Marked for Edgaras Dapkus
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad29 Jan 2029
A knee injury of the worst kind for Petar Petrović
31 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Trakai lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad29 Jan 2029
29 days out for Fiodor Valskis after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Trakai will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market29 Jan 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Trakai is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Words exchanged at Trakai
Edgaras Slavickas 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.
Transfer targets29 Jan 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Stumbras have kept their man, and Trakai go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout29 Jan 2029
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Edgaras Dapkus has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad15 Jan 2029
A knee injury of the worst kind for Petar Petrović
46 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Trakai lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market15 Jan 2029
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Trakai have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Squad15 Jan 2029
45 days out for Fiodor Valskis after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Trakai will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Transfer targets15 Jan 2029
The deal with Suduva 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.
Squad15 Jan 2029
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Trakai will quote 15 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Tempers go at Trakai
Mantas Kazlauskas 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 targets15 Jan 2029
Trakai asked and Stumbras said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market15 Jan 2029
Edgaras Dapkus is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Trakai has been clear about where Edgaras Dapkus stands, which is more than many ever get.
Market15 Jan 2029
Experience through the door at Trakai
Rokas Cernych arrives at 35 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad8 Jan 2029
54 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Trakai lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The terraces8 Jan 2029
Supporters organise against the Trakai board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Match8 Jan 2029
Trakai sink to position 8
5 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Boardroom8 Jan 2029
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 52 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Transfer targets8 Jan 2029
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kauno Zalgiris have kept their man, and Trakai go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Words exchanged at Trakai
Mantas Kazlauskas 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.
Market8 Jan 2029
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Trakai will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad8 Jan 2029
The medical room confirms 17 days on the sidelines for Edgaras Slavickas, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad1 Jan 2029
61 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Trakai lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad1 Jan 2029
59 days out for Fiodor Valskis after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Trakai will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad1 Jan 2029
A falling-out at Trakai
Mantas Kazlauskas and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout1 Jan 2029
Archie Harris without the man who signed him
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Archie Harris was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Words at Trakai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vykintas Jankauskas 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 dugout1 Jan 2029
Edoardo Zaia 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Dec 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Petar Petrović
75 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Trakai lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad18 Dec 2028
73 days out for Fiodor Valskis after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Trakai will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market18 Dec 2028
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad20 Nov 2028
Petar Petrović damages knee ligaments — 106 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 106 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.
Squad20 Nov 2028
103 days out for Fiodor Valskis after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Trakai will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market20 Nov 2028
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market9 Oct 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Trakai is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad9 Oct 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Petar Petrović and Trakai agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad9 Oct 2028
A falling-out at Trakai
Mantas Kazlauskas and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Edgaras Slavickas 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.
Squad9 Oct 2028
39 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
The dugout9 Oct 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad4 Sep 2028
Mantas Dapkus damages knee ligaments — 17 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 17 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.
Market4 Sep 2028
Trakai say no — this time
The offer from Kauno Zalgiris for Edgaras Dapkus 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.
Market4 Sep 2028
“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.
Transfer targets4 Sep 2028
Everything was agreed with Utenis and then the doctor spoke. Trakai have walked away from a signing on the advice of somebody who never saw him play, which is how it is supposed to work.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Window shuts: 5 in, 2 out at Trakai
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 5 arrived, 2 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Words exchanged at Trakai
Edgaras Slavickas 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.
Transfer targets4 Sep 2028
Trakai asked and Utenis said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Transfer targets4 Sep 2028
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Trakai will try again when the window opens; Utenis may not be selling by then.
Squad4 Sep 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mantas Dapkus and Trakai agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Aug 2028
Mantas Dapkus damages knee ligaments — 24 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 24 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.
Market28 Aug 2028
The name of Edgaras Dapkus has come up in conversations Trakai were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Words exchanged at Trakai
Mantas Kazlauskas 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.
Transfer targets28 Aug 2028
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Words at Trakai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edgaras Slavickas 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.
