“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Daugavpils can pretend not to have heard.
“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 Daugavpils know it.
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.
Ceti Junior Tchibinda 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.
5 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Daugavpils can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Daugavpils have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The deal with Ventspils 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.
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.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Zain Tahir 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.
“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.
Nobody at Daugavpils 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Daugavpils can pretend not to have heard.
Ziad Ouled-Haj-M'hand 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.
Liepaja left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad18 Jun 2029
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. Liepaja have kept their man, and Daugavpils go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Successful dribbles: 17. 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Daugavpils can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Daugavpils have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tadas Paulauskas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
0‑1 to Ventspils, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout4 Jun 2029
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Raivis Oss to a room that had heard them before.
Nobody at Daugavpils 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.
Tadas Paulauskas 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 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.
Both clubs in the mire, one fixture between them, and a ground that will be louder and more frightened than at any point in the season. Daugavpils know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Raivis Oss on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
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.
200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Zain Tahir 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.
Every debut is a small story about the future: Karol Prudel, 21 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
Nobody at Daugavpils is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Daugavpils can pretend not to have heard.
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.
“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.
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
Two hours a week with a tutor, which is the least glamorous thing at Daugavpils and the one that decides whether a foreign signing is still here in two years.
In brief
BoardroomThe Daugavpils production line keeps running
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.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Words at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Youssef Mephtah 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.
“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.
“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 Daugavpils know it.
Abuchi Onuoha 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 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.
“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.
“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.