Marked for Afonso Busatori
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad13 Mar 2028
32 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Suduva lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings13 Mar 2028
No sign of nerves from Lucky Tom at 21 — 7.65
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Lucky Tom did not need any: 7.65, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Player ratings13 Mar 2028
Age has not caught Markas Beneta yet — 8.19
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.19 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Match11 Mar 2028
Nobody wants to play Suduva right now
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Tempers go at Suduva
Faustas Steponavičius 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.
Match11 Mar 2028
A 3‑1 win over Atlantas, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Amadou Sabo 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 terraces13 Mar 2028
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Ibrahima Seck 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.
Player ratings13 Mar 2028
Ninety minutes of Ibrahima Seck at his very best
Marked 8.41. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Suduva.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Feb 2027
Tempers go at Suduva
Amadou Sabo 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Suduva training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gary Tello 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
The manager comes out for Ignas Plūkas
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Ignas Plūkas has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad4 Jan 2027
Gary Tello 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 Suduva this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Amadou Sabo 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Rati Grigalava and Suduva agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Suduva
Amadou Sabo 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Suduva training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ibrahima Seck 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Suduva has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Dec 2026
Amadou Sabo 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 Suduva this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Gary Tello 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 Dec 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Afonso Busatori and Suduva agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.