Marked for Justas Satkus
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market18 Sep 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 Atlantas can pretend not to have heard.
Squad18 Sep 2028
A fracture rules Marius Novikovas out for 29 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Atlantas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market18 Sep 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Atlantas is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad7 Aug 2028
Pius Ibrahim breaks a bone — 25 days out
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.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Nikolay Zhekov 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.
Boardroom7 Aug 2028
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Rokas Dubickas has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Match7 Aug 2028
Every point is an argument now for Atlantas
Position 6 and 15 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.
Market7 Aug 2028
Rokas Kuklys has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Atlantas they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad7 Aug 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Justas Satkus and Atlantas agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Ignas Barauskas 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.
Market7 Aug 2028
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Boardroom7 Aug 2028
Atlantas pull $1.1M back off the table
The money that was there in the summer is not there now. Nobody upstairs calls this a change of ambition, and everybody downstairs reads it as one.
In brief
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Boardroom
The Atlantas dressing room answers
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Boardroom
Atlantas keep producing them
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match10 Jul 2028
Atlantas sink to position 6
15 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 99 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market10 Jul 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Vykintas Barauskas 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.
Squad10 Jul 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Andrius Kuklys commits to Atlantas for another 3 years.
Squad10 Jul 2028
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
Uneasy
Market12 Jun 2028
$1.0M 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.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Pius Ibrahim breaks a bone — 25 days out
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.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Edvinas Novikovas damages knee ligaments — 21 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 21 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.
Match12 Jun 2028
Every point is an argument now for Atlantas
Position 6 and 15 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 terraces12 Jun 2028
Atlantas sell a favourite for $1.0M
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Saulius Jankauskas was one of the reasons people came, and $1.0M does not replace that by itself.
Market12 Jun 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 Atlantas, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market12 Jun 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Ignas Barauskas 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.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Words at Atlantas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martynas Šetkus 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
Squad5 Jun 2028
Pius Ibrahim breaks a bone — 32 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 32 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market5 Jun 2028
Lukas Klišys 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 Atlantas can pretend not to have heard.
Squad5 Jun 2028
“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.
Squad5 Jun 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 Atlantas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market5 Jun 2028
Everyone has stopped pretending: Zalgiris will make the call about Saulius Jankauskas this week. Atlantas have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Match3 Jun 2028
Kauno Zalgiris left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad5 Jun 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Saulius Jankauskas, and the manager let it.
Market5 Jun 2028
Add another name to the list: Kauno Zalgiris have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Rokas Kuklys. The answer from Atlantas has not changed — yet.
Market5 Jun 2028
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Atlantas, another week without a signature from Justas Satkus.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 May 2028
Pius Ibrahim breaks a bone — 60 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 60 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market8 May 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 Atlantas, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad8 May 2028
Pius Ibrahim in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlantas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match6 May 2028
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad8 May 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.
Loan watch8 May 2028
“I did not go to Zalgiris to sit and watch. I want to come back to Atlantas and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 14 matches say the rest.
Squad8 May 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Justas Satkus'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.
Player ratings8 May 2028
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings8 May 2028
4.22 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 May 2028
Pius Ibrahim breaks a bone — 67 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 67 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market1 May 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 Atlantas can pretend not to have heard.
The terraces1 May 2028
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 7 of the 32 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Squad1 May 2028
Ignas Barauskas 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.
Match29 Apr 2028
Ignas Barauskas scored, and precious little else went right: 3‑4 to Suduva, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Match29 Apr 2028
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Atlantas and Suduva, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad1 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bogdan Deac, and the manager let it.
Squad1 May 2028
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Justas Satkus knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Player ratings1 May 2028
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad3 Apr 2028
Pius Ibrahim breaks a bone — 95 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 95 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market3 Apr 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 Atlantas, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad3 Apr 2028
“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.
Match1 Apr 2028
4 matches without a win for Atlantas
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Atlantas are no longer polite ones.
Squad3 Apr 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Bogdan Deac commits to Atlantas for another 2 years.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Vykintas Barauskas 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.
Match1 Apr 2028
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Market3 Apr 2028
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Arvydas Sernas has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Atlantas.