Transfer targets28 Aug 2028
Utenis 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Aug 2028
Mantas Dapkus damages knee ligaments — 38 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 38 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.
Squad14 Aug 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Trakai this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Aug 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Tadas Satkus and Trakai agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Transfer targets14 Aug 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Stumbras have kept their man, and Trakai go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout14 Aug 2028
“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 dugout14 Aug 2028
Edoardo Zaia 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout17 Jul 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Trakai may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Transfer targets17 Jul 2028
The clubs have shaken hands with Utenis; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Market17 Jul 2028
Rokas Pačėsa 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 Trakai can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets17 Jul 2028
Trakai asked and Stumbras said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Edgaras Slavickas 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.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Words exchanged at Trakai
Simas Venckevičius 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match26 Jun 2028
Every point is an argument now for Trakai
Position 8 and 5 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.
The terraces26 Jun 2028
Supporters organise against the Trakai board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Market26 Jun 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Trakai can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets26 Jun 2028
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Words exchanged at Trakai
Edoardo Zaia 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.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Edgaras Slavickas 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.
Transfer targets26 Jun 2028
A loan enquiry to Suduva: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout26 Jun 2028
Edoardo Zaia knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Trakai, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Wan Xiang is not doing himself any favours
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets19 Jun 2028
Everything agreed with Atlantas, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad19 Jun 2028
A falling-out at Trakai
Edoardo Zaia and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets19 Jun 2028
Trakai asked and Utenis said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Edgaras Slavickas 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 dugout19 Jun 2028
Edoardo Zaia 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.
Market19 Jun 2028
Trakai have made Edgaras Dapkus available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match3 Jun 2028
11 matches without a win for Trakai
The run now stands at 11, and the questions being asked around Trakai are no longer polite ones.
Squad5 Jun 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Andrius Lasickas
20 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Trakai lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match5 Jun 2028
Full time on the season at Trakai
Position 8 on 5 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Tempers go at Trakai
Edoardo Zaia 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.
Match3 Jun 2028
3 matches without a goal for Trakai
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Transfer targets5 Jun 2028
Trakai asked and Stumbras said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match3 Jun 2028
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Mantas 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.
Market5 Jun 2028
Edgaras Dapkus is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Trakai has been clear about where Edgaras Dapkus stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad29 May 2028
27 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Trakai lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match29 May 2028
Trakai are in real trouble now
Position 8, 5 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Match27 May 2028
No end in sight to Trakai's wait for a win
10 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Trakai has to find a result from somewhere.
The terraces29 May 2028
The mood at Trakai has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Squad29 May 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad29 May 2028
Words at Trakai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edvinas Vaitkunas 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.
Match27 May 2028
Kauno Zalgiris left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Looking ahead29 May 2028
Trakai face Siauliai in the game that matters most
Two sides from the bottom of the table, three points, and an afternoon that will be described afterwards as a relegation decider by whoever loses it.
Squad29 May 2028
A falling-out at Trakai
Simas Venckevičius 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
Crisis
Match13 May 2028
8 matches without a win for Trakai
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Trakai are no longer polite ones.
Squad15 May 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match13 May 2028
Trakai are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 8 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Market15 May 2028
“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.
Match13 May 2028
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings15 May 2028
Marked 8.12 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Match13 May 2028
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Petar Petrović had Trakai level again within 3 minutes, and Atlantas never got to play with a lead at all.
Squad15 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Trakai this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout15 May 2028
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 2‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match6 May 2028
0‑4 to Zalgiris, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Match6 May 2028
No end in sight to Trakai's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Trakai has to find a result from somewhere.
Match6 May 2028
No clean sheets in sight for Trakai
7 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Match6 May 2028
Trakai cannot find the net
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad8 May 2028
Tempers go at Trakai
Edoardo Zaia 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.
Looking ahead8 May 2028
Trakai face Atlantas in the game that matters most
Two sides from the bottom of the table, three points, and an afternoon that will be described afterwards as a relegation decider by whoever loses it.
