Marked for Fedor Černych
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad29 Oct 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kauno Zalgiris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Oct 2029
Words at Kauno Zalgiris training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valdas Paulauskas 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 dugout29 Oct 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Fedor Černych, and the manager let it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Oct 2029
A knee injury of the worst kind for Nicolás Mosquera
16 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kauno Zalgiris lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market22 Oct 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Marius Paulauskas will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kauno Zalgiris the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad22 Oct 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kauno Zalgiris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Oct 2029
Valdas Paulauskas 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 Oct 2029
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 Damjan Pavlović is on it.
The dugout22 Oct 2029
Fedor Černych 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 Kauno Zalgiris, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match10 Sep 2029
Kauno Zalgiris refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 21 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.
Market10 Sep 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Kauno Zalgiris is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad10 Sep 2029
Damjan Pavlović and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 Sep 2029
A muscle injury and 16 days out for Motiejus Burba
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Kauno Zalgiris will quote 16 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Transfer targets10 Sep 2029
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.
Transfer targets10 Sep 2029
The clock did what Siauliai would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Squad10 Sep 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ionut Mihaila and Kauno Zalgiris agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad10 Sep 2029
Words at Kauno Zalgiris training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valdas Paulauskas 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 Sep 2029
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Sep 2029
“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 dugout3 Sep 2029
Fedor Černych: 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.” Kauno Zalgiris have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom3 Sep 2029
Deadline passes with 10 signed and 12 gone
That is the business done at Kauno Zalgiris until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Squad3 Sep 2029
Vykintas Slivka 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.
Transfer targets3 Sep 2029
The clock did what Zalgiris would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Squad3 Sep 2029
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Kauno Zalgiris are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Market3 Sep 2029
“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.
Squad3 Sep 2029
Valdas Paulauskas 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 dugout3 Sep 2029
When it matters, Léo Ribeiro 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market27 Aug 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Kauno Zalgiris is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad27 Aug 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kauno Zalgiris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Aug 2029
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valdas Paulauskas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout27 Aug 2029
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 dugout27 Aug 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kajus Bička, and the manager let it.
The dugout27 Aug 2029
Fedor Černych 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
Market6 Aug 2029
Amine Lazrak 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 Kauno Zalgiris can pretend not to have heard.
Market6 Aug 2029
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Kauno Zalgiris people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Transfer targets6 Aug 2029
The offer went to Trakai this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Squad6 Aug 2029
Vykintas Slivka 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.
Market6 Aug 2029
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Kauno Zalgiris have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
The dugout6 Aug 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Fabien Ourega, and the manager let it.
Market6 Aug 2029
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Kauno Zalgiris, another week without a signature from Damjan Pavlović.
Squad6 Aug 2029
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valdas Paulauskas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad6 Aug 2029
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Jun 2029
Andrius Satkus damages knee ligaments — 16 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 16 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.
Market18 Jun 2029
Terms done: Luka Račić is going
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Zalgiris waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Kauno Zalgiris is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Squad18 Jun 2029
A fracture rules Marius Eliosius out for 49 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kauno Zalgiris will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match18 Jun 2029
Position 3 and 21 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market18 Jun 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Kauno Zalgiris is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout18 Jun 2029
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Kauno Zalgiris have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Transfer targets18 Jun 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Zalgiris have kept their man, and Kauno Zalgiris go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad18 Jun 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kauno Zalgiris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout18 Jun 2029
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings28 May 2029
Successful dribbles: 36. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad28 May 2029
70 days out for Marius Eliosius after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Kauno Zalgiris will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market28 May 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Marius Paulauskas will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kauno Zalgiris the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match26 May 2029
After 9 games, Kauno Zalgiris finally taste it again
The first defeat in 9 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Trakai; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
Squad28 May 2029
Vykintas Slivka 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.
Match26 May 2029
Trakai left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout28 May 2029
Luka Račić 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 May 2029
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valdas Paulauskas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout28 May 2029
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Donatas Kuklys 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
Squad14 May 2029
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 84 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match12 May 2029
There were 88 minutes on the clock and Suduva had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Kauno Zalgiris did not stop to explain themselves.
Market14 May 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Anton Tolordava will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kauno Zalgiris the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match12 May 2029
Whatever happens, Kauno Zalgiris do not lose
8 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad14 May 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kauno Zalgiris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match12 May 2029
It finished 1‑0, and it was Damjan Pavlović’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Kauno Zalgiris.
Player ratings14 May 2029
Marked 8.07 — 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.
Squad14 May 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Liam Poulin commits to Kauno Zalgiris for another 4 years.