Market3 Apr 2028
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Feb 2028
Pius Ibrahim breaks a bone — 130 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 130 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market28 Feb 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Atlantas is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad28 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 Atlantas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Feb 2028
Pius Ibrahim breaks a bone — 151 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 151 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match7 Feb 2028
Atlantas are in real trouble now
Position 7, 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.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
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.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
The Atlantas board call everybody in
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Market7 Feb 2028
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Saulius Jankauskas reports back to Atlantas with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Market7 Feb 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Pius Ibrahim 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 Feb 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Karolis Sernas commits to Atlantas for another 2 years.
Squad7 Feb 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Modestas Novikovas, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad31 Jan 2028
Pius Ibrahim breaks a bone — 158 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 158 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market31 Jan 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Atlantas they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Pius Ibrahim in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlantas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market31 Jan 2028
Stumbras are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Atlantas will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Loan watch31 Jan 2028
“I watch every Atlantas game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Zalgiris runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Justas Satkus has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Atlantas will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Jan 2028
A fracture rules Vykintas Kuklys out for 69 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Atlantas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Boardroom3 Jan 2028
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Rokas Dubickas has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market3 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 Atlantas can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom3 Jan 2028
The Atlantas board call everybody in
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Market3 Jan 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Ignas Barauskas 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.
Market3 Jan 2028
The phone has started ringing about Karolis Girdvainis again, and this time the name on the line is Trakai. Atlantas are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Bogdan Deac loses the manager who believed in him
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Bogdan Deac's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
Squad3 Jan 2028
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.
In brief
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Boardroom
Atlantas pull $1.4M back off the table
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Market
Atlantas shop where it costs nothing
-
Boardroom
Atlantas were not finished after all
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad6 Dec 2027
A fracture rules Vykintas Kuklys out for 97 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Atlantas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Boardroom6 Dec 2027
Rokas Dubickas has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Atlantas can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market6 Dec 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Atlantas can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom6 Dec 2027
The Atlantas board call everybody in
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Squad6 Dec 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Justas Satkus and Atlantas agree another 1 years.
Market6 Dec 2027
The shirt still fits. Justas Simkus is back at Atlantas, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Ignas Barauskas 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 Dec 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.
Boardroom6 Dec 2027
Atlantas pull $1.4M back off the table
The money that was there in the summer is not there now. Nobody upstairs calls this a change of ambition, and everybody downstairs reads it as one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Nov 2027
A fracture rules Vykintas Kuklys out for 104 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Atlantas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad29 Nov 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Karolis Barauskas
15 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Atlantas lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market29 Nov 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Atlantas is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom29 Nov 2027
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad29 Nov 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 Atlantas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Nov 2027
5 new faces, and Atlantas are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Nov 2027
A fracture rules Vykintas Kuklys out for 125 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Atlantas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad8 Nov 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Karolis Barauskas
36 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Atlantas lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Boardroom8 Nov 2027
Rokas Dubickas has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Atlantas can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market8 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 Atlantas, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Hunter Olson in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlantas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch8 Nov 2027
“I watch every Atlantas game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Siauliai runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Nov 2027
A fracture rules Vykintas Kuklys out for 132 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Atlantas will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Hunter Olson 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.
Market1 Nov 2027
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match18 Oct 2027
Atlantas sink to position 7
13 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market18 Oct 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.
Squad18 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 Atlantas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Oct 2027
Ignas Barauskas 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
The manager makes an example of Bogdan Deac
“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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Justas 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match20 Sep 2027
Atlantas are in real trouble now
Position 7, 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Hunter Olson 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
Justas Satkus has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Atlantas will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad13 Sep 2027
Hunter Olson in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlantas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom13 Sep 2027
Stumbras will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Aidas Klimavicius has pre-agreed a move to Atlantas, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Squad13 Sep 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.
Loan watch13 Sep 2027
“I did not go to Kauno Zalgiris to sit and watch. I want to come back to Atlantas and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 13 matches say the rest.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words at Atlantas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rokas 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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
A season on the outside for Pius Ibrahim
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Atlantas has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Rokas Dubickas has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Atlantas can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Pius Ibrahim in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Atlantas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Hunter Olson has outgrown this division
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Atlantas know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
Market6 Sep 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Atlantas, another week without a signature from Justas Satkus.
