Marked for Vykintas Vaitkunas
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market4 Sep 2028
“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 The request is on a desk at Utenis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Deadline passes with 8 signed and 13 gone
That is the business done at Utenis until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Transfer targets4 Sep 2028
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Utenis have done the hard part with Trakai, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Words exchanged at Utenis
Paulius Dapkus 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.
Squad4 Sep 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Vykintas Vaitkunas and Utenis agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Transfer targets4 Sep 2028
The clock did what Siauliai would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Coby Ebere 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 dugout4 Sep 2028
Danilo Lopes gets it from the manager
“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.
The dugout4 Sep 2028
Breno Nolasco knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Breno Nolasco trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match27 May 2028
The wait goes on for Utenis
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.
Squad29 May 2028
“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 ratings29 May 2028
Coby Ebere runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad29 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 Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 May 2028
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Filip Bakowski 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.
Squad29 May 2028
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 33 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
The dugout29 May 2028
The manager makes an example of Vykintas Sernas
“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.
Match27 May 2028
Honours even between Utenis and Trakai
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout29 May 2028
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Marius Slavickas chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Feb 2028
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.
Market7 Feb 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.
Market7 Feb 2028
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Utenis have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Utenis close the window on a squad of their own making
1 in and 2 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.
Transfer targets7 Feb 2028
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Utenis have done the hard part with Atlantas, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Market7 Feb 2028
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Squad7 Feb 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 Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Feb 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Vykintas Vaitkunas and Utenis agree another 2 years.
The dugout7 Feb 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Paulius Dapkus, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 Jan 2028
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.
Market31 Jan 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 Utenis can pretend not to have heard.
Market31 Jan 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vykintas Vaitkunas will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Utenis the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets31 Jan 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, and a scan that said otherwise. He goes back to Stumbras; Utenis go back to the market; and both will insist there is no story here.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Tempers go at Utenis
Andrius Girdvainis 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.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Paulius Dapkus 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 targets31 Jan 2028
A loan move for Rokas Lekiatas is in the works
Utenis have made the call to Kauno Zalgiris. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets31 Jan 2028
A loan enquiry to Zalgiris: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets31 Jan 2028
Atlantas 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
Steady
Squad10 Jan 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 114 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market10 Jan 2028
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Atlantas waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Utenis is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market10 Jan 2028
Stumbras come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Utenis did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market10 Jan 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 Utenis can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets10 Jan 2028
The deal with Trakai 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.
Squad10 Jan 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 Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Jan 2028
A row about effort at Utenis
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Paulius Dapkus was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad10 Jan 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Yaroslav Bobrovytskyi commits to Utenis for another 3 years.
Transfer targets10 Jan 2028
Kauno Zalgiris have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market13 Dec 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vykintas Vaitkunas will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Utenis the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Tempers go at Utenis
Andrius Girdvainis 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 Dec 2027
Filip Bakowski 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
Squad29 Nov 2027
23 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Utenis lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market29 Nov 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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
A falling-out at Utenis
Andrius Girdvainis and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 Nov 2027
A row about effort at Utenis
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Filip Bakowski was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vykintas Vaitkunas, and the manager let it.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Utenis are still strangers to each other
9 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market15 Nov 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vykintas Vaitkunas will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Utenis the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Tempers go at Utenis
Andrius Girdvainis 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Utenis can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Oct 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Tadas Jankauskas
35 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Utenis lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market18 Oct 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vykintas Vaitkunas will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Utenis the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Tempers go at Utenis
Andrius Girdvainis 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
Squad20 Sep 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Tadas Jankauskas
63 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Utenis lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market20 Sep 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Utenis is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Tempers go at Utenis
Thanos Petsos was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad20 Sep 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
A row about effort at Utenis
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Filip Bakowski was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout20 Sep 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad13 Sep 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Tadas Jankauskas
70 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Utenis lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market13 Sep 2027
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Stumbras moved on, Vykintas Sernas reports back to Utenis, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Market13 Sep 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Utenis have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad13 Sep 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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Andrius Vaitkunas is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad13 Sep 2027
A move Luka Marijanović would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Luka Marijanović is living that version at Utenis, and it tends to show in the first month.
Boardroom13 Sep 2027
Suduva will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Walid Dhouib has pre-agreed a move to Utenis, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Transfer targets13 Sep 2027
The clock did what Stumbras would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Market13 Sep 2027
He is 19, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Aug 2027
85 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Utenis lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market30 Aug 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.
Market30 Aug 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Utenis
Thanos Petsos 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 targets30 Aug 2027
The offer went to Stumbras this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Transfer targets30 Aug 2027
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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Vykintas Sernas 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 dugout30 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Thanos Petsos
“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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
14 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Aug 2027
Tadas Jankauskas damages knee ligaments — 92 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 92 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.
Market23 Aug 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Utenis people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market23 Aug 2027
Stumbras come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Utenis did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market23 Aug 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Utenis they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market23 Aug 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Tempers go at Utenis
Andrius Girdvainis 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ignas Satkus and Utenis agree another 3 years.
Squad23 Aug 2027
The medical room confirms 15 days on the sidelines for Paulius Satkus, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Loan watch23 Aug 2027
“I watch every Utenis game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Oleksandriya runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Aug 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Tadas Jankauskas
99 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Utenis lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market16 Aug 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Utenis have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad16 Aug 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.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2027
Utenis have gone to Stumbras with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vykintas Sernas 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 dugout16 Aug 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.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2027
A loan move for Rokas Lekiatas is in the works
Utenis have made the call to Kauno Zalgiris. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2027
A loan enquiry to Trakai: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout16 Aug 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 Andrius Girdvainis is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Aug 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Tadas Jankauskas
113 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Utenis lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market2 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 Utenis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market2 Aug 2027
Atlantas come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Utenis did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Utenis
Thanos Petsos 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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Dobrin Petrov and Utenis agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Coby Ebere 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
Squad19 Jul 2027
Rokas Paulauskas damages knee ligaments — 34 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 34 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.