Squad14 May 2029
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valdas Paulauskas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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Player ratings
Nothing got past Luka Račić
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The dugout
Fedor Černych gets picked when it counts
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Apr 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad30 Apr 2029
A fracture rules Marius Eliosius out for 98 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kauno Zalgiris will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings30 Apr 2029
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 7.93 for the rest of it.
Player ratings30 Apr 2029
Damjan Pavlović pops up at the right end — 7.72
7.72, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Market30 Apr 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Kauno Zalgiris is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match28 Apr 2029
Whatever happens, Kauno Zalgiris do not lose
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad30 Apr 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kauno Zalgiris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match28 Apr 2029
A point taken on 94 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
The dugout30 Apr 2029
The manager makes an example of Anton Tolordava
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market16 Apr 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Kauno Zalgiris they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Player ratings16 Apr 2029
Successful dribbles: 23. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad16 Apr 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kauno Zalgiris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout16 Apr 2029
The manager makes an example of Léo Ribeiro
“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.
Match16 Apr 2029
7 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.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Words at Kauno Zalgiris training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valdas Paulauskas 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.
Player ratings16 Apr 2029
Marked 7.43. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout16 Apr 2029
“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.
Boardroom16 Apr 2029
A clause somebody insisted on years ago, in a negotiation nobody remembers, has just paid Kauno Zalgiris $170.0K. Ivan Fiolić left a long time ago; the paperwork stayed.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match4 Apr 2029
Atlantas are out and Kauno Zalgiris go through, 4‑2 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Squad9 Apr 2029
20 days out for Fedor Černych after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Kauno Zalgiris will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings9 Apr 2029
Marius Paulauskas could not have asked for more on his first appearance — 8.04
Debuts are survived rather than enjoyed. This one was enjoyed: 8.04, 1 goals, and a manager already being asked whether he starts again next week.
Player ratings9 Apr 2029
A brace, and Marius Eliosius takes the afternoon — 9.64
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Marius Eliosius provided it, and the 9.64 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market9 Apr 2029
Only the photograph left for Rokas Lekiatas
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Rokas Lekiatas will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kauno Zalgiris the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad9 Apr 2029
Vykintas Slivka 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 ratings9 Apr 2029
Successful dribbles: 22. 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.
Squad9 Apr 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Léo Ribeiro and Kauno Zalgiris agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Apr 2029
27 days out for Fedor Černych after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Kauno Zalgiris will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings2 Apr 2029
Successful dribbles: 26. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Market2 Apr 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Kauno Zalgiris they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match31 Mar 2029
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Kauno Zalgiris are no longer polite ones.
Match31 Mar 2029
4 matches without a goal for Kauno Zalgiris
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Vykintas Slivka 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.
Squad2 Apr 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Léo Ribeiro and Kauno Zalgiris agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad2 Apr 2029
100 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
The dugout2 Apr 2029
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
Crisis
Squad26 Mar 2029
A fracture rules Fedor Černych out for 35 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kauno Zalgiris will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market26 Mar 2029
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Kauno Zalgiris, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market26 Mar 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Kauno Zalgiris is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Vykintas Slivka and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match24 Mar 2029
3 matches without a goal for Kauno Zalgiris
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Match24 Mar 2029
0‑2 to Suduva, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout26 Mar 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Fabien Ourega, and the manager let it.
Player ratings26 Mar 2029
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Words at Kauno Zalgiris training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valdas Paulauskas 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
Steady
Squad19 Mar 2029
A fracture rules Fedor Černych out for 42 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kauno Zalgiris will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market19 Mar 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Kauno Zalgiris they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market19 Mar 2029
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Franco Baldassarra wants continental football; whether Kauno Zalgiris can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Anton Tolordava and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Words at Kauno Zalgiris training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valdas Paulauskas 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 dugout19 Mar 2029
The manager makes an example of Kajus Bička
“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 dugout19 Mar 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Kauno Zalgiris, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
“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.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
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
Crisis
Squad12 Mar 2029
49 days out for Fedor Černych after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Kauno Zalgiris will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match10 Mar 2029
0‑3 to Zalgiris, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market12 Mar 2029
Only the photograph left for Rokas Lekiatas
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Rokas Lekiatas will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kauno Zalgiris the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Fedor Černych and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout12 Mar 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tomas Švedkauskas, and the manager let it.
Player ratings12 Mar 2029
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Boardroom12 Mar 2029
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Squad12 Mar 2029
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Kauno Zalgiris know it.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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The dugout
Vykintas Slivka has become a man the manager trusts
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The dugout
Fabien Ourega does not fit this one
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Mar 2029
A fracture rules Fedor Černych out for 56 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kauno Zalgiris will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings5 Mar 2029
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.
