Marked for Davis Vanins
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad25 Dec 2028
Marcis Stolcers damages knee ligaments — 28 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 28 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.
Market25 Dec 2028
Only the photograph left for Olegs Oss
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Olegs Oss will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Skonto the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad25 Dec 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 Skonto this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Abdoul Bane 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.
Squad25 Dec 2028
15 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
The dugout25 Dec 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.
The dugout25 Dec 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Godwin John, and the manager let it.
The dugout25 Dec 2028
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.
The dugout25 Dec 2028
Abdoul Bane 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.
In brief
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Market
Davis Vanins told to find a new club
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Boardroom
The Skonto academy earns its keep
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Boardroom
The Skonto board choose calm
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 Jan 2028
32 days out for Igors Vanins after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Skonto will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market31 Jan 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 Skonto, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad31 Jan 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 Skonto this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Jan 2028
Igors Vanins breaks a bone — 40 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 40 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market24 Jan 2028
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Skonto people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Squad24 Jan 2028
A falling-out at Skonto
Hakeeb Adelakun and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 Jan 2028
A row about effort at Skonto
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Adam Paar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad24 Jan 2028
11 new faces, and Skonto 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.
The dugout24 Jan 2028
Gatis Kamess has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Skonto 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
Steady
Squad10 Jan 2028
54 days out for Igors Vanins after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Skonto will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Tempers go at Skonto
Hakeeb Adelakun 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 targets10 Jan 2028
Skonto 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.
Squad10 Jan 2028
A row about effort at Skonto
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Adam Paar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad10 Jan 2028
The medical room confirms 16 days on the sidelines for Raivis Laizans, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout10 Jan 2028
Kaspars Oss has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Skonto 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.
In brief
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Market
Davis Vanins is free to find somewhere else
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Market
Skonto shop where it costs nothing
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The dugout
The manager plants his flag on Chibueze Oputa
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Boardroom
The Skonto board put their names to it
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad6 Dec 2027
91 days out for Igors Vanins after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Skonto will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market6 Dec 2027
Kristaps Dubra has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Skonto they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Tempers go at Skonto
Hakeeb Adelakun 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
Bálint Geiger 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 Dec 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Davis Vanins and Skonto agree another 2 years.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
Nobody at Skonto 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.
Market6 Dec 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Jérôme Bonou may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Market6 Dec 2027
Still no offer on the table, and Gatis Fertovs’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
Davis Gabovs 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Aug 2027
Kristaps Stolcers damages knee ligaments — 16 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 16 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.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
$8.6M on the table at AFC Wimbledon. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Market9 Aug 2027
Only the photograph left for Kristaps Dubra
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kristaps Dubra will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Skonto the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Skonto
Bálint Geiger 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Adam Paar 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 dugout9 Aug 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Skonto know which stage they are at.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
Gatis Kamess has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Skonto 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.
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad17 May 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Kristaps Stolcers
110 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Skonto lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market17 May 2027
Kristaps Dubra has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Skonto they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match15 May 2027
Liepaja left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings17 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad17 May 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Alvis Tarasovs and Skonto agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout17 May 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad17 May 2027
A falling-out at Skonto
Roberts Jagodinskis and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 May 2027
Kaspars Oss, 20, is the weekend’s best young player
Measured against every other kid in the division and first among them. The senior award is where Skonto would like this to lead.
The dugout17 May 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad29 Mar 2027
Alvis Zjuzins 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
A fracture rules Davis Vanins out for 19 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Skonto will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match27 Mar 2027
A 1‑0 win over Liepaja, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
Gatis Kamess was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.02. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 18 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Loan watch29 Mar 2027
“I did not go to Ventspils to sit and watch. I want to come back to Skonto and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.
Squad29 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 Skonto this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Olegs Gabovs could afford to be generous.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Gatis Kamess named player of the week
One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Gatis Kamess has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Mar 2027
Alvis Zjuzins damages knee ligaments — 61 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 61 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.
Match20 Mar 2027
3 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Gatis Kamess will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Skonto escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Two goals and a mark of 9.21 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad22 Mar 2027
28 days out for Davis Vanins after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Skonto will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market22 Mar 2027
Kristaps Dubra has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Skonto they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Skonto
Chibueze Oputa 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.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.30, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match20 Mar 2027
It needed Gatis Kamess to find the net to bring anything home at all: 3‑3 against Daugavpils, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Loan watch22 Mar 2027
“I watch every Skonto game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Daugavpils runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Mar 2027
Alvis Zjuzins damages knee ligaments — 68 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 68 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
A fracture rules Davis Vanins out for 35 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Skonto will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
No sign of nerves from Kaspars Oss at 20 — 7.69
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Kaspars Oss did not need any: 7.69, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad15 Mar 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Justice Apaingolo and Skonto agree another 3 years.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The terraces15 Mar 2027
He is 20 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Match13 Mar 2027
Level with 88 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Skonto had all but put away. Spartaks will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Skonto
Roberts Jagodinskis 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.
Match13 Mar 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Mar 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Alvis Zjuzins
75 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Skonto lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Davis Vanins breaks a bone — 42 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 42 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Krišs Kārkliņš and Skonto agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
5 academy graduates step up at Skonto
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Skonto
Justice Apaingolo 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.
Market8 Mar 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Raivis Oss has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market8 Mar 2027
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Igors Fertovs is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market8 Mar 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Kaspars Bulvitis has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market8 Mar 2027
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Pavels Jagodinskis is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 Mar 2027
Alvis Zjuzins damages knee ligaments — 83 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 83 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A fracture rules Davis Vanins out for 50 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Skonto will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad1 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 Skonto this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch1 Mar 2027
“I watch every Skonto game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Ventspils runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
When it matters, Kaspars Oss plays
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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Skonto would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Feb 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Alvis Zjuzins
91 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Skonto lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad22 Feb 2027
57 days out for Davis Vanins after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Skonto will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market22 Feb 2027
Kristaps Dubra has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Skonto they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad22 Feb 2027
A falling-out at Skonto
Justice Apaingolo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Loan watch22 Feb 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 Skonto, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
Nobody at Skonto 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
Steady
Squad15 Feb 2027
99 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Skonto lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Davis Vanins breaks a bone — 66 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 66 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A falling-out at Skonto
Olegs Oss and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Justice Apaingolo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout15 Feb 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Skonto would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Feb 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Alvis Zjuzins
107 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Skonto lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Davis Vanins breaks a bone — 74 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 74 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market8 Feb 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Skonto people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market8 Feb 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Tempers go at Skonto
Gatis Fertovs 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 dugout8 Feb 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Justice Apaingolo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 Feb 2027
Davis Vanins breaks a bone — 81 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 81 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Chibueze Oputa 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. Chibueze Oputa has, at Skonto, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Skonto close the window on a squad of their own making
1 in and 2 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Market1 Feb 2027
Liepaja come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Skonto did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
The deal with Daugavpils is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Tempers go at Skonto
Chibueze Oputa 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 targets1 Feb 2027
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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
This league is too small for Chibueze Oputa
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. Skonto will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Market1 Feb 2027
Ventspils are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Skonto will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.