Marked for Eduards Oss
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market22 Feb 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Spartaks is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Wasiu Jimoh in a row with a teammate
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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 15 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Squad22 Feb 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Vitalijs Jagodinskis and Spartaks agree another 3 years.
Loan watch22 Feb 2027
“I did not go to Daugavpils to sit and watch. I want to come back to Spartaks and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 6 matches say the rest.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Spartaks training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eduards Oss 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
Uneasy
Market8 Feb 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Liepaja waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Spartaks is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Spartaks can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A falling-out at Spartaks
Musa Afeez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Pavels Fertovs and Spartaks agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Paide have kept their man, and Spartaks go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Chisom Ngomere, and the manager let it.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Spartaks
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Olegs Ciganovs was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
Joke Efevwerha 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.
Market8 Feb 2027
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Aleksandrs Savalnieks leaves Spartaks the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market1 Feb 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Spartaks people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Spartaks close the window on a squad of their own making
1 in and 4 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Spartaks
Musa Afeez 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 targets1 Feb 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Koper have kept their man, and Spartaks go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Musa Afeez
“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.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
A loan enquiry to Paide: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Eduards Oss 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
Squad1 Feb 2027
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Spartaks has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market11 Jan 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 Spartaks, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market11 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Spartaks
Wasiu Jimoh 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 targets11 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kauno Zalgiris have kept their man, and Spartaks go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market11 Jan 2027
The phone has started ringing about Eduards Bulvitis again, and this time the name on the line is Beroe. Spartaks are listening politely and promising nothing.
Market11 Jan 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.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Koper 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 targets11 Jan 2027
Spartaks have made the call to Rapid Bucharest. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Spartaks
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Eduards Oss was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
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
Spartaks say no — this time
The offer from Jelgava for Vitalijs Bulvitis 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.
Market4 Jan 2027
The phone has started ringing about Rodion Dmitriev again, and this time the name on the line is Daugavpils. Spartaks are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Spartaks
Wasiu Jimoh and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Spartaks
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Musa Afeez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market4 Jan 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Spartaks, another week without a signature from Musa Afeez.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
A loan move for Marin Laušić is in the works
Spartaks have made the call to Spartak Trnava. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
A loan move for Nejc Viher is in the works
Spartaks have made the call to NK Maribor. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
Open for business: Spartaks enter the window
The registration window is open and the phone has started. Between now and the deadline this club will be linked with forty players and sign three, which is the usual ratio.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Dec 2026
Musa Afeez in a row with a teammate
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.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
Musa Afeez 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Spartaks
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Eduards Oss was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Nov 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Pavels Fertovs and Spartaks agree another 3 years.
Market9 Nov 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
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 Spartaks this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout9 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Eduards Oss 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.
Loan watch9 Nov 2026
10 appearances at SKA Khabarovsk and the goals keep coming. Spartaks are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Spartaks
Wasiu Jimoh 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Kristaps Savalnieks is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Spartaks are still strangers to each other
6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
In brief
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Squad
Words at Spartaks training over how hard people work
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Sep 2026
Wasiu Jimoh 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
A row about effort at Spartaks
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Eduards Oss was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market28 Sep 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Joke Efevwerha’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market28 Sep 2026
The shop window has Eduards Oss in it
Spartaks have let the market know Eduards Oss can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Musa Afeez starts on the language
Two hours a week with a tutor, which is the least glamorous thing at Spartaks and the one that decides whether a foreign signing is still here in two years.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
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.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Window shuts: 5 in, 3 out at Spartaks
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
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.
Market7 Sep 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Spartaks is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Zalgiris is saying, and nobody at Spartaks is enjoying the guessing.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Musa Afeez 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 targets7 Sep 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Barau have kept their man, and Spartaks go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market7 Sep 2026
“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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Olegs Ciganovs slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Olegs Ciganovs is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.