Player ratings5 Mar 2029
Amine Lazrak, 19, steals the show — 7.79
Marked 7.79 at 19, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Market5 Mar 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Marius Paulauskas will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kauno Zalgiris the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad5 Mar 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Franco Baldassarra and Kauno Zalgiris agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad5 Mar 2029
Vykintas Slivka 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.
Boardroom5 Mar 2029
5 academy graduates step up at Kauno Zalgiris
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.
The terraces5 Mar 2029
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Amine Lazrak 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.
Market5 Mar 2029
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Arnas Vaitkunas is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Feb 2029
A fracture rules Fedor Černych out for 63 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kauno Zalgiris will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market26 Feb 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Kauno Zalgiris is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Vykintas Slivka and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Words at Kauno Zalgiris training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valdas Paulauskas 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 dugout26 Feb 2029
Tomas Švedkauskas has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Kauno Zalgiris 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.
Match26 Feb 2029
Position 5, 13 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Feb 2029
A fracture rules Fedor Černych out for 71 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kauno Zalgiris will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market19 Feb 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Kauno Zalgiris they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad19 Feb 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kauno Zalgiris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Feb 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Marko Konatar commits to Kauno Zalgiris for another 3 years.
Transfer targets19 Feb 2029
The window shuts on the Justas Sernas deal
Kauno Zalgiris ran out of time with Atlantas. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
The dugout19 Feb 2029
Luka Račić 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.
The dugout19 Feb 2029
Léo Ribeiro 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 Léo Ribeiro is on it.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Tomas Švedkauskas has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
The dugout19 Feb 2029
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
Squad12 Feb 2029
Fedor Černych breaks a bone — 78 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 78 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market12 Feb 2029
“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 Feb 2029
Vykintas Slivka 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.
Transfer targets12 Feb 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Zalgiris have kept their man, and Kauno Zalgiris go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Transfer targets12 Feb 2029
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Kauno Zalgiris will try again when the window opens; Zalgiris may not be selling by then.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valdas Paulauskas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad12 Feb 2029
The formation has left Kajus Bička behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Kauno Zalgiris will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
The dugout12 Feb 2029
Fedor Černych has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Kauno Zalgiris 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 dugout12 Feb 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Marius Paulauskas, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Feb 2029
Fedor Černych breaks a bone — 85 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 85 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market5 Feb 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kauno Zalgiris can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets5 Feb 2029
The clubs have shaken hands with Zalgiris; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Boardroom5 Feb 2029
Kauno Zalgiris close the window on a squad of their own making
2 in and 4 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.
Market5 Feb 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Kauno Zalgiris they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad5 Feb 2029
Vykintas Slivka and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout5 Feb 2029
The manager makes an example of Damjan Pavlović
“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.
Transfer targets5 Feb 2029
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Kauno Zalgiris will try again when the window opens; Trakai may not be selling by then.
Squad5 Feb 2029
Valdas Paulauskas 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
Squad29 Jan 2029
Fedor Černych breaks a bone — 95 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 95 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market29 Jan 2029
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Kauno Zalgiris people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Transfer targets29 Jan 2029
$81.0K settles it between the clubs for Justas Sernas
Atlantas have accepted the money. What Kauno Zalgiris do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Market29 Jan 2029
Only the photograph left for Motiejus Burba
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Motiejus Burba will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kauno Zalgiris the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad29 Jan 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kauno Zalgiris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout29 Jan 2029
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 dugout29 Jan 2029
Damjan Pavlović 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.
Match29 Jan 2029
Position 5 on 13 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.
Market29 Jan 2029
6 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Kauno Zalgiris money.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Jan 2029
102 days out for Fedor Černych after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Kauno Zalgiris will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market22 Jan 2029
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Utenis waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Kauno Zalgiris is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market22 Jan 2029
“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.
Market22 Jan 2029
The offer from Utenis for Valdas Paulauskas 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 Jan 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Kauno Zalgiris is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Fedor Černych 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 dugout22 Jan 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Anton Tolordava, and the manager let it.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valdas Paulauskas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout22 Jan 2029
When it matters, Léo Ribeiro 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market15 Jan 2029
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Kauno Zalgiris have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The dugout15 Jan 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Kauno Zalgiris may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market15 Jan 2029
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets15 Jan 2029
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Kauno Zalgiris have done the hard part with Trakai, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Market15 Jan 2029
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Kauno Zalgiris can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Vykintas Slivka 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.
Transfer targets15 Jan 2029
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.
Market15 Jan 2029
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Kauno Zalgiris have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valdas Paulauskas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Dec 2028
21 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Kauno Zalgiris lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market18 Dec 2028
Rokas Lekiatas has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Kauno Zalgiris they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Anton Tolordava 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 dugout18 Dec 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 dugout18 Dec 2028
Fedor Černych has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Kauno Zalgiris 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 dugout18 Dec 2028
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Franco Baldassarra has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad4 Dec 2028
36 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Kauno Zalgiris lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad4 Dec 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Fabien Ourega and Kauno Zalgiris agree another 2 years.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Fedor Černych 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.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Valdas Paulauskas 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.
