Marked for Andrius Cernych
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad25 Oct 2027
William Kaastrup 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.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Maximilián Halo 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.
Squad25 Oct 2027
The manager makes an example of Justas Valskis
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match4 Oct 2027
Stumbras are in real trouble now
Position 6, 13 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.
Market4 Oct 2027
Andrius Dapkus has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Stumbras they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad4 Oct 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 Stumbras this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
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 Stumbras this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market13 Sep 2027
Stumbras opened the door and nobody walked through it. So Bartłomiej Kolec stays — listed, trained, and available — while both sides mark the days to January on the same calendar.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Andrius Dapkus 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 Stumbras, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match6 Sep 2027
Every point is an argument now for Stumbras
Position 6 and 13 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.
Market6 Sep 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Stumbras is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad6 Sep 2027
William Kaastrup 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Andrius Cernych 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bartłomiej Kolec, and the manager let it.
Squad6 Sep 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
Squad30 Aug 2027
William Kaastrup was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Deividas 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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Andrius Cernych and Stumbras agree another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market23 Aug 2027
The paperwork is done: Andrius Cernych joins from Utenis in a deal worth $72.0K. Now comes the harder part.
Squad23 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 Stumbras this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Modestas Satkus
“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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at Stumbras training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Deividas 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Stumbras has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Market23 Aug 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Modestas Satkus may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match23 Aug 2027
Utenis are in real trouble now
Position 7, 6 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Arnas Valskis breaks a bone — 19 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 19 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The terraces23 Aug 2027
Utenis sell a favourite for $72.0K
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Andrius Cernych was one of the reasons people came, and $72.0K does not replace that by itself.
Squad23 Aug 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Donatas Eliosius commits to Utenis for another 4 years.
Squad23 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.
Market23 Aug 2027
Stumbras pay $72.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Aug 2027
Arnas Valskis breaks a bone — 26 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 26 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market16 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.
Market16 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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Leomir out for 39 days
The medical room confirms 39 days on the sidelines for Leomir, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Tempers go at Utenis
Karolis Vaitkunas 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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Anton Yevdokymov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Aug 2027
Arnas Valskis breaks a bone — 35 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 35 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market9 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.
Market9 Aug 2027
The name of Edvinas Lasickas has come up in conversations Utenis were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad9 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Utenis are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Edvinas Lasickas falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces2 Aug 2027
Anger at Utenis spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Arnas Valskis breaks a bone — 42 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 42 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Jul 2027
Arnas Valskis breaks a bone — 56 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 56 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market19 Jul 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.
Market19 Jul 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces5 Jul 2027
Anger at Utenis spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Squad5 Jul 2027
A fracture rules Arnas Valskis out for 71 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Utenis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market5 Jul 2027
“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
Tempers go at Utenis
Karolis Vaitkunas was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Anton Yevdokymov 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 Jul 2027
Stumbras 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
Crisis
Match5 Jun 2027
Nowhere to hide for Utenis
0‑3 against Zalgiris, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad7 Jun 2027
A fracture rules Arnas Valskis out for 99 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Utenis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market7 Jun 2027
“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.
Market7 Jun 2027
The phone has started ringing about Fiodor Paulauskas again, and this time the name on the line is Suduva. Utenis are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Tempers go at Utenis
Karolis Vaitkunas 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.
Squad7 Jun 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match8 May 2027
The wait goes on for Utenis
12 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.
Match8 May 2027
Nowhere to hide for Utenis
2‑7 against Suduva, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad10 May 2027
A fracture rules Arnas Valskis out for 127 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Utenis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market10 May 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad10 May 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad10 May 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Utenis have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad10 May 2027
36 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Match8 May 2027
9 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Utenis and Suduva in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Match8 May 2027
Utenis 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match10 Apr 2027
The wait goes on for Utenis
8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
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 Utenis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
Ignas Simkus, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.84
A mark of 7.84 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad12 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Leomir 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 Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Apr 2027
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Utenis are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Anton Yevdokymov 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.
Match10 Apr 2027
A 1‑1 draw with Atlantas leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Market12 Apr 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Utenis, another week without a signature from Lourenço Borges.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Mar 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 25 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.43, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad15 Mar 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.
Squad15 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 Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match13 Mar 2027
Andrius Cernych among the goals in a wild afternoon
6 goals in one match, Andrius Cernych on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Utenis and Siauliai.
The terraces15 Mar 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Andrius Cernych has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Dec 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Andrius Cernych and Utenis agree another 3 years.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Anton Yevdokymov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Utenis
Edvinas Lasickas 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.