Marked for Kaspars Oss
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market23 Aug 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market23 Aug 2027
Only the photograph left for Gatis Fertovs
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Gatis Fertovs will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Skonto the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets23 Aug 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Iason Georgakopoulos is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad23 Aug 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Skonto
Gatis Fertovs 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 dugout23 Aug 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.
Market23 Aug 2027
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Denys Makarenko leaves Skonto the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
Market23 Aug 2027
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Aleksandrs Dubra leaves Skonto the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Jul 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Kristaps Stolcers
55 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.
Match5 Jul 2027
Skonto refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 21 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Market5 Jul 2027
Skonto say no — this time
The offer from Ventspils for Gatis Fertovs 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.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Skonto have done the hard part with Olympiacos, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
$19.0K was the most the club would pay and Daugavpils were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Squad5 Jul 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.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
A loan enquiry to Olympiacos: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
Intake day at the Skonto academy
4 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Mory Cissé moves up the pecking order
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Skonto than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad31 May 2027
Kristaps Stolcers damages knee ligaments — 95 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 95 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.
Match29 May 2027
No mercy from Skonto
Jelgava will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Skonto were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings31 May 2027
A brace, and Kaspars Oss takes the afternoon — 8.84
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Kaspars Oss provided it, and the 8.84 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings31 May 2027
A debut Kristaps Dubra will not forget — 7.52
There is exactly one of these per career and it does not usually go like this. 0 on the scoresheet, 7.52 beside the name, and a crowd that had never seen him before chanting it by the end.
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.
Squad31 May 2027
Words exchanged at Skonto
Justice Apaingolo 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 terraces31 May 2027
At 18 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.
Player ratings31 May 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.37, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Looking ahead31 May 2027
The big one: Ventspils come into view
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Skonto will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 May 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Kristaps Stolcers
102 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.
Player ratings24 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad24 May 2027
Words exchanged at Skonto
Olegs Oss 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 dugout24 May 2027
Half-satisfied: Olegs Gabovs on the draw
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Squad24 May 2027
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.
Match22 May 2027
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Metta/LU defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
The dugout24 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.
Squad24 May 2027
Every debut is a small story about the future: Pavels Jagodinskis, 17 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
The dugout24 May 2027
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
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
Triumph
Match8 May 2027
Skonto win it in stoppage time
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 92th minute. Daugavpils will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Match10 May 2027
Skonto up to position 3
17 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Player ratings10 May 2027
No sign of nerves from Kaspars Oss at 20 — 7.73
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Kaspars Oss did not need any: 7.73, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad10 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 Skonto this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match8 May 2027
Three points for Skonto, 2‑1 the final word against Daugavpils in a contest settled by the finer margins.
The terraces10 May 2027
The crowd has taken to Kaspars Oss
At 20 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.
Match8 May 2027
Skonto are at home on the road
3 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
Player ratings10 May 2027
Ninety minutes of Gatis Kamess at his very best
Marked 8.38. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Skonto.
Looking ahead10 May 2027
The fixture the rest of the division is looking forward to more than either of the sides in it. Both know a win changes the season and a defeat does not end it, which is what makes it hard to play.
In brief
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Squad
A row about effort at Skonto
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Player ratings
Kaspars Bulvitis runs at them all day
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad12 Apr 2027
Alvis Zjuzins damages knee ligaments — 37 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 37 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.
Match12 Apr 2027
Skonto refuse to drop out of the race
Position 2, 11 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Match10 Apr 2027
Nobody wants to play Skonto 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.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match10 Apr 2027
A 2‑1 win over Jelgava, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words exchanged at Skonto
Justice Apaingolo 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 terraces12 Apr 2027
Skonto supporters have found a favourite in Kaspars Oss
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Kaspars Oss has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
Ninety minutes of Gatis Kamess at his very best
Marked 8.50. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Skonto.
Looking ahead12 Apr 2027
Top-of-the-table clash for Skonto
Ventspils 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.
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
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
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad25 Jan 2027
Davis Vanins breaks a bone — 89 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 89 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market25 Jan 2027
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Gatis Fertovs had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Market25 Jan 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.
Transfer targets25 Jan 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.
Squad25 Jan 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.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
A loan enquiry to Sibir: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout25 Jan 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
Market25 Jan 2027
The minutes were not coming at Skonto, so he will look for them at Ventspils. Everybody involved calls it development; for the player it is simply a chance to play.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Jan 2027
112 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.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kauno Zalgiris have kept their man, and Skonto go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad4 Jan 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.
Market4 Jan 2027
The name of Kristaps Dubra has come up in conversations Skonto were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
A loan enquiry to Mashuk: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout4 Jan 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Dec 2026
Davis Vanins breaks a bone — 126 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 126 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Skonto
Gatis Fertovs 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 dugout21 Dec 2026
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
Squad7 Dec 2026
22 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Skonto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Justice Apaingolo 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Kaspars Oss and Skonto agree another 5 years.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Kaspars Oss gets it from the manager
“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.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match4 Nov 2026
The cup run ends for Skonto
1‑3 against Liepaja, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 60 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad9 Nov 2026
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.
The dugout9 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.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑3 Olegs Gabovs left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Gatis Stolcers will call it something else in private.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad12 Oct 2026
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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
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.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad14 Sep 2026
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.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
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.
Market14 Sep 2026
The Kaspars Oss story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Kaspars Oss signs something — a contract at Skonto or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market31 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.
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.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Kauno Zalgiris keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Market31 Aug 2026
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Kristaps Dubra reports back to Skonto with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. HNK Rijeka have kept their man, and Skonto go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
A loan enquiry to Dinamo Kirov: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Kristaps Dubra and Skonto agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout31 Aug 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 dugout31 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
Triumph
Match19 Aug 2026
Skonto through in the cup
A 3‑2 win over Spartaks, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Kaspars Oss could not have asked for more on his first appearance — 7.72
Debuts are survived rather than enjoyed. This one was enjoyed: 7.72, 1 goals, and a manager already being asked whether he starts again next week.
Match19 Aug 2026
Aleksandrs Stolcers wins it after the whistle should have gone
101 minutes played. Aleksandrs Stolcers found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Spartaks went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.22 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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
Ventspils pay $1.2M, 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.
Transfer targets24 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Skonto
Roberts Jagodinskis 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 terraces24 Aug 2026
At 23 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
Steady
Market10 Aug 2026
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Zlate Moravce had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Market10 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.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Skonto have done the hard part with Kauno Zalgiris, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Skonto had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Olympiacos, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Gatis Kamess and Skonto agree another 4 years.
Transfer targets10 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Skonto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksandrs Cauna 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
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.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Gatis Kamess
“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.