Marked for Justas Cernych
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Nemanja Ilić out for 115 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Stumbras will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad30 Nov 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Justas Cernych and Stumbras agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad31 Aug 2026
A fracture rules Justas Cernych out for 95 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Stumbras will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market31 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Nikola Dimitrijević 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
103 days out for Justas Cernych after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Stumbras will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
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.
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 Stumbras can pretend not to have heard.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Stumbras
Arnas Valskis 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Stumbras training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Dimitrijević 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
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Darius Dapkus, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Aug 2026
Suduva ended it 0‑3. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A fracture rules Justas Cernych out for 111 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Stumbras will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad17 Aug 2026
8 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
Stumbras are taken apart by Suduva — and the town wants answers
It finished 0-3. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.
Market17 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Arnas Valskis again, and this time the name on the line is Siauliai. Stumbras are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad17 Aug 2026
16 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Stumbras
Arnas Valskis and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout17 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 2026
A fracture rules Justas Cernych out for 119 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Stumbras will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Fiodor Sernas and Stumbras agree another 3 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Stumbras
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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Stumbras
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikola Dimitrijević was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
Fiodor Sernas asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market10 Aug 2026
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Stumbras has been clear about where Deividas Dubickas stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Aug 2026
126 days out for Justas Cernych after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Stumbras will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
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 Stumbras, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Stumbras
Nemanja Ilić and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Stumbras training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Dimitrijević 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.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Zalgiris have kept their man, and Stumbras go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market3 Aug 2026
A stepping stone, not a home, for Goran Smiljanić
He is doing his job and he is not settling. Stumbras were supposed to be a step up in his own reckoning, and his own reckoning has been adjusted since he arrived.
Squad3 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 Stumbras know which stage they are at.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
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.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
Fiodor Sernas knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Stumbras, and both men came out saying it was fine.