Marked for Mitchell Bates
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match17 Nov 2031
Siauliai refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 26 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.
Squad17 Nov 2031
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Siauliai will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Squad17 Nov 2031
Words exchanged at Siauliai
Kamron Dimata-Gomis 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.
Squad17 Nov 2031
6 clean sheets across a season, and the one award on the pitch nobody else is eligible for. Most keepers get through a whole career without a year like it.
The dugout17 Nov 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Andrea Scaldaferri, and the manager let it.
Squad17 Nov 2031
Too much change too quickly at Siauliai
5 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 dugout17 Nov 2031
Enea Topi has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Siauliai 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 dugout17 Nov 2031
Mitchell Bates 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 Siauliai, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market17 Nov 2031
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Karl Forsberg leaves Siauliai the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Nov 2031
A falling-out at Siauliai
Enea Topi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 Nov 2031
A move Ben Nash would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Ben Nash is living that version at Siauliai, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad10 Nov 2031
Markus Poom 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.
Squad10 Nov 2031
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 36 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
The dugout10 Nov 2031
Mateja Premović has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Siauliai 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 dugout10 Nov 2031
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Andrea Scaldaferri trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Nov 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Siauliai this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Nov 2031
Words at Siauliai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Markus Poom 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 dugout3 Nov 2031
When it matters, Markus Poom 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.
Market3 Nov 2031
“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 dugout3 Nov 2031
The manager makes an example of Livio Milts
“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.
Squad3 Nov 2031
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
Steady
Market27 Oct 2031
“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.
Squad27 Oct 2031
Enea Topi 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 Oct 2031
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 Manos Faitakis is on it.
In brief
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Squad
Livio Milts falls out with a teammate over standards
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The dugout
Livio Milts asks for a word with the manager
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad13 Oct 2031
A falling-out at Siauliai
Enea Topi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad13 Oct 2031
Markus Poom 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 dugout13 Oct 2031
No hiding place for Johan Lie
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Johan Lie, and the manager let it.
The dugout13 Oct 2031
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.
Market13 Oct 2031
No place for Manuel Lanza in the plan
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Manuel Lanza has his answer from Siauliai; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Squad13 Oct 2031
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 Siauliai would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad6 Oct 2031
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Kamron Dimata-Gomis and Siauliai agree another 4 years.
Squad6 Oct 2031
Words exchanged at Siauliai
Enea Topi 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.
Squad6 Oct 2031
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Tomas Kazlauskas 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.
Squad6 Oct 2031
Too much change too quickly at Siauliai
5 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 dugout6 Oct 2031
Markus Poom 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 Markus Poom is on it.
The dugout6 Oct 2031
The manager makes an example of Livio Milts
“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
Market29 Sep 2031
“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.
Squad29 Sep 2031
Enea Topi 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.
Squad29 Sep 2031
Words at Siauliai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Markus Poom 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.
Market29 Sep 2031
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Deividas Kazlauskas 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.
Market29 Sep 2031
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Aidas Simkus is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market29 Sep 2031
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Darius Girdvainis is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The dugout29 Sep 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Andrea Scaldaferri, and the manager let it.
Squad29 Sep 2031
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Johan Lie commits to Siauliai for another 3 years.
The dugout29 Sep 2031
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 Manos Faitakis is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Sep 2031
Isaac Lufuiku 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 dugout15 Sep 2031
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.
Squad15 Sep 2031
Words at Siauliai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Livio Milts 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 dugout15 Sep 2031
“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.
Squad15 Sep 2031
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Siauliai would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Squad15 Sep 2031
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Siauliai will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
The dugout15 Sep 2031
“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.
Market15 Sep 2031
3 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Siauliai could get for him.
Market15 Sep 2031
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Alexandr Makiev leaves Siauliai the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Sep 2031
A fracture rules Giorgi Khachidze out for 16 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Siauliai will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market8 Sep 2031
“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.
Squad8 Sep 2031
Words exchanged at Siauliai
Enea Topi 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.
Squad8 Sep 2031
A row about effort at Siauliai
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Markus Poom was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout8 Sep 2031
Markus Poom 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 Markus Poom is on it.
The dugout8 Sep 2031
“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.
Squad8 Sep 2031
This league is too small for Isaac Lufuiku
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Siauliai will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Market8 Sep 2031
A season-long look at somebody else’s player: Isaac Lufuiku arrives from Suduva with something to prove and a return ticket in the drawer. Good loans make everybody richer; this one starts Saturday.
