“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 The request is on a desk at Daugavpils, and it is not being withdrawn.
Daugavpils offered $7.0K; Jelgava said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
This is not rotation. Dāvis Cucurs has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Daugavpils is pretending otherwise.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Words at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Kivinda 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ventspils have kept their man, and Daugavpils go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Zain Tahir trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Spartaks will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Daugavpils were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
“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 The request is on a desk at Daugavpils, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Words at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Kivinda 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.
Daugavpils asked and Spartaks said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Spartaks held the lead for 2 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Daugavpils answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
It finished 1‑0, and it was Abu Azeez’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Daugavpils.
Squad29 May 2028
Abu Azeez 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.
Marked 7.68. 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 dugout29 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.” Raivis Oss kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Youssef Mephtah trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
10 points from position 4. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
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 7.60 for the rest of it.
Ziad Ouled-Haj-M'hand 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.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Words at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Kivinda 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Ceti Junior Tchibinda 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.
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. 10 actions, 6.63, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Ceti Junior Tchibinda is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Abu Azeez 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.
“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; Daugavpils are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
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 Daniel Kivinda is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Daugavpils, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The words a physio says slowly. 26 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.
Ziad Ouled-Haj-M'hand 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniel Kivinda was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Rens Hut trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
16 points from position 4. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
Add another name to the list: Metta/LU have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Gļebs Mihaļcovs. The answer from Daugavpils has not changed — yet.
“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; Daugavpils are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Youssef Mephtah and Daugavpils agree another 4 years.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Liepaja have kept their man, and Daugavpils go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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 Daniel Kivinda is on it.