Boardroom8 May 2028
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout8 May 2028
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Donatas Kazlauskas after 0‑4, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Squad8 May 2028
Words at Trakai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mantas 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad1 May 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 14 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The terraces1 May 2028
Supporters organise against the Trakai board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Match1 May 2028
Trakai are in real trouble now
Position 7, 5 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Match29 Apr 2028
Chastening afternoon for Trakai
A 0‑3 beating by Stumbras was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Market1 May 2028
“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.
Match29 Apr 2028
6 matches without a win for Trakai
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Trakai are no longer polite ones.
Match29 Apr 2028
Trakai are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 6 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Squad1 May 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Bernardo Pacheco commits to Trakai for another 3 years.
Squad1 May 2028
Words exchanged at Trakai
Edoardo Zaia 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match22 Apr 2028
Chastening afternoon for Trakai
A 0‑6 beating by Suduva was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match22 Apr 2028
No end in sight to Trakai's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Trakai has to find a result from somewhere.
Match22 Apr 2028
No clean sheets in sight for Trakai
5 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Match22 Apr 2028
6 goals as Trakai and Suduva go for it
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Trakai and Suduva, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad24 Apr 2028
A falling-out at Trakai
Edoardo Zaia and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 Apr 2028
200 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
Boardroom24 Apr 2028
Nobody left the Trakai dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
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 0‑6 defeat, delivered by Donatas Kazlauskas to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match15 Apr 2028
Nowhere to hide for Trakai
0‑4 against Siauliai, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market17 Apr 2028
Reuben Cooper 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 Trakai can pretend not to have heard.
Match15 Apr 2028
The wait goes on for Trakai
4 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.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Edoardo Zaia 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 Trakai this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match15 Apr 2028
Trakai leaking at the back
4 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Words at Trakai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edvinas Vaitkunas 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.
Match17 Apr 2028
Trakai at the halfway mark
Half the programme played, position 7, 5 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
Boardroom17 Apr 2028
Doors closed at Trakai
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match5 Apr 2028
The cup run ends for Trakai
0‑3 against Atlantas, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Squad10 Apr 2028
8 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 31. 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.
The terraces10 Apr 2028
A cup embarrassment at Atlantas follows Trakai home
0-3. Going out of a cup is one afternoon; going out like that is a week of phone-ins, and the manager will hear every one of them.
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
No sign of nerves from Edoardo Zaia at 21 — 7.62
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Edoardo Zaia did not need any: 7.62, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad10 Apr 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Trakai this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match8 Apr 2028
A goal on 93 minutes turned three points into one and a good afternoon into an argument about game management that will run until Saturday.
Boardroom10 Apr 2028
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Match8 Apr 2028
It needed Edoardo Zaia to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Kauno Zalgiris, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces3 Apr 2028
Anger at Trakai 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.
Match1 Apr 2028
A hiding for Trakai
Beaten 0‑3 by Utenis, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match3 Apr 2028
Trakai sink to position 7
4 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market3 Apr 2028
“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.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad3 Apr 2028
A falling-out at Trakai
Simas Venckevičius and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom3 Apr 2028
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Squad3 Apr 2028
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Trakai can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
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 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Donatas Kazlauskas to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match18 Mar 2028
Nowhere to hide for Trakai
0‑3 against Zalgiris, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Match18 Mar 2028
The wait goes on for Trakai
6 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.
Market20 Mar 2028
Reuben Cooper 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 Trakai can pretend not to have heard.
Squad20 Mar 2028
There were 6 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.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Edoardo Zaia 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 Trakai this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom20 Mar 2028
Nobody left the Trakai dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Donatas Kazlauskas after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
Edoardo Zaia 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.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad13 Mar 2028
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Player ratings13 Mar 2028
No sign of nerves from Edoardo Zaia at 21 — 7.66
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Edoardo Zaia did not need any: 7.66, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Match11 Mar 2028
The wait goes on for Trakai
5 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.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Trakai may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Tempers go at Trakai
Edoardo Zaia 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.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Words at Trakai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edgaras Slavickas 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.