The dugout8 Sep 2031
Bryan Nouvier 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 Siauliai, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market1 Sep 2031
“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 Siauliai, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad1 Sep 2031
A fracture rules Giorgi Khachidze out for 24 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Siauliai will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Boardroom1 Sep 2031
Deadline passes with 14 signed and 6 gone
That is the business done at Siauliai 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.
Transfer targets1 Sep 2031
The deal with Suduva is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Squad1 Sep 2031
Enea Topi 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 targets1 Sep 2031
$47.0K was the most the club would pay and Stumbras were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Squad1 Sep 2031
Markus Poom 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 dugout1 Sep 2031
Enea Topi 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 dugout1 Sep 2031
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
Squad18 Aug 2031
40 days out for Giorgi Khachidze after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Siauliai will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad18 Aug 2031
A falling-out at Siauliai
Enea Topi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad18 Aug 2031
A row about effort at Siauliai
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Markus Poom was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets18 Aug 2031
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Trakai have kept their man, and Siauliai go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Transfer targets18 Aug 2031
A loan move for Amine Akkal is in the works
Siauliai have made the call to Kauno Zalgiris. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets18 Aug 2031
Stumbras have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The dugout18 Aug 2031
Mateja Premović has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Siauliai 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 Aug 2031
Livio Milts 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.
Squad18 Aug 2031
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Siauliai will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Aug 2031
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 47 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market11 Aug 2031
“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 Siauliai, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad11 Aug 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Siauliai this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Aug 2031
A row about effort at Siauliai
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Markus Poom was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets11 Aug 2031
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 Aug 2031
“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 targets11 Aug 2031
A loan enquiry to Utenis: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets11 Aug 2031
Suduva have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The dugout11 Aug 2031
Markus Poom 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 Markus Poom is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Aug 2031
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 54 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market4 Aug 2031
“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 Aug 2031
The name of Kuba Wiśniewski has come up in conversations Siauliai were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Transfer targets4 Aug 2031
The deal with Kauno Zalgiris is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Squad4 Aug 2031
“The easiest signature of my career.” Tautvydas Burdzilauskas and Siauliai agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad4 Aug 2031
Enea Topi 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 Aug 2031
This is not rotation. Darius Novikovas has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Siauliai is pretending otherwise.
Squad4 Aug 2031
“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; Siauliai are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Transfer targets4 Aug 2031
A loan move for Pavel Popov is in the works
Siauliai have made the call to Zalgiris. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Jun 2031
Bulat Sadykov damages knee ligaments — 43 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 43 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.
The terraces30 Jun 2031
The mood at Siauliai 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.
Market30 Jun 2031
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Siauliai can pretend not to have heard.
Match30 Jun 2031
Siauliai are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 26 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
The dugout30 Jun 2031
Mitchell Bates: 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.” Siauliai have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Transfer targets30 Jun 2031
Everything agreed with Trakai, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad30 Jun 2031
A falling-out at Siauliai
Enea Topi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad30 Jun 2031
Words at Siauliai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Markus Poom 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 dugout30 Jun 2031
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
Squad23 Jun 2031
Bulat Sadykov damages knee ligaments — 50 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 50 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 Jun 2031
Utenis come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Siauliai did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market23 Jun 2031
“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 Siauliai, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad23 Jun 2031
Words exchanged at Siauliai
Kamron Dimata-Gomis 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 targets23 Jun 2031
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 targets23 Jun 2031
Suduva have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Transfer targets23 Jun 2031
A loan enquiry to Suduva: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout23 Jun 2031
Mateja Premović has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Siauliai 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.
Squad23 Jun 2031
Livio Milts 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
The terraces2 Jun 2031
Anger at Siauliai 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.
Match31 May 2031
3‑0, and Kamron Dimata-Gomis took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Siauliai tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings2 Jun 2031
A brace, and Kamron Dimata-Gomis takes the afternoon — 8.70
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Kamron Dimata-Gomis provided it, and the 8.70 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market2 Jun 2031
“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.
Match2 Jun 2031
Siauliai up to position 3
26 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
The dugout2 Jun 2031
“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.
Squad2 Jun 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Siauliai this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces2 Jun 2031
He is 23 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.
