Marked for Aidas Cernych
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout19 Jul 2027
Louis Themis: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Atlantas have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Atlantas have done the hard part with Trakai, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Market19 Jul 2027
Atlantas say no — this time
The offer from Kukësi for Louis Themis 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
A falling-out at Atlantas
Aidas Cernych and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Akim Shevtsov 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 dugout19 Jul 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Obren Cvijanović, and the manager let it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market12 Jul 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Atlantas people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Squad12 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
A row about effort at Atlantas
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aidas Simkus was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match5 Jul 2027
Atlantas are in among the leaders
Position 2 and 28 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market5 Jul 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Atlantas people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market5 Jul 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Karolis Dubickas will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Atlantas the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at Atlantas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Akim Shevtsov 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.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
Atlantas sign 3 boys into the academy
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
Squad5 Jul 2027
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Karamady Gassama is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match5 Jun 2027
Going 2 down does something to a side, and what it usually does is finish them. Not here. Atlantas rebuilt the afternoon goal by goal, and Utenis had no answer to any of it.
The dugout7 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.
Match7 Jun 2027
Atlantas up to position 2
27 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Market7 Jun 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Karolis Dubickas will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Atlantas the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market7 Jun 2027
The phone has started ringing about Rokas Paulauskas again, and this time the name on the line is Zalgiris. Atlantas are listening politely and promising nothing.
Match5 Jun 2027
A 3‑2 win over Utenis, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Zalgiris have kept their man, and Atlantas go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad7 Jun 2027
A row about effort at Atlantas
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Akim Shevtsov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces7 Jun 2027
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market31 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.
Player ratings31 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad31 May 2027
Words exchanged at Atlantas
Aidas Cernych 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.
Squad31 May 2027
Théo Deflorenne is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 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.
Match29 May 2027
Zalgiris made Atlantas work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad31 May 2027
A row about effort at Atlantas
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aidas Simkus was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings31 May 2027
Nobody on the pitch touched Aidas Cernych
7.97, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Atlantas had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout31 May 2027
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Deividas Girdvainis could afford to be generous.
The dugout31 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Louis Themis, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 May 2027
A falling-out at Atlantas
Aidas Cernych and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match22 May 2027
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings24 May 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.
The dugout24 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to David Dunđerski, and the manager let it.
Player ratings24 May 2027
Mantas Dubickas did the work nobody counts — 6.81
11 combined actions and 6.81. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Looking ahead24 May 2027
The big one: Zalgiris come into view
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Atlantas will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
Squad24 May 2027
Akim Shevtsov 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.
Player ratings24 May 2027
A performance of 8.09 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout24 May 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match10 May 2027
Atlantas are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 18 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
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.
Market10 May 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.
Match8 May 2027
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout10 May 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.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Atlantas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aidas Simkus 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 dugout10 May 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Player ratings10 May 2027
One lapse, one goal, and ninety minutes of honest work counting for nothing. That is the job at Atlantas, and it is a cruel one.
The dugout10 May 2027
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad19 Apr 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Obren Cvijanović
28 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.
Match19 Apr 2027
15 points and nobody above them. The word is not being said around the ground yet, and it is being thought in every seat.
Match17 Apr 2027
Three points for Atlantas, 2‑0 the final word against Utenis in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
Ninety minutes of Akim Shevtsov at his very best
Marked 8.48. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Atlantas.
Looking ahead19 Apr 2027
Top-of-the-table clash for Atlantas
Kauno Zalgiris next, and the two sides the division is watching meet each other. Whoever wins will be told nothing is decided in the same breath as being congratulated.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.29, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad19 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Atlantas
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bartosz Talar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad19 Apr 2027
A falling-out at Atlantas
Karolis Dubickas and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Deividas Girdvainis kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad12 Apr 2027
35 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Atlantas lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match10 Apr 2027
1‑4 to Zalgiris, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Match12 Apr 2027
Atlantas are in among the leaders
Position 2 and 12 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market12 Apr 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words exchanged at Atlantas
Aidas Cernych 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 dugout12 Apr 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.
Boardroom12 Apr 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.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑4 defeat, delivered by Deividas Girdvainis to a room that had heard them before.
Squad12 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Atlantas
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Akim Shevtsov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad5 Apr 2027
Obren Cvijanović damages knee ligaments — 43 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 43 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.