Market19 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.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Utenis have done the hard part with Trakai, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
The offer went to Stumbras this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Squad19 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.
Squad19 Jul 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vykintas Sernas 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.
Market19 Jul 2027
Everyone has stopped pretending: Trakai will make the call about Vykintas Vaitkunas this week. Utenis have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
The manager makes an example of Breno Nolasco
“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
Steady
Market12 Jul 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Utenis have lost him in all but the paperwork.
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.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
Everything agreed with Stumbras, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
This is not rotation. Vikintas Girdvainis has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Utenis is pretending otherwise.
Squad12 Jul 2027
A falling-out at Utenis
Thanos Petsos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Coby Ebere 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Breno Nolasco has had enough of the bench
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Utenis will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vikintas Paulauskas, and the manager let it.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Utenis, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market5 Jul 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Utenis have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market5 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words exchanged at Utenis
Andrius Girdvainis 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Vykintas Vaitkunas and Utenis agree another 2 years.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vykintas Sernas 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 targets5 Jul 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.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
Intake day at the Utenis academy
4 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market21 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.
Market21 Jun 2027
Siauliai come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Utenis did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
The deal with Stumbras died in the treatment room. Nobody will say what was found and everybody in the game will find out by Friday.
Squad21 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Stéphane Baron is 18, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Donatas Vaitkunas 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
43 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Breno Nolasco, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market14 Jun 2027
$1.1M is a serious amount of money and it does not play centre-forward. Everybody in the dressing room knows who used to be looked at when it went wrong.
Match14 Jun 2027
Full time on the season at Utenis
Position 5 on 17 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.
Market14 Jun 2027
Utenis say no — this time
The offer from Stumbras for Vykintas Sernas 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.
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 Utenis can pretend not to have heard.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The terraces14 Jun 2027
Supporters turn on the $1.1M sale of Deividas Eliosius
He is going to Zalgiris, the club has $1.1M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
The dugout14 Jun 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.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
$48.0K settles it between the clubs for Dejan Bogdanovic
Stumbras have accepted the money. What Utenis do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
This is not rotation. Vikintas Girdvainis has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Utenis is pretending otherwise.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match31 Mar 2027
The small margins put Utenis out
Out, 0‑2 to Zalgiris, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Market5 Apr 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 Apr 2027
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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words exchanged at Utenis
Thanos Petsos 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 37 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vykintas Sernas 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.
Match3 Apr 2027
Stumbras made Utenis work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Match3 Apr 2027
The drought breaks for Utenis
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Stumbras were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
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 Utenis can pretend not to have heard.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Utenis
Thanos Petsos 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.
Squad15 Mar 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Utenis
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vykintas Sernas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout15 Mar 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.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Andrius Girdvainis's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Utenis, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market15 Feb 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Isloch waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Utenis is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market15 Feb 2027
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Siauliai moved on, Vykintas Vaitkunas reports back to Utenis, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Tempers go at Utenis
Thanos Petsos was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The dugout15 Feb 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Utenis
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Coby Ebere was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
Vykintas Sernas 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
Steady
Market8 Feb 2027
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Vykintas Sernas reports back to Utenis with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Market8 Feb 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market8 Feb 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Utenis
Andrius Girdvainis 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Utenis
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vykintas Sernas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market11 Jan 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.
Market11 Jan 2027
Utenis say no — this time
The offer from Trakai for Tomas Kazlauskas 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Utenis
Thanos Petsos 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 37 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Utenis
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vykintas Sernas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market11 Jan 2027
Siauliai are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Utenis will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market4 Jan 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.
Market4 Jan 2027
Utenis say no — this time
The offer from Zalgiris for Vykintas Sernas 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Utenis
Andrius Girdvainis and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kauno Zalgiris have kept their man, and Utenis go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market4 Jan 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Deividas Eliosius has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Utenis.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Vikintas Paulauskas 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
Market30 Nov 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Utenis
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vykintas Sernas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad16 Nov 2026
Adolf Selmani breaks a bone — 23 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 23 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market16 Nov 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 Laçi, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Laçi
Vilson Lila 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Laçi
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sylvester Igboun was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Xhonatan Lajthia, and the manager let it.
Loan watch16 Nov 2026
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Laçi, and 0 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
Looking ahead16 Nov 2026
Besa Kavajë next, and one man in the Laçi dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Fjoralb Deliaj 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 Laçi, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market16 Nov 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Laçi know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad2 Nov 2026
Adolf Selmani breaks a bone — 38 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 38 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match2 Nov 2026
Nobody above Laçi
First, on 19 points. The table is a fact and a fact is allowed to be enjoyed, which is as far as anybody at the club is prepared to go in public.
Squad2 Nov 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Thiago Rodrigues and Laçi agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Laçi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Silvester Shkalla 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 terraces2 Nov 2026
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Match31 Oct 2026
Three points for Laçi, 2‑0 the final word against Skënderbeu Korçë in a contest settled by the finer margins.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Vilson Lila
“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.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Antonio Delaj was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.36. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.34, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Nov 2026
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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
The medical room confirms 41 days on the sidelines for Deividas Lasickas, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Coby Ebere 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Dobrin Petrov and Utenis agree another 1 years.
Market2 Nov 2026
Experience through the door at Utenis
Dobrin Petrov arrives at 33 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.
Market2 Nov 2026
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Modestas Lasickas may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.