Marked for Nikolai Plotnikov
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market21 Jun 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market21 Jun 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vykintas Dubickas will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Atlantas the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad21 Jun 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.
Squad21 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
The medical room confirms 35 days on the sidelines for Rokas Klimavicius, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad21 Jun 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Nikolai Plotnikov commits to Atlantas for another 3 years.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match15 May 2027
Nowhere to hide for Atlantas
1‑5 against Trakai, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market17 May 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 The request is on a desk at Atlantas, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad17 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.
Match15 May 2027
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Atlantas and Trakai in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad17 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vykintas Barauskas, and the manager let it.
Squad17 May 2027
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.
Boardroom17 May 2027
Nobody left the Atlantas dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Loan watch17 May 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.
Squad17 May 2027
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad15 Mar 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Tadas Paulauskas
34 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.
Market15 Mar 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The terraces15 Mar 2027
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 10 of the 36 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
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 Atlantas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match13 Mar 2027
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad15 Mar 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Ninety minutes of Ignas Barauskas at his very best
Marked 8.18. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Atlantas.
Squad15 Mar 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.
Loan watch15 Mar 2027
“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 9 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Oct 2026
The words a physio says slowly. 17 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad26 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 Atlantas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Atlantas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aidas 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Oct 2026
The words a physio says slowly. 24 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad19 Oct 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Atlantas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Modestas 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.