov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Market28 Jun 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Veles, another week without a signature from Mikhail Rybalko.
The dugout28 Jun 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.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
Vladislav Volkov 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market21 Jun 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Spartak Tambov waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Veles is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market21 Jun 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market21 Jun 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 Veles can pretend not to have heard.
Market21 Jun 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ionafan Sapozhnikov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Veles the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad21 Jun 2027
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.
Boardroom21 Jun 2027
Veles counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Veles now.
Squad21 Jun 2027
A row about effort at Veles
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kirill Korolkov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout21 Jun 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.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mikhail Rybalko trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
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Match
Veles have something to play for
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Boardroom
Veles can sign again
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The dugout
The manager plants his flag on Dmitry Sadov
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Jun 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.
Market14 Jun 2027
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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
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 dugout14 Jun 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matvey Zakharzhevskiy, and the manager let it.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
Dmitry Sadov is still paying for one afternoon at Veles
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
Dmitry Sergeev 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
A row about effort at Veles
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pirverdi Seyidov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market14 Jun 2027
The Karim Giraev story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Karim Giraev signs something — a contract at Veles or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad14 Jun 2027
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market7 Jun 2027
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.
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Andranik Karapetyan has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad7 Jun 2027
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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
A row about effort at Veles
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Oleg Smirnov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
“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.
Market7 Jun 2027
A season away well spent by Oleg Smirnov
18 games, 6 goals, and a squad option that has arrived without a fee attached. The interesting question at Veles now is not whether he plays but who he displaces.
Squad7 Jun 2027
“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.
Market7 Jun 2027
Veles have let the market know Artur Koloskov can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
Dmitry Sergeev 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 Dmitry Sergeev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 May 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vladislav Volkov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Veles the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad31 May 2027
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.
Loan watch31 May 2027
16 shut-outs in 32 games. A goalkeeper’s loan is judged on the afternoons when nothing happened at all, and Alexandr Krasnopevtsev has been having a lot of them.
Market31 May 2027
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.
The dugout31 May 2027
Manuk Harutyunyan 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 dugout31 May 2027
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Alexandr Shubin has written the date down.
The dugout31 May 2027
Ivan Nikin 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 Ivan Nikin trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout31 May 2027
The manager comes out for Karim Giraev
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Karim Giraev has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
Squad31 May 2027
The least glamorous thing a foreign signing ever does and the one that decides most of them. A player who can hear the shout behind him is a different footballer from one who cannot.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 May 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ionafan Sapozhnikov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Veles the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad24 May 2027
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.
The dugout24 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Ishkhan Geloyan
“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.
Boardroom24 May 2027
Veles counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Veles now.
The dugout24 May 2027
Karim Giraev 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.
Market24 May 2027
The Dmitry Sadov story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Dmitry Sadov signs something — a contract at Veles or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 May 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 Veles this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 May 2027
Kirill Korolkov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout17 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vladislav Volkov, and the manager let it.
The dugout17 May 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Dmitry Sadov'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.
The dugout17 May 2027
Karim Giraev 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.
Market17 May 2027
The Karim Giraev story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Karim Giraev signs something — a contract at Veles or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market10 May 2027
Only the photograph left for Bogdan Markov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bogdan Markov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Veles the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad10 May 2027
Tempers go at Veles
Ishkhan Geloyan 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.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Veles training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kirill Korolkov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout10 May 2027
Vladislav Volkov 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.
Loan watch10 May 2027
The goals keep arriving from Oleg Smirnov’s exile
6 goals in 18 games at Nosta — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Veles updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Market10 May 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market3 May 2027
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.
Squad3 May 2027
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.
Loan watch3 May 2027
32 appearances at Legion and the goals have stopped going in. Veles lent out a goalkeeper and are watching somebody else’s season get better every week.
The dugout3 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Alexandr Shubin
“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 dugout3 May 2027
“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.
Market3 May 2027
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.
The dugout3 May 2027
Manuk Harutyunyan 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.
