Marked for Pavels Zjuzins
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Jan 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 16 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market11 Jan 2027
Spartaks say no — this time
The offer from Ventspils for Olegs Savalnieks 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.
Market11 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.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Liepaja keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Gozie Umeh and Spartaks agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Spartaks asked and Liepaja said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market11 Jan 2027
Metta/LU paid $17.0K and Spartaks took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Spartaks
Pavels Zjuzins 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Spartaks training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pavels Dubra 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Dec 2026
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Spartaks will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad28 Dec 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 Spartaks this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Pavels Dubra 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
Steady
Squad23 Nov 2026
Pavels Zjuzins 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.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Olegs Stolcers has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Spartaks 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.
Squad23 Nov 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
Squad9 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Spartaks
Pavels Zjuzins and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Spartaks training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pavels Dubra 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 dugout9 Nov 2026
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
Steady
Squad5 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 Spartaks this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Spartaks
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pavels Dubra was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Kristaps Cauna and Spartaks agree another 1 years.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Sep 2026
Pavels Zjuzins 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Pavels Dubra 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 dugout28 Sep 2026
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
Steady
Squad21 Sep 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Kristaps Gabovs
14 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Spartaks lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Spartaks training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vladimirs Ciganovs 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Spartaks
Pavels Zjuzins 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.
Market21 Sep 2026
Spartaks have let the market know Pavels Jagodinskis can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Eduards Zjuzins trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Aug 2026
There were 13 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Kristaps Gabovs
44 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Spartaks lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match19 Aug 2026
The small margins put Spartaks out
Out, 0‑1 to Liepaja, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Market24 Aug 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market24 Aug 2026
Liepaja come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Spartaks did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Nomme Kalju have kept their man, and Spartaks go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market24 Aug 2026
Skonto paid $14.0K and Spartaks took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Spartaks
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vladimirs Ciganovs was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Spartaks
Pavels Zjuzins 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Olegs Stolcers and Spartaks agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Spartaks
Roberts Tarasovs 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
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. AEK have kept their man, and Spartaks go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Spartaks
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vladimirs Ciganovs was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout10 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.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
A loan enquiry to Slavia Prague: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
Olegs Stolcers knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Olegs Stolcers trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad10 Aug 2026
No place for Mory Cissé in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Spartaks are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Market10 Aug 2026
Alvis Tarasovs is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Spartaks has been clear about where Alvis Tarasovs stands, which is more than many ever get.