Market4 Dec 2028
He is 18, and nobody at Kauno Zalgiris signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
The dugout4 Dec 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 dugout4 Dec 2028
Damjan Pavlović 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.
Market4 Dec 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.
Match4 Dec 2028
Position 5, 13 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad20 Nov 2028
Vykintas Slivka damages knee ligaments — 51 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 51 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.
Market20 Nov 2028
Only the photograph left for Rokas Lekiatas
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Rokas Lekiatas will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kauno Zalgiris the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom20 Nov 2028
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Robert Łukowiak has agreed terms with Trakai for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Vykintas Slivka 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 Nov 2028
Fedor Černych has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Kauno Zalgiris 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.
Market20 Nov 2028
The shop window has Marvin Owen in it
Kauno Zalgiris have let the market know Marvin Owen can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Oct 2028
Vykintas Slivka damages knee ligaments — 79 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 79 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.
Market23 Oct 2028
Only the photograph left for Rokas Lekiatas
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Rokas Lekiatas will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kauno Zalgiris the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Anton Tolordava 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Oct 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Vykintas Slivka
86 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kauno Zalgiris lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad16 Oct 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kauno Zalgiris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Anton Tolordava, and the manager let it.
The dugout16 Oct 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.
Squad16 Oct 2028
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.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Luka Račić has seen what the next man earns
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Kauno Zalgiris that is a harder question to answer.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Oct 2028
93 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Kauno Zalgiris lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad9 Oct 2028
A muscle injury and 14 days out for Aidas Eliosius
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Kauno Zalgiris will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad9 Oct 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Vykintas Slivka commits to Kauno Zalgiris for another 2 years.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Vykintas Slivka and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout9 Oct 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 Tomas Švedkauskas is on it.
Match9 Oct 2028
Continental football is in reach for Kauno Zalgiris
13 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad25 Sep 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Vykintas Slivka
108 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kauno Zalgiris lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market25 Sep 2028
Only the photograph left for Rokas Lekiatas
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Rokas Lekiatas will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kauno Zalgiris the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Vykintas Slivka was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad25 Sep 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jenson Kilroy and Kauno Zalgiris agree another 3 years.
The dugout25 Sep 2028
The manager makes an example of Luka Račić
“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 dugout25 Sep 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
Squad28 Aug 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Vykintas Slivka
139 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kauno Zalgiris lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market28 Aug 2028
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Atlantas waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Kauno Zalgiris is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market28 Aug 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market28 Aug 2028
Rokas Lekiatas has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Kauno Zalgiris they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Anton Tolordava 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 dugout28 Aug 2028
Lukas Kuklys 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 Kauno Zalgiris, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings22 May 2028
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match20 May 2028
Stumbras made Kauno Zalgiris work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings22 May 2028
Ninety minutes of Lirim Kastrati at his very best
Marked 8.35. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Kauno Zalgiris.
Squad22 May 2028
Fedor Černych 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.
Squad22 May 2028
Marko Konatar 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 May 2028
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.” Donatas Kuklys kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The dugout22 May 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 dugout22 May 2028
The manager makes an example of Matteo Arrighi
“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.
Squad22 May 2028
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Kauno Zalgiris have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings3 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 37. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad3 Apr 2028
35 days out for Robert Łukowiak after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Kauno Zalgiris will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match3 Apr 2028
3 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Match1 Apr 2028
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Kauno Zalgiris are no longer polite ones.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
Amine Benchaib: 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.” Kauno Zalgiris have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market3 Apr 2028
Only the photograph left for Rokas Lekiatas
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Rokas Lekiatas will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kauno Zalgiris the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Fedor Černych and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Words at Kauno Zalgiris training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lirim Kastrati 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.
Squad3 Apr 2028
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad14 Feb 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 85 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market14 Feb 2028
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Trakai moved on, Lirim Kastrati reports back to Kauno Zalgiris, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Market14 Feb 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Kauno Zalgiris they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Lirim Kastrati 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.
Squad14 Feb 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 Kauno Zalgiris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market14 Feb 2028
He signed expecting a bigger stage than the one he found. It has not taken long, and it has not taken the dressing room long to notice either.
Squad14 Feb 2028
No place for Amine Lazrak in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Kauno Zalgiris are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
The dugout14 Feb 2028
The manager makes an example of Amine Benchaib
“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 dugout14 Feb 2028
Fedor Černych has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Kauno Zalgiris 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.