Marked for Paulius Lasickas
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match26 Jul 2027
Utenis sink to position 6
10 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 29 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market26 Jul 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Aidas Slavickas will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Utenis the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Jul 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 36 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market19 Jul 2027
“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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Utenis may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Jul 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 43 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Tempers go at Utenis
Vikintas Valskis 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Ignas Novikovas 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
Steady
The terraces5 Jul 2027
Anger at Utenis 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
A fracture rules Paulius Lasickas out for 51 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Utenis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market5 Jul 2027
Utenis say no — this time
The offer from Siauliai for Aidas Slavickas 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.
Market5 Jul 2027
“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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ignas Novikovas 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match28 Jun 2027
Utenis sink to position 6
10 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad28 Jun 2027
A fracture rules Paulius Lasickas out for 58 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Utenis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market28 Jun 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Jun 2027
A fracture rules Paulius Lasickas out for 65 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Utenis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market21 Jun 2027
“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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ignas Novikovas 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Jun 2027
A fracture rules Paulius Lasickas out for 72 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Utenis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Ignas Novikovas 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Tempers go at Utenis
Klim Zvonarev 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
Steady
Squad7 Jun 2027
A fracture rules Paulius Lasickas out for 79 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Utenis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market7 Jun 2027
“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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match5 Jun 2027
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Arvydas Kazlauskas 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
The manager makes an example of Mantas Lasickas
“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
Squad31 May 2027
A fracture rules Paulius Lasickas out for 86 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Utenis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match31 May 2027
Every point is an argument now for Utenis
Position 6 and 10 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market31 May 2027
Tadas Kuklys 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 Utenis can pretend not to have heard.
Squad31 May 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Utenis may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad31 May 2027
Tempers go at Utenis
Vikintas Valskis 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.
Match29 May 2027
Atlantas made Utenis work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑2 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad31 May 2027
Ignas Novikovas 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 terraces31 May 2027
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.
Match29 May 2027
Atlantas blown away early
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Atlantas tried to reorganise, Utenis did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 May 2027
A fracture rules Paulius Lasickas out for 93 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Utenis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market24 May 2027
“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.
Squad24 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ignas Novikovas 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.
Match22 May 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Deividas Cernych. 2‑1 against Trakai, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings24 May 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.52, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings24 May 2027
A performance of 8.46 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad24 May 2027
“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 Utenis know it.
Player ratings24 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match10 Apr 2027
The wait goes on for Utenis
8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 16 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market12 Apr 2027
“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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Tempers go at Utenis
Vikintas Valskis 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Ignas Novikovas 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
Crisis
Squad29 Mar 2027
There were 9 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 30 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market29 Mar 2027
“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.
Match27 Mar 2027
No end in sight to Utenis's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Utenis has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Utenis
Vikintas Valskis 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.
Match27 Mar 2027
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Utenis and Stumbras, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Match27 Mar 2027
Beaten 2‑4, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Ignas Novikovas 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.
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
A performance of 8.04 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Nov 2026
Vikintas Valskis damages knee ligaments — 48 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 48 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Arvydas Kazlauskas 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Arvydas Kazlauskas’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Oct 2026
Vikintas Valskis damages knee ligaments — 55 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 55 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.
Market26 Oct 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Arvydas Kazlauskas 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.