Player ratings2 Jun 2031
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 11 actions, 6.96, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad26 May 2031
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 10 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad26 May 2031
Enea Topi 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 Siauliai this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 May 2031
Words at Siauliai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Markus Poom 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 ratings26 May 2031
Vido Marković did the work nobody counts — 6.79
12 combined actions and 6.79. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Match24 May 2031
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout26 May 2031
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 0‑2 Mantas Satkus left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout26 May 2031
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.
Market26 May 2031
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Player ratings26 May 2031
9 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match10 May 2031
3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Match10 May 2031
Siauliai cannot stop winning
7 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.
Market12 May 2031
“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 dugout12 May 2031
Manuel Lanza: 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.” Siauliai have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad12 May 2031
Words exchanged at Siauliai
Enea Topi 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.
Looking ahead12 May 2031
The fixture the rest of the division is looking forward to more than either of the sides in it. Both know a win changes the season and a defeat does not end it, which is what makes it hard to play.
Player ratings12 May 2031
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.30, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings12 May 2031
A performance of 8.07 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout12 May 2031
The manager makes an example of Mitchell Bates
“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
Squad14 Apr 2031
Bryan Nouvier damages knee ligaments — 40 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 40 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.
Match12 Apr 2031
Siauliai 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.
Squad14 Apr 2031
“The easiest signature of my career.” Enea Topi and Siauliai agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad14 Apr 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Siauliai this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Apr 2031
A row about effort at Siauliai
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Markus Poom was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match12 Apr 2031
A 2‑0 win over Stumbras, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings14 Apr 2031
A performance of 8.32 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings14 Apr 2031
A performance of 8.16 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout14 Apr 2031
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.” Mantas Satkus, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout31 Mar 2031
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Siauliai may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad31 Mar 2031
Enea Topi 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 Siauliai this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout31 Mar 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mitchell Bates, and the manager let it.
Squad31 Mar 2031
A row about effort at Siauliai
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Coby Ebere was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad31 Mar 2031
5 new faces, and Siauliai 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.
Squad31 Mar 2031
No place for Aly Coulibaly in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Siauliai are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
The dugout31 Mar 2031
Coby Ebere 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 Coby Ebere is on it.
Looking ahead31 Mar 2031
Suduva next, and one man in the Siauliai dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Market31 Mar 2031
Siauliai have let the market know Darius Novikovas can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 Mar 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Siauliai this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Mar 2031
Markus Poom 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 Mar 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mateja Premović, and the manager let it.
Squad17 Mar 2031
“The easiest signature of my career.” Andrea Scaldaferri and Siauliai agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings17 Mar 2031
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match15 Mar 2031
It needed Tomas Kazlauskas to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Kauno Zalgiris, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout17 Mar 2031
Kuba Wiśniewski has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Siauliai 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 dugout17 Mar 2031
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Mantas Satkus after the 2‑2 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Looking ahead17 Mar 2031
The leaders are next for Siauliai
Zalgiris top the table and they are coming into view. Nothing to lose, which is what every manager says before losing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom27 Jan 2031
The scrutiny sharpens at Siauliai
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Siauliai is running low.
Market27 Jan 2031
Bulat Sadykov 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 Siauliai can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets27 Jan 2031
The deal with Zalgiris is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Transfer targets27 Jan 2031
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.
Squad27 Jan 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Siauliai this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Jan 2031
Words at Siauliai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Georg Lani 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.
Squad27 Jan 2031
Too much change too quickly at Siauliai
5 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 dugout27 Jan 2031
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 Jan 2031
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Andrea Scaldaferri trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market9 Dec 2030
“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 Siauliai, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad9 Dec 2030
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Darko Grozdanoski and Siauliai agree another 3 years.
Squad9 Dec 2030
Darius Novikovas 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
Uneasy
Boardroom2 Dec 2030
Pressure builds in the Siauliai boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad2 Dec 2030
“The easiest signature of my career.” Darko Grozdanoski and Siauliai agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad2 Dec 2030
Enea Topi 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.
Squad2 Dec 2030
The formation has left Mitchell Bates behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Siauliai will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Squad2 Dec 2030
Words at Siauliai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Georg Lani 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 dugout2 Dec 2030
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 Mateja Premović is on it.
Market2 Dec 2030
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Siauliai, another week without a signature from Mitchell Bates.
The dugout2 Dec 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Yevhenii Stepanchuk, and the manager let it.
Market2 Dec 2030
The best deals are the ones the accountants never notice. Mitchell Bates arrives at Siauliai with his wages the only cost and something to prove the only clause.