Squad3 May 2027
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Veles will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
The dugout3 May 2027
Karim Giraev keeps his manager's vote
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Karim Giraev plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Apr 2027
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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Kirill Korolkov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Boardroom26 Apr 2027
Belts tighten at Veles
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
Dmitry Sergeev 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 Dmitry Sergeev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market26 Apr 2027
The Dmitry Sadov story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Dmitry Sadov signs something — a contract at Veles or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Apr 2027
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.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
Dmitry Sadov is still paying for one afternoon at Veles
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
Dmitry Sergeev 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.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Ivan Nikin
“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.
Market19 Apr 2027
The name of Karim Giraev keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Veles say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad19 Apr 2027
The least glamorous thing a foreign signing ever does and the one that decides most of them. A player who can hear the shout behind him is a different footballer from one who cannot.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Apr 2027
Only the photograph left for Bogdan Markov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bogdan Markov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Veles the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad12 Apr 2027
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 dugout12 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Ishkhan Geloyan
“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.
Loan watch12 Apr 2027
18 appearances at Nosta and the goals keep coming. Veles are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Market12 Apr 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ishkhan Geloyan’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Veles. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market5 Apr 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vladislav Volkov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Veles the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad5 Apr 2027
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.
Loan watch5 Apr 2027
16 clean sheets from 30 appearances at Legion. That is the whole of a goalkeeper’s job done properly, and it is being done a long way from the club that owns him.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Veles training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kirill Korolkov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad5 Apr 2027
“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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Narek Kostandyan is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Market5 Apr 2027
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.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Manuk Harutyunyan is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market29 Mar 2027
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.
Squad29 Mar 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 Veles this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Kirill Korolkov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Boardroom29 Mar 2027
Belts tighten at Veles
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Bogdan Markov
“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 dugout29 Mar 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Mar 2027
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.
Loan watch22 Mar 2027
15 clean sheets from 29 appearances at Legion. That is the whole of a goalkeeper’s job done properly, and it is being done a long way from the club that owns him.
Squad22 Mar 2027
44 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
Dmitry Sadov is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Market22 Mar 2027
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Veles has been clear about where Ionafan Sapozhnikov stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market15 Mar 2027
Bogdan Markov 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
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 dugout15 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Karim Giraev, and the manager let it.
Squad15 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Veles
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kirill Korolkov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
Alexandr Shubin 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.
Loan watch15 Mar 2027
18 appearances away from home and 6 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
Market15 Mar 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ishkhan Geloyan’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market15 Mar 2027
“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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Veles would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market8 Mar 2027
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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
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.
Loan watch8 Mar 2027
14 clean sheets from 27 appearances at Legion. That is the whole of a goalkeeper’s job done properly, and it is being done a long way from the club that owns him.
Market8 Mar 2027
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Nazar Solovyov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market8 Mar 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Vasily Chaykovsky 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.
Market8 Mar 2027
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Anatoly Alyoshin is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dmitry Sergeev, and the manager let it.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Narek Kostandyan and Veles agree another 3 years.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alexandr Shubin trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market1 Mar 2027
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.
Market1 Mar 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ionafan Sapozhnikov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Veles the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
Window shuts: 2 in, 6 out at Veles
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 2 arrived, 6 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad1 Mar 2027
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 dugout1 Mar 2027
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad1 Mar 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Narek Kostandyan commits to Veles for another 3 years.
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
Veles counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Veles now.
Squad1 Mar 2027
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Veles are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market22 Feb 2027
Astana arrived with $1.3M 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.
Market22 Feb 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Veles have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market22 Feb 2027
Veles say no — this time
The offer from Tobol for Zakhar Tarasenko 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.
Market22 Feb 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 Veles can pretend not to have heard.
The terraces22 Feb 2027
Vladislav Galkin has gone, the accounts have $1.3M 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
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.
Boardroom22 Feb 2027
Wages swallow 144% 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.
Loan watch22 Feb 2027
25 appearances at Legion and the goals have stopped going in. Veles lent out a goalkeeper and are watching somebody else’s season get better every week.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Kirill Korolkov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market15 Feb 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Astana waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Veles is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market15 Feb 2027
Zenit Penza 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.
Market15 Feb 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.
Market15 Feb 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Veles have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad15 Feb 2027
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 dugout15 Feb 2027
Karim Giraev 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.
