Marked for Vikintas Cernych
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market7 Sep 2026
“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.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 2 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Utenis 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
43 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Utenis asked and Kauno Zalgiris said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Utenis
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Modestas Cernych was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Kauno Zalgiris 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
“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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 Aug 2026
“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 The request is on a desk at Utenis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Modestas Cernych 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Utenis
Vikintas Cernych 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 dugout31 Aug 2026
“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.
Market31 Aug 2026
Utenis have let the market know Edvinas Satkus can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Utenis can pretend not to have heard.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Utenis
Marius Cernych and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Edvinas Simkus
“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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Utenis
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rokas Satkus was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad24 Aug 2026
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 Utenis would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Market24 Aug 2026
7 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Utenis money.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Aug 2026
Utenis say no — this time
The offer from Suduva for Fiodor Klimavicius was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Fiodor Klimavicius and Utenis agree another 3 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Utenis
Fiodor Klimavicius and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Utenis asked and Kauno Zalgiris said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Justas Dapkus, and the manager let it.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Utenis
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Modestas Cernych was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.