Loan watch6 Sep 2027
“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 Atlantas, and 0 appearances in 33 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Rokas 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Too much change too quickly at Atlantas
6 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Market6 Sep 2027
The loan was meant to give him football. 0 games and 0 goals later he is back at Atlantas no further forward, and everybody involved will explain why it was not their doing.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
$1.4M taken back off the Atlantas table
What was available in the summer has quietly gone. Upstairs nobody will call it a change of ambition; downstairs nobody will call it anything else.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match23 Aug 2027
Atlantas sink to position 7
13 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
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 Atlantas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Pius Ibrahim has outgrown this division
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Atlantas know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
Loan watch23 Aug 2027
“I did not go to Kauno Zalgiris to sit and watch. I want to come back to Atlantas and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 31 matches say the rest.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Mantas 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Justas Satkus has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Atlantas will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Aug 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Atlantas may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Ignas Barauskas 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
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ignas Barauskas, and the manager let it.
Loan watch16 Aug 2027
“I watch every Atlantas game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Zalgiris runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Atlantas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mantas Lasickas 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.
Market16 Aug 2027
6 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Atlantas could get for him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market9 Aug 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Atlantas, and it is not being withdrawn.
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 Atlantas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market9 Aug 2027
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Loan watch9 Aug 2027
“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 Atlantas, and 0 appearances in 29 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Tadas 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.
Squad9 Aug 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 Atlantas, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match26 Jul 2027
Atlantas sink to position 7
13 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad26 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 Atlantas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at Atlantas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vykintas Dubickas 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
Market19 Jul 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Atlantas they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Ignas Barauskas 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Vykintas Dubickas 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.
Loan watch19 Jul 2027
“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 Atlantas, and 0 appearances in 25 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad19 Jul 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Justas Simkus, and the manager let it.
Squad19 Jul 2027
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match28 Jun 2027
Every point is an argument now for Atlantas
Position 7 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.
Market28 Jun 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Atlantas can pretend not to have heard.
Squad28 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 Atlantas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad7 Jun 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Ignas Barauskas
24 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Atlantas lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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 Atlantas, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Vykintas Barauskas 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
The manager makes an example of Justas 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.
Player ratings7 Jun 2027
A performance of 8.05 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Vykintas Dubickas 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.
Loan watch7 Jun 2027
“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 Atlantas, and 0 appearances in 21 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match1 May 2027
Chastening afternoon for Atlantas
A 0‑6 beating by Suduva was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Match3 May 2027
Every point is an argument now for Atlantas
Position 7 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.
Match1 May 2027
No end in sight to Atlantas's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Atlantas has to find a result from somewhere.
The terraces3 May 2027
Fear has settled over Atlantas
Position 7, 7 points, and a crowd that arrives already braced. Relegation seasons are lost in exactly this atmosphere, and everybody who has lived through one recognises it immediately.
Squad3 May 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 Atlantas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match1 May 2027
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Atlantas and Suduva, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Player ratings3 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad3 May 2027
Whether it was the goalkeeper or the ten in front of him is the argument that will fill every conversation in town this week. 4 saves does not settle it either way.
Squad3 May 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
Uneasy
Market12 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 Atlantas can pretend not to have heard.
Match10 Apr 2027
The wait goes on for Atlantas
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.
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 Atlantas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Karolis Sernas, and the manager let it.
Loan watch12 Apr 2027
“I watch every Atlantas game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Zalgiris runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Match10 Apr 2027
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Justas Satkus has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Atlantas will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Squad12 Apr 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 Atlantas, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
A mark of 4.57 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Feb 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Tadas Paulauskas
55 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Atlantas lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market22 Feb 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Atlantas, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Ignas Barauskas 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
Squad8 Feb 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Tadas Paulauskas
69 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Atlantas lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market8 Feb 2027
Zalgiris come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Atlantas did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Justas Satkus pulls a muscle — 15 days out
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 15 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Feb 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Tadas Paulauskas
76 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Atlantas lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market1 Feb 2027
Siauliai come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Atlantas did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market1 Feb 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Atlantas have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ignas Barauskas commits to Atlantas for another 3 years.
Squad1 Feb 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 Atlantas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Atlantas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vykintas Dubickas 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
Squad11 Jan 2027
30 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Atlantas lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market11 Jan 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Vykintas Barauskas 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Vykintas Dubickas 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Karolis Girdvainis and Atlantas agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market11 Jan 2027
The clock does Justas Satkus’s negotiating for him
7 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Atlantas could ask drops and the wages Justas Satkus can ask rise.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Dec 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Tadas Paulauskas
111 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Atlantas lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market28 Dec 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Atlantas can pretend not to have heard.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Vykintas Barauskas 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
Squad9 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 Atlantas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Modestas Girdvainis 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 Nov 2026
Justas Satkus has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Atlantas will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.