Loan watch15 Feb 2027
12 shut-outs in 24 games. A goalkeeper’s loan is judged on the afternoons when nothing happened at all, and Alexandr Krasnopevtsev has been having a lot of them.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
Artur Koloskov 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.
Loan watch15 Feb 2027
18 appearances away from home and 6 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market8 Feb 2027
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.
Market8 Feb 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 Veles, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Tempers go at Veles
Ishkhan Geloyan 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.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
Karim Giraev 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 Karim Giraev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Bogdan Markov
“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 Feb 2027
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.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
Manuk Harutyunyan 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Veles would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Ionafan Sapozhnikov has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market1 Feb 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Uralets-TS waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Veles is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market1 Feb 2027
Veles say no — this time
The offer from Orenburg for Dmitry Sadov 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.
Market1 Feb 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 Veles, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad1 Feb 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 Veles this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Veles counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Veles now.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. SKA Khabarovsk have kept their man, and Veles go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout1 Feb 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.
Market1 Feb 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Muslim Bammatgereev has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Veles.
Match1 Feb 2027
Veles have something to play for
Position 4 on 23 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market25 Jan 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
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.
Boardroom25 Jan 2027
Wages eat 167% of everything Veles earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The dugout25 Jan 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.
Loan watch25 Jan 2027
21 appearances at Legion and the goals have stopped going in. Veles lent out a goalkeeper and are watching somebody else’s season get better every week.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
Dmitry Sadov is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Market25 Jan 2027
The name of Karim Giraev keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Veles say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
Mikhail Rybalko 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 dugout25 Jan 2027
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Dmitry Sergeev plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout18 Jan 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Veles may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad18 Jan 2027
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.
Loan watch18 Jan 2027
20 appearances at Legion and the goals have stopped going in. Veles lent out a goalkeeper and are watching somebody else’s season get better every week.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
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.
Loan watch18 Jan 2027
16 appearances at Nosta and the goals keep coming. Veles are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Market18 Jan 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Jan 2027
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.
The dugout11 Jan 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.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
Dmitry Sergeev 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.
Market11 Jan 2027
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.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
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 dugout11 Jan 2027
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Veles. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market4 Jan 2027
Veles say no — this time
The offer from Korabi Peshkopi for Artur Koloskov 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.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Veles have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad4 Jan 2027
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.
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
Veles counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Veles now.
Squad4 Jan 2027
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.
Market4 Jan 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Zakhar Tarasenko signs something — a contract at Veles or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Match4 Jan 2027
Veles have something to play for
Position 4 on 23 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
Loan watch4 Jan 2027
14 appearances away from home and 5 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A programme of his own, away from the group, aimed at one thing the staff think is holding him back. Most improvement happens like this and none of it makes the paper.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Dec 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Dmitry Biryukov
19 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Veles lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market28 Dec 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 Veles can pretend not to have heard.
Squad28 Dec 2026
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.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Wages eat 406% of everything Veles earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The dugout28 Dec 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 dugout28 Dec 2026
Dmitry Sadov is still paying for one afternoon at Veles
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Loan watch28 Dec 2026
17 appearances at Legion and the goals have stopped going in. Veles lent out a goalkeeper and are watching somebody else’s season get better every week.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Karim Giraev 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 Karim Giraev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market28 Dec 2026
The name of Karim Giraev keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Veles say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Dec 2026
26 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Veles lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Veles
Ishkhan Geloyan 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 dugout21 Dec 2026
Karim Giraev 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.
Loan watch21 Dec 2026
8 clean sheets from 16 appearances at Legion. That is the whole of a goalkeeper’s job done properly, and it is being done a long way from the club that owns him.
The dugout21 Dec 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.
Market21 Dec 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Dec 2026
33 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Veles lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Veles
Ishkhan Geloyan 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.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Alexandr Shubin
“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.
Market14 Dec 2026
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.
The dugout14 Dec 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 Manuk Harutyunyan is on it.
Loan watch14 Dec 2026
11 appearances away from home and 3 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“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.
Loan watch14 Dec 2026
12 starts now, an average of 6.70, and the team sheet at Nosta has stopped being a question. Exactly what everybody signed up for.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Questions about Kirill Korolkov on the training pitch
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Dec 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 Veles this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Karim Giraev
“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.
