Marked for Kajus Bička
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market26 Feb 2029
Only the photograph left for Pavle Bekonja
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Pavle Bekonja will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Utenis the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market26 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.
Squad26 Feb 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout26 Feb 2029
This is not rotation. Saulius Dapkus has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Utenis is pretending otherwise.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brorie Idiebiru 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
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.
The dugout26 Feb 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 Rokas Lasickas is on it.
The dugout26 Feb 2029
Arvydas Dapkus 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 Utenis, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market26 Feb 2029
Utenis have made Kajus Bička available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market5 Feb 2029
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Siauliai waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Utenis is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market5 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.
Market5 Feb 2029
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Utenis have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Boardroom5 Feb 2029
Utenis close the window on a squad of their own making
1 in and 5 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.
Transfer targets5 Feb 2029
The offer went to Atlantas 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.
Squad5 Feb 2029
Tempers go at Utenis
Justas Eliosius 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.
Squad5 Feb 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 Utenis know it.
Squad5 Feb 2029
Brorie Idiebiru 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.
Squad5 Feb 2029
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Brorie Idiebiru is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad1 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 Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout1 Jan 2029
This is not rotation. Saulius Dapkus has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Utenis is pretending otherwise.
Market1 Jan 2029
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Utenis has been clear about where Karolis Dubickas stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout1 Jan 2029
Justas Eliosius loses the manager who believed in him
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Justas Eliosius's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
The dugout1 Jan 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 Rokas Lasickas is on it.
Squad1 Jan 2029
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Utenis would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
The dugout1 Jan 2029
“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.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Nerves in the Utenis squad
Justas Eliosius has been around long enough to know what the spring feels like when it goes wrong, and he can feel it. A dressing room that is frightened plays like one.
Market1 Jan 2029
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Kajus Bička may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces25 Dec 2028
Supporters organise against the Utenis board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Boardroom25 Dec 2028
Pressure builds in the Utenis boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market25 Dec 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.
Squad25 Dec 2028
A falling-out at Utenis
Justas Eliosius and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout25 Dec 2028
This is not rotation. Ignas Dapkus has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Utenis is pretending otherwise.
Squad25 Dec 2028
A row about effort at Utenis
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Brorie Idiebiru was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout25 Dec 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Darius Dubickas trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market25 Dec 2028
Utenis have let the market know Brorie Idiebiru can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Another 9 days on the injury, and a return date that has now been moved more than once. The medical staff have stopped giving one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The dugout4 Dec 2028
This is not rotation. Saulius Dapkus has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Utenis is pretending otherwise.
Squad4 Dec 2028
A row about effort at Utenis
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Brorie Idiebiru was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Tempers go at Utenis
Noah Salau 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 dugout4 Dec 2028
Rokas Lasickas has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Utenis 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.
Market4 Dec 2028
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Utenis, another week without a signature from Nikita Vanins.
The dugout4 Dec 2028
Nikita Vanins 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 Nikita Vanins trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad13 Nov 2028
Tempers go at Utenis
Justas Eliosius 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.
Squad13 Nov 2028
A row about effort at Utenis
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Brorie Idiebiru was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market13 Nov 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.
The dugout13 Nov 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Damir Colak'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 dugout13 Nov 2028
“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.
Market13 Nov 2028
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Pavle Bekonja may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market6 Nov 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 Utenis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad6 Nov 2028
“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; Utenis are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad6 Nov 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 Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout6 Nov 2028
This is not rotation. Saulius Dapkus has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Utenis is pretending otherwise.
Squad6 Nov 2028
A row about effort at Utenis
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Brorie Idiebiru was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad6 Nov 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Saulius Slavickas commits to Utenis for another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces30 Oct 2028
Anger at Utenis spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Boardroom30 Oct 2028
The scrutiny sharpens at Utenis
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Utenis is running low.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Paulius Lasickas is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad30 Oct 2028
A falling-out at Utenis
Justas Eliosius and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout30 Oct 2028
This is not rotation. Ignas Dapkus has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Utenis is pretending otherwise.
Squad30 Oct 2028
The medical room confirms 56 days on the sidelines for Ignas Satkus, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match23 Oct 2028
Utenis are in real trouble now
Position 8, 5 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Words exchanged at Utenis
Justas Eliosius 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 dugout23 Oct 2028
This is not rotation. Paulius Sernas has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Utenis is pretending otherwise.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Kajus Bička 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 dugout23 Oct 2028
Nikita Vanins 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 Nikita Vanins trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market23 Oct 2028
The shop window has Damir Colak in it
Utenis have let the market know Damir Colak can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market16 Oct 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.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Words exchanged at Utenis
Brorie Idiebiru 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.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Kajus Bička 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 dugout16 Oct 2028
Damir Colak is still paying for one afternoon at Utenis
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 dugout16 Oct 2028
Nikita Vanins 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 Nikita Vanins trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market16 Oct 2028
Utenis have let the market know Pavle Bekonja can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces2 Oct 2028
Anger at Utenis spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Boardroom2 Oct 2028
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Tadas Satkus has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Boardroom2 Oct 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Utenis
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad2 Oct 2028
A falling-out at Utenis
Justas Eliosius and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad2 Oct 2028
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 15 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
The dugout2 Oct 2028
This is not rotation. Ignas Dapkus has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Utenis is pretending otherwise.