Squad13 Mar 2028
The medical room confirms 24 days on the sidelines for Ignas Eliosius, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Match11 Mar 2028
A 1‑1 draw with Stumbras leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Donatas Kazlauskas after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match4 Mar 2028
A hiding for Trakai
Beaten 1‑4 by Suduva, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Squad6 Mar 2028
There were 7 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.
Match4 Mar 2028
The wait goes on for Trakai
4 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.
Squad6 Mar 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Petar Petrović and Trakai agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Words exchanged at Trakai
Edoardo Zaia 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.
Boardroom6 Mar 2028
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Trakai
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Match4 Mar 2028
Trakai leaking at the back
4 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Market6 Mar 2028
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Modestas Klimavicius has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market6 Mar 2028
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Edvinas Vaitkunas has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Trakai will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad12 Jul 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Lukas Eliosius and Trakai agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Jul 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Trakai will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
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 Trakai can pretend not to have heard.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words exchanged at Trakai
Edgaras Slavickas 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.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
Trakai sign 3 boys into the academy
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
Squad5 Jul 2027
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Jun 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match5 Jun 2027
3 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Darius Barauskas will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Trakai escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
Match7 Jun 2027
The season ends: position 7 for Trakai
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 12 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Player ratings7 Jun 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.28, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Trakai will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Darius Barauskas
21 goals and a season average of 7.36 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Market7 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 Trakai, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 Jun 2027
A falling-out at Trakai
Mantas Kazlauskas and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 May 2027
Edgaras Dapkus damages knee ligaments — 18 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 18 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.
Match15 May 2027
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 4‑1 against Atlantas, and it could have been more.
Squad17 May 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 79 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market17 May 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 Trakai can pretend not to have heard.
Squad17 May 2027
3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Squad17 May 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Darius Barauskas
18 goals and a season average of 7.26 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Match15 May 2027
It had gone 5 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.
Looking ahead17 May 2027
Trakai face Utenis in the game that matters most
Two sides from the bottom of the table, three points, and an afternoon that will be described afterwards as a relegation decider by whoever loses it.
The dugout17 May 2027
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Donatas Kazlauskas on a 4‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad10 May 2027
There were 17 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.
Squad10 May 2027
Edgaras Dapkus damages knee ligaments — 26 days out
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.
Match8 May 2027
Chastening afternoon for Trakai
A 1‑5 beating by Zalgiris was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad10 May 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 86 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match8 May 2027
No end in sight to Trakai's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Trakai has to find a result from somewhere.
Market10 May 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 Trakai can pretend not to have heard.
Squad10 May 2027
Words exchanged at Trakai
Edgaras Slavickas 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.
Match8 May 2027
Nobody could stop scoring
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Trakai and Zalgiris in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
The dugout10 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Donatas Valskis, and the manager let it.
In brief
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Looking ahead
Trakai face Atlantas in the game that matters most
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Boardroom
Nobody left the Trakai dressing room in a hurry
-
The dugout
The view from the dugout
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 May 2027
Edgaras Dapkus damages knee ligaments — 33 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 33 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.
Squad3 May 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 93 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match1 May 2027
The wait goes on for Trakai
4 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.
Squad3 May 2027
Tempers go at Trakai
Edgaras Slavickas 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.
Player ratings3 May 2027
Marked 8.29 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Match1 May 2027
Trakai caught on 94 minutes
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Stumbras scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Trakai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vykintas Jankauskas 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.
Match1 May 2027
A 1‑1 draw with Stumbras leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout3 May 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 Darius Barauskas is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad26 Apr 2027
40 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Trakai lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad26 Apr 2027
A fracture rules Fiodor Valskis out for 33 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Trakai will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match24 Apr 2027
1‑4 to Suduva, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Squad26 Apr 2027
9 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match26 Apr 2027
Every point is an argument now for Trakai
Position 6 and 7 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.
Market26 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.
