Marked for Tomas Simkus
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Aug 2027
Ignas Barauskas damages knee ligaments — 35 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 35 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.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2027
$390.0K settles it between the clubs for Yukiyoshi Karashima
Kauno Zalgiris have accepted the money. What Atlantas do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Market16 Aug 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 The request is on a desk at Atlantas, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market16 Aug 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Atlantas have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Tadas Simkus 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.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2027
$76.0K was the most the club would pay and Suduva were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Squad16 Aug 2027
A row about effort at Atlantas
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Justas Dubickas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad16 Aug 2027
The medical room confirms 24 days on the sidelines for Tomas Kuklys, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
Tadas Simkus has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Atlantas 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
The clubs have shaken hands with Kauno Zalgiris; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Market14 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 Atlantas can pretend not to have heard.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Jovan Krneta 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 Atlantas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Tadas Simkus 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 dugout14 Jun 2027
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 Justas Valskis is on it.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
The manager makes an example of Harry Daykin
“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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
He goes off to be somebody else’s player for a fortnight. Atlantas lose him for the window and would like him returned in the condition he left.
Squad14 Jun 2027
He goes off to be somebody else’s player for a fortnight. Atlantas lose him for the window and would like him returned in the condition he left.
Match14 Jun 2027
Atlantas have something to play for
Position 5 on 18 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 May 2027
Words exchanged at Atlantas
Jovan Krneta 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.
Player ratings31 May 2027
Tadas Simkus beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match29 May 2027
Utenis left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Atlantas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tadas Simkus 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.
The dugout31 May 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Linas Eliosius left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout31 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Tomas 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.
The dugout31 May 2027
Nobody at Atlantas 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.
Squad31 May 2027
Tomas Simkus: “I am not a substitute”
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Atlantas will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
The dugout31 May 2027
Asked to play a role that is not his, or taken off before the hour once too often — Uglješa Radinović has let it be known that he does not like the way Atlantas are using him. Managers hear this long before the press does.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match20 Mar 2027
Stumbras will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Atlantas were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.19, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market22 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 Atlantas, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad22 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Atlantas
Jovan Krneta and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.82, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match20 Mar 2027
Atlantas settle it inside twenty minutes
2 goals before the ground had finished arriving. Stumbras spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
A performance of 8.08 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 4‑1, Linas Eliosius could afford to be generous.
Squad22 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Atlantas
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Justas Dubickas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Feb 2027
39 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Atlantas lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad22 Feb 2027
A falling-out at Atlantas
Jovan Krneta and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Tomas Simkus 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
Uneasy
Squad11 Jan 2027
Paulius Dubickas damages knee ligaments — 82 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 82 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Justas Sernas breaks a bone — 50 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 50 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market11 Jan 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Siauliai waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Atlantas is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Everything agreed with Kauno Zalgiris, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Jovan Krneta 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.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
A loan enquiry to Kauno Zalgiris: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Dec 2026
96 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Atlantas lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad28 Dec 2026
64 days out for Justas Sernas after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Atlantas will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Atlantas
Jovan Krneta and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Janis Bulvitis out for 70 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Atlantas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Tadas Simkus 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Atlantas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomas Simkus 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
Uneasy
Squad16 Nov 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 84 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad16 Nov 2026
The medical room confirms 27 days on the sidelines for Tadas Simkus, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Atlantas
Tadas Simkus and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Oct 2026
A fracture rules Janis Bulvitis out for 126 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Atlantas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Tadas Simkus 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Atlantas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomas Simkus 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
Uneasy
Squad21 Sep 2026
A fracture rules Modestas Simkus out for 30 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Atlantas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Jovan Krneta 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Tadas Simkus 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 dugout21 Sep 2026
Tadas Simkus has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Atlantas 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.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Tomas Simkus asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market21 Sep 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Justas Sernas signs something — a contract at Atlantas or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Sep 2026
Justas Dubickas damages knee ligaments — 19 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 19 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.
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
Atlantas close the window on a squad of their own making
3 in and 0 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Atlantas
Jovan Krneta and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Atlantas
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomas Simkus was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Linas Klimavicius is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.