Match5 Dec 2026
Veles make home a hard place to visit
8 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Squad7 Dec 2026
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 dugout7 Dec 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.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
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.
Squad7 Dec 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. Ishkhan Geloyan has moved up it.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Match5 Dec 2026
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Volgar defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market30 Nov 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 Veles can pretend not to have heard.
Squad30 Nov 2026
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.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Wages eat 435% of everything Veles earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The dugout30 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 dugout30 Nov 2026
Dmitry Sadov is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Alexandr Shubin will call it something else in private.
Match28 Nov 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.
The dugout30 Nov 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.” Anton Suslov chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
Squad30 Nov 2026
A booking nobody needed, on a night the game was already won. Veles lose a player for the most avoidable reason there is.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Dmitry Sadov beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 22. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad23 Nov 2026
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 ratings23 Nov 2026
There was no pressure on him and nowhere he had to be. Veles lost a goal to a decision that took half a second and will be discussed all week.
Match21 Nov 2026
Veles and Sibir 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.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Pavel Kotov is still paying for one afternoon at Veles
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The dugout23 Nov 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.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
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.
Loan watch23 Nov 2026
12 appearances at Legion and the goals have stopped going in. Veles lent out a goalkeeper and are watching somebody else’s season get better every week.
Looking ahead23 Nov 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Karim Giraev’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Veles needing him to play as if none of it matters.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
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.
The dugout16 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.
Loan watch16 Nov 2026
6 clean sheets from 11 appearances at Legion. That is the whole of a goalkeeper’s job done properly, and it is being done a long way from the club that owns him.
The dugout16 Nov 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 Manuk Harutyunyan is on it.
Market16 Nov 2026
The Pavel Kotov 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.
Looking ahead16 Nov 2026
Looking ahead: Sibir at home
A side in position 7 visits next. The result will not make anybody’s season and it could quietly break the shape of one, which is why the manager has been watching the video since Sunday.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Nov 2026
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.
Match7 Nov 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Zakhar Tarasenko’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Veles.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kirill Korolkov, and the manager let it.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Marked 7.60 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Veles had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
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.” Anton Suslov, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Karim Giraev 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.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Match9 Nov 2026
Continental football is in reach for Veles
20 points from position 5. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
Market9 Nov 2026
The name of Ishkhan Geloyan keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Veles say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market2 Nov 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 Veles can pretend not to have heard.
Squad2 Nov 2026
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.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Wages swallow 435% 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.
Match31 Oct 2026
A bad afternoon for Veles against Alania
0‑1 to Alania, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout2 Nov 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 dugout2 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Anton Suslov left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Karim Giraev 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Karim Giraev moves up the pecking order
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Veles than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Veles may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Veles
Ishkhan Geloyan 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.
Match24 Oct 2026
Three points for Veles, 2‑0 the final word against Mashuk in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad26 Oct 2026
200 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
A performance of 8.30 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Too much change too quickly at Veles
9 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.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Anton Suslov on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The dugout26 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.
Looking ahead26 Oct 2026
Alania next, and one man in the Veles dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Veles
Vladislav Galkin 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.
Match17 Oct 2026
The goals have deserted Veles
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Veles can tell you which week it ends in.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alexandr Shubin, and the manager let it.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
A promise honoured at Veles
Something was said to Alexandr Shubin and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
7.06, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Veles had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Half-satisfied: Anton Suslov on the draw
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Match17 Oct 2026
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Dinamo Kirov came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
Looking ahead19 Oct 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Vladislav Volkov’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Veles needing him to play as if none of it matters.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
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 dugout12 Oct 2026
Alexandr Shubin 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 dugout12 Oct 2026
Manuk Harutyunyan 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.
Match12 Oct 2026
Continental football is in reach for Veles
13 points from position 6. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
Market12 Oct 2026
The name of Ishkhan Geloyan keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Veles say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad12 Oct 2026
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Veles would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match30 Sep 2026
The small margins put Veles out
Out, 0‑1 to Sochi, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Squad5 Oct 2026
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.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages swallow 613% 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.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Dmitry Sadov beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match5 Oct 2026
Veles at the halfway mark
Half the programme played, position 6, 13 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
Squad5 Oct 2026
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Veles have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
Squad5 Oct 2026
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.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Yegor Sysoev, and the manager let it.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Veles counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Veles now.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad28 Sep 2026
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.