Squad26 Apr 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 Trakai this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match24 Apr 2027
Trakai are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Looking ahead26 Apr 2027
Trakai face Stumbras in the game that matters most
Two sides from the bottom of the table, three points, and an afternoon that will be described afterwards as a relegation decider by whoever loses it.
In brief
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Boardroom
Doors closed at Trakai
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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The dugout
Donatas Valskis is still paying for one afternoon at Trakai
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 Apr 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Edgaras Dapkus
48 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Trakai lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad19 Apr 2027
40 days out for Fiodor Valskis after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Trakai will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market19 Apr 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 Trakai, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.87 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad19 Apr 2027
There were 6 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Tempers go at Trakai
Mantas Kazlauskas 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.
Match17 Apr 2027
Darius Barauskas among the goals in a wild afternoon
6 goals in one match, Darius Barauskas on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Trakai and Siauliai.
Match19 Apr 2027
Trakai at the halfway mark
Half the programme played, position 5, 7 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 Apr 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Edgaras Dapkus
55 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Trakai lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad12 Apr 2027
48 days out for Fiodor Valskis after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Trakai will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match10 Apr 2027
0‑4 to Kauno Zalgiris, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Market12 Apr 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 Trakai, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad12 Apr 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 Trakai this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
“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.
Boardroom12 Apr 2027
Nobody left the Trakai dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout12 Apr 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 0‑4 Donatas Kazlauskas left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad12 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Trakai
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vykintas Jankauskas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Apr 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Edgaras Dapkus
62 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Trakai lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad5 Apr 2027
56 days out for Fiodor Valskis after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Trakai will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match31 Mar 2027
The small margins put Trakai out
Out, 0‑1 to Siauliai, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Squad5 Apr 2027
The match ball belongs to Darius Barauskas, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Squad5 Apr 2027
A falling-out at Trakai
Mantas Kazlauskas and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match3 Apr 2027
Trakai get the job done against Utenis
A 3‑2 win over Utenis, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 15. 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.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
There was no pressure on him and nowhere he had to be. Trakai lost a goal to a decision that took half a second and will be discussed all week.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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The dugout
No hiding place for Edgaras Satkus
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The dugout
Tadas Satkus asks for a word with the manager
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Mar 2027
6 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Squad29 Mar 2027
69 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Trakai lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match27 Mar 2027
6‑2, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 64 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.63 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Market29 Mar 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.
Match27 Mar 2027
No clean sheets in sight for Trakai
5 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
A performance of 9.98 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad29 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Trakai
Edgaras Slavickas 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
Crisis
Squad22 Mar 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Edgaras Dapkus
76 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Trakai lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 71 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match20 Mar 2027
0‑3 to Zalgiris, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Market22 Mar 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.
Match20 Mar 2027
No end in sight to Trakai's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Trakai has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad22 Mar 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 Trakai this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match20 Mar 2027
No clean sheets in sight for Trakai
4 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Boardroom22 Mar 2027
Nobody left the Trakai dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Donatas Kazlauskas after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Mar 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Edgaras Dapkus
83 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Trakai lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 78 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match13 Mar 2027
2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Darius Barauskas will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Trakai escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
Squad15 Mar 2027
The match ball belongs to Darius Barauskas, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Squad15 Mar 2027
7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Market15 Mar 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 Trakai can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
A performance of 9.59 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
In brief
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Match
Trakai and Stumbras take a point apiece
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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The dugout
The manager has not finished forgetting Tadas Satkus's mistake
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad8 Mar 2027
Edgaras Dapkus damages knee ligaments — 90 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 90 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
A fracture rules Fiodor Valskis out for 86 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Trakai will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match6 Mar 2027
A hiding for Trakai
Beaten 0‑7 by Suduva, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Edgaras Slavickas and Trakai agree another 3 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Trakai
Edgaras Slavickas 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.
Match6 Mar 2027
Nobody could stop scoring
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Trakai and Suduva in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
5 academy graduates step up at Trakai
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Market8 Mar 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Deividas Girdvainis has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market8 Mar 2027
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Paulius Satkus is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.