Squad2 Oct 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mantas Eliosius and Utenis agree another 2 years.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Kajus Bička 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 dugout2 Oct 2028
Justas Eliosius loses the manager who believed in him
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Justas Eliosius's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Sep 2028
A falling-out at Utenis
Justas Eliosius and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets11 Sep 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.
The dugout11 Sep 2028
This is not rotation. Saulius Dapkus has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Utenis is pretending otherwise.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kajus Bička 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 dugout11 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.
Market11 Sep 2028
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Utenis, another week without a signature from Nikita Vanins.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces4 Sep 2028
The mood at Utenis has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Market4 Sep 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 Utenis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Utenis close the window on a squad of their own making
8 in and 10 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.
Market4 Sep 2028
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Atlantas moved on, Saulius Dapkus reports back to Utenis, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Squad4 Sep 2028
“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 Utenis know it.
Squad4 Sep 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout4 Sep 2028
This is not rotation. Ignas Dapkus has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Utenis is pretending otherwise.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brorie Idiebiru 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 dugout4 Sep 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nikita Vanins, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market7 Aug 2028
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Siauliai waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Zalgiris is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Squad7 Aug 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 Zalgiris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market7 Aug 2028
Atlantas are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Zalgiris will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Squad7 Aug 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Dāvis Ikaunieks and Zalgiris agree another 2 years.
Transfer targets7 Aug 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Suduva have kept their man, and Zalgiris go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout7 Aug 2028
This is not rotation. Kajus Bička has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Zalgiris is pretending otherwise.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Words at Zalgiris training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Grigore Turda 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 dugout7 Aug 2028
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout7 Aug 2028
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.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match5 Apr 2028
Cup progress for Zalgiris
A 2‑1 win over Utenis, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.78, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Match10 Apr 2028
First, on 15 points. The table is a fact and a fact is allowed to be enjoyed, which is as far as anybody at the club is prepared to go in public.
Market10 Apr 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.
Match8 Apr 2028
Zalgiris make it 6 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Zalgiris have 6 straight wins of it.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
“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.
Market10 Apr 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zalgiris they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad10 Apr 2028
A falling-out at Zalgiris
Tadas Eliosius and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match8 Apr 2028
Three points for Zalgiris, 3‑1 the final word against Atlantas in a contest settled by the finer margins.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad11 Oct 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Zalgiris will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market11 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Zalgiris can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words at Zalgiris training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Grigore Turda 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 dugout11 Oct 2027
Bryan Teixeira has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at 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 dugout11 Oct 2027
Nemanja Mihajlović 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 dugout11 Oct 2027
Rene Kodarin 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.
Market11 Oct 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Paulius Golubickas may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Loan watch11 Oct 2027
4 shut-outs in 12 games. A goalkeeper’s loan is judged on the afternoons when nothing happened at all, and Nikola Ralić has been having a lot of them.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad4 Oct 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 37 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market4 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.
Market4 Oct 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zalgiris is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Liviu Antal commits to Zalgiris for another 2 years.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Words at Zalgiris training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pape Paye 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.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
Zalgiris release $809.8K for the manager
The board have put money on the table rather than an encouraging word. What happens to it now is somebody else's problem, and somebody else's job.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Charlie Wilson 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 dugout4 Oct 2027
Deividas Šešplaukis 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 dugout4 Oct 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 Giedrius Matulevičius is on it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market21 Jun 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Stumbras waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Zalgiris is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
Kajus Bička: 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.” Zalgiris have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom21 Jun 2027
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $950.0K — a club that wants Žygimantas Baltrūnas enough to be asked twice.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
Zalgiris have gone to Suduva with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Squad21 Jun 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Dāvis Ikaunieks and Zalgiris agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad21 Jun 2027
The decline has begun for Pape Paye
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 38 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Zalgiris is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Market21 Jun 2027
The phone has started ringing about Nedas Klimavičius again, and this time the name on the line is Siauliai. Zalgiris are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Pape Paye 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.
Squad21 Jun 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 Zalgiris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad26 Apr 2027
50 days out for Titas Milašius after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Zalgiris will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad26 Apr 2027
The match ball belongs to Bryan Teixeira, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Bryan Teixeira was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.55. 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.
Match24 Apr 2027
Three points for Zalgiris, 3‑1 the final word against Utenis in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad26 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Zalgiris
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Grigore Turda was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match26 Apr 2027
Halfway: Zalgiris sit in position 2
16 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Zalgiris are still strangers to each other
7 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 dugout26 Apr 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.
Market26 Apr 2027
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Zalgiris has been clear about where Dariuš Stankevičius stands, which is more than many ever get.