Transfer targets28 Sep 2026
Veles asked and Nizhniy Novgorod said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match26 Sep 2026
Three points for Veles, 2‑0 the final word against Dinamo Moscow 2 in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Ninety minutes of Karim Giraev at his very best
Marked 8.18. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Veles.
Squad28 Sep 2026
9 new faces, and Veles 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 dugout28 Sep 2026
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.” Anton Suslov kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
Ivan Nikin 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
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 Karim Giraev was the best thing in any of them.
Looking ahead28 Sep 2026
Tyumen next, and one man in the Veles dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Sep 2026
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Transfer targets21 Sep 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad21 Sep 2026
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.
The terraces21 Sep 2026
Veles supporters have found a favourite in Bogdan Markov
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Bogdan Markov has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Market21 Sep 2026
A stepping stone, not a home, for Alamat Dzestelov
He is doing his job and he is not settling. Veles were supposed to be a step up in his own reckoning, and his own reckoning has been adjusted since he arrived.
Market21 Sep 2026
Alamat Dzestelov is 17, and Veles have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Veles told Vladislav Volkov something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout21 Sep 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.” Anton Suslov chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Chances created: 10. The column nobody reads carried the whole story of the match, and his name was at the top of it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match12 Sep 2026
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 4‑1 against Textilschik, and it could have been more.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.48, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
No sign of nerves from Dmitry Kuchugura at 21 — 7.74
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Dmitry Kuchugura did not need any: 7.74, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
Veles close the window on a squad of their own making
14 in and 3 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.
Squad14 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 Veles this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match12 Sep 2026
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Textilschik tried to reorganise, Veles did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Marked 8.26 — 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 dugout14 Sep 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Sep 2026
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Veles have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market7 Sep 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 Veles can pretend not to have heard.
Squad7 Sep 2026
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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Kirill Korolkov 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.
Market7 Sep 2026
He is 19, and nobody at Veles signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Veles counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Veles now.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
“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.
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. Dmitry Kuchugura has moved up it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market31 Aug 2026
“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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Veles
Vladislav Galkin 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 ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Veles asked and Nizhniy Novgorod said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Dmitry Sadov
“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.
Match29 Aug 2026
Sibir take the points off Veles
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Market31 Aug 2026
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Vladislav Volkov has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Veles.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Too much change too quickly at Veles
7 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.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Anton Suslov after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match19 Aug 2026
Cup progress for Veles
A 2‑1 win over Khimik, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Match19 Aug 2026
Manuk Harutyunyan wins it after the whistle should have gone
90 minutes played. Manuk Harutyunyan found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Khimik went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
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 Veles can pretend not to have heard.
Squad24 Aug 2026
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.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
At 21 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.
The dugout24 Aug 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.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
Match22 Aug 2026
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
1 error, one goal, and a night in front of the same three seconds. He will see it tonight, tomorrow and probably in February, and everybody who has played knows exactly which frame he keeps stopping on.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
At 33 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.83, and nobody on the pitch better.
Squad17 Aug 2026
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.
Match15 Aug 2026
Veles get the job done against Alania
A 2‑1 win over Alania, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Market17 Aug 2026
He is 19, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Squad17 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Manuk Harutyunyan commits to Veles for another 3 years.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Anton Suslov could afford to be generous.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Veles will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Squad17 Aug 2026
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
Looking ahead17 Aug 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad10 Aug 2026
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.
Match8 Aug 2026
Vladislav Galkin scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to Mashuk, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. German Mostovoy 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Rodion Arkhipov 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Grigory Pronin 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Timofey Fedorov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Anton Suslov after 2‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
The plan did not have a place for Vladislav Volkov
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.
The dugout10 Aug 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Dmitry Sadov commits to Veles for another 4 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
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.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Matvey Zakharzhevskiy again, and this time the name on the line is Nosta. Veles are listening politely and promising nothing.
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.
Market3 Aug 2026
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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
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 dugout3 Aug 2026
Half-satisfied: Anton Suslov on the draw
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Match1 Aug 2026
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Dinamo Kirov defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.