Marked for Rokas Sernas
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 Jan 2028
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Utenis waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Trakai is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Tempers go at Trakai
Tomas 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.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Wisdom Sule 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.
Squad31 Jan 2028
31 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
The dugout31 Jan 2028
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 Edvinas Paulauskas is on it.
Match31 Jan 2028
Continental football is in reach for Trakai
17 points from position 5. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Nov 2027
22 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 Nov 2027
A falling-out at Trakai
Tomas Cernych and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Wisdom Sule 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 dugout1 Nov 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.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
Jordan Davies 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 Jordan Davies trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad1 Nov 2027
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Trakai would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad4 Oct 2027
53 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.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Rokas Sernas and Trakai agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Tempers go at Trakai
Wisdom Sule 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
Uneasy
Squad27 Sep 2027
Edgaras Paulauskas damages knee ligaments — 60 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 60 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.
Squad27 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 Trakai this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Sep 2027
20 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match17 Apr 2027
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Trakai scored in the 93th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Match17 Apr 2027
It finished 2‑1, and it was Edgaras Novikovas’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Trakai.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words exchanged at Trakai
Arturs Stolcers 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.
The terraces19 Apr 2027
He is 21 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.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
Marked 8.68 — 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.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Marko Radojević
“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.
Match19 Apr 2027
Trakai at the halfway mark
Half the programme played, position 4, 12 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑1, already talking about the next one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market15 Mar 2027
Only the photograph left for Fiodor Kuklys
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Fiodor Kuklys will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Trakai the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad15 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Trakai
Marius Barauskas and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces15 Mar 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Rokas Eliosius 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.
Match13 Mar 2027
A 2‑0 win over Stumbras, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
Nemanja Ilić 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.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Marked 7.73. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Squad15 Mar 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Justas Kazlauskas and Trakai agree another 3 years.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Aidas Kazlauskas could afford to be generous.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
Jordan Davies 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Mar 2027
“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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Nemanja Ilić 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Trakai
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marius Barauskas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad25 Jan 2027
25 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.
Market25 Jan 2027
Siauliai come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Trakai did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
The paperwork begins on Kajus Bička
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Trakai have done the hard part with Zalgiris, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Olimpija Ljubljana is saying, and nobody at Trakai is enjoying the guessing.
Market25 Jan 2027
The name of Fiodor Kuklys has come up in conversations Trakai were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
Trakai asked and NK Maribor said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Trakai
Marius Barauskas 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ignas Paulauskas commits to Trakai for another 3 years.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
Jordan Davies 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Trakai
Arturs Stolcers 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Trakai
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marius Barauskas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad28 Dec 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Fiodor Kuklys and Trakai agree another 4 years.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Trakai
Nemanja Ilić and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Jordan Davies 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Trakai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edgaras Girdvainis is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Nov 2026
“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 Trakai know it.
Squad2 Nov 2026
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Edvinas Mikoliunas has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Squad2 Nov 2026
The captaincy has been taken off Rokas Sernas. Trakai will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
In brief
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Squad
Words at Trakai training over how hard people work
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The dugout
Tomas Cernych keeps his manager's vote
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Oct 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Trakai, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad19 Oct 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 Trakai this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Donatas Kuklys 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
Squad24 Aug 2026
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.
Market24 Aug 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.
Market24 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Trakai had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Liepaja, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Trakai
Nemanja Ilić 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 targets24 Aug 2026
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.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
“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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Trakai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marius Barauskas 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Kaoru Honda pulls a muscle — 14 days out
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Aug 2026
Trakai say no — this time
The offer from Stumbras for Fiodor Kuklys 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.
Market10 Aug 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 Trakai, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Rokas Sernas and Trakai agree another 2 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Trakai
Nemanja Ilić 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 targets10 Aug 2026
$250.0K was the most the club would pay and Kauno Zalgiris were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Trakai asked and Cukaricki said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Edvinas Mikoliunas 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
This league is too small for Nikša Vujčić
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Trakai will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
A loan move for Luka Mlakar is in the works
Trakai have made the call to NK Maribor. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Aug 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 Trakai, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
$140.0K on the table at Kauno Zalgiris. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Trakai
Arturs Stolcers 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Marius Barauskas and Trakai agree another 2 years.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Trakai asked and Benevento said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Trakai
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marius Barauskas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad3 Aug 2026
This league is too small for Dániel Farkas
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Trakai will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Market3 Aug 2026
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Donatas Kuklys has his answer from Trakai; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
Rokas Sernas 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 Rokas Sernas trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.