Match3 Apr 2027
The cup run ends for Atlantas
2‑1 against Trakai, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Market5 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 Atlantas, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Aidas 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.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
A performance of 8.26 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Bartosz Talar 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Deividas Girdvainis kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 13. 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
Triumph
Squad22 Mar 2027
23 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.
The dugout22 Mar 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.
Match20 Mar 2027
Nobody wants to play Atlantas right now
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad22 Mar 2027
At 18 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad22 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Atlantas
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Akim Shevtsov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match20 Mar 2027
A 1‑0 win over Stumbras, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Marked 7.97 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Atlantas had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Feb 2027
Donatas Paulauskas damages knee ligaments — 53 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 53 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
A falling-out at Atlantas
Aidas Cernych and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Atlantas
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Akim Shevtsov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Feb 2027
60 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Atlantas lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market15 Feb 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Atlantas
Aidas Cernych 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.
In brief
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Squad
Words at Atlantas training over how hard people work
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Squad
6 new faces, and Atlantas are still learning each other
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Market
Window shut, Mantas Dubickas still here
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad4 Jan 2027
103 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 20 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market4 Jan 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.
Market4 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A move Bartosz Talar 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. Bartosz Talar is living that version at Atlantas, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad4 Jan 2027
14 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
Atlantas asked and Trakai said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
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.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
Trakai 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
Uneasy
Squad28 Dec 2026
Donatas Paulauskas damages knee ligaments — 110 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 110 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
27 days out for Edgaras Dubickas after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Atlantas will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad28 Dec 2026
37 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Nov 2026
The medical room confirms 67 days on the sidelines for Akim Shevtsov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad30 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Atlantas
Aidas Cernych and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market30 Nov 2026
Atlantas have let the market know Darius Eliosius can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Nov 2026
Aidas 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Akim Shevtsov 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 dugout16 Nov 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.
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
A row about effort at Atlantas
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Akim Shevtsov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Yoric Ravet 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 Atlantas, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Edvinas Sernas is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
The medical room confirms 15 days on the sidelines for Yuki Nakamura, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Atlantas
Aidas Cernych 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 Sep 2026
Words at Atlantas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Akim Shevtsov 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
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
Squad21 Sep 2026
Aidas 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Vikintas Valskis is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 17 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.
Market21 Sep 2026
Atlantas have let the market know Lukas Klimavicius can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market7 Sep 2026
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Market7 Sep 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.
The terraces7 Sep 2026
Supporters turn on the $190.0K sale of Linas Paulauskas
He is going to Trakai, the club has $190.0K 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.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Window shuts: 5 in, 3 out at Atlantas
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 5 arrived, 3 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Market7 Sep 2026
Atlantas say no — this time
The offer from Utenis for Edgaras Dubickas 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.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $16.7K — a club that wants Nedas Klimavičius enough to be asked twice.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Atlantas
David Dunđerski and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Atlantas offered $16.0K; Stumbras said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Market7 Sep 2026
Trakai pay $190.0K, 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
Market24 Aug 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.
Boardroom24 Aug 2026
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $16.7K — a club that wants Nedas Klimavičius enough to be asked twice.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Aidas 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.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Atlantas have gone to Zalgiris 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.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Atlantas asked and Kauno Zalgiris said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Atlantas training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Akim Shevtsov 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 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
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Atlantas know which stage they are at.
Squad24 Aug 2026
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Aug 2026
Kuban 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.
Boardroom10 Aug 2026
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $9.2K — a club that wants Rokas Vaitkunas enough to be asked twice.
Market10 Aug 2026
Titas Milašius arrives at Atlantas in a $130.0K statement of intent
There comes a point where a club either backs its own ambition or admits it does not have any. Atlantas have paid $130.0K for Titas Milašius, which is the loudest way there is of saying which one it chose.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Aidas Cernych commits to Atlantas for another 3 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Atlantas
Aidas Cernych 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
Atlantas offered $9.0K; Stumbras said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Utenis have kept their man, and Atlantas go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Atlantas
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Edgaras Dubickas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad10 Aug 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Aug 2026
Obren Cvijanović arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Obren Cvijanović has, at Atlantas, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Atlantas
Aidas Cernych and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets3 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Akim Shevtsov 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
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. Atlantas will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Market3 Aug 2026
“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 Obren Cvijanović.