Marked for Sergey Kuznetsov
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad17 Apr 2028
Sergey Kuznetsov damages knee ligaments — 17 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 17 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.
The terraces17 Apr 2028
Anger at Ventspils spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Arturs Cauna 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.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Words at Ventspils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kristaps Savalnieks 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.
Squad17 Apr 2028
“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.
Match15 Apr 2028
0‑1 to Metta/LU, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad10 Apr 2028
Sergey Kuznetsov damages knee ligaments — 24 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 24 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.
Match10 Apr 2028
Ventspils are in among the leaders
Position 2 and 10 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Squad10 Apr 2028
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
Two goals and a mark of 8.19 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad10 Apr 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Gatis Laizans and Ventspils agree another 3 years.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words at Ventspils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomaž Zakrajšek 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 terraces10 Apr 2028
At 21 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 Apr 2028
Ventspils settle it inside twenty minutes
2 goals before the ground had finished arriving. Daugavpils spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Apr 2028
Sergey Kuznetsov damages knee ligaments — 31 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 31 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.
Market3 Apr 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ventspils can pretend not to have heard.
Market3 Apr 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ventspils they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad3 Apr 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 Ventspils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Tomaž Zakrajšek 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.
Market3 Apr 2028
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Ventspils has been clear about where Kristaps Savalnieks stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad27 Mar 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Sergey Kuznetsov
39 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ventspils lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market27 Mar 2028
Only the photograph left for Gatis Oss
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Gatis Oss will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ventspils the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Player ratings27 Mar 2028
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Arturs Cauna 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 Ventspils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Words at Ventspils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eduards Jagodinskis 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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
“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
The terraces20 Mar 2028
Anger at Ventspils spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Squad20 Mar 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Sergey Kuznetsov
46 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ventspils lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad20 Mar 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Ventspils may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings20 Mar 2028
Lucas Ferreira, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.02
A mark of 8.02 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Arturs Cauna 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.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Tomaž Zakrajšek 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
Squad13 Mar 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Sergey Kuznetsov
55 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ventspils lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings13 Mar 2028
Lucas Ferreira, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.11
A mark of 8.11 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad13 Mar 2028
There were 6 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.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Arturs Cauna 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 Ventspils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Words at Ventspils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomaž Zakrajšek 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 terraces13 Mar 2028
At 21 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
Uneasy
Squad6 Mar 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Sergey Kuznetsov
62 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ventspils lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market6 Mar 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ventspils can pretend not to have heard.
Market6 Mar 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ventspils they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad6 Mar 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Arturs Cauna and Ventspils agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Arturs Cauna 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.
Boardroom6 Mar 2028
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Squad6 Mar 2028
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Ventspils know it.
Market6 Mar 2028
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Davis Gabovs is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market6 Mar 2028
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Alvis Laizans has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
In brief
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Boardroom
Ventspils turn down the training-ground plan
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Boardroom
Ventspils keep producing them
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Feb 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Sergey Kuznetsov
69 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ventspils lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Boardroom28 Feb 2028
Pressure builds in the Ventspils boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market28 Feb 2028
Gatis Oss has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ventspils they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Feb 2028
Sergey Kuznetsov damages knee ligaments — 77 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 77 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.
The terraces21 Feb 2028
Anger at Ventspils spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Arturs Cauna 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Feb 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Sergey Kuznetsov
85 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ventspils lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Janis Ikaunieks 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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words at Ventspils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eduards Jagodinskis 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Feb 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Sergey Kuznetsov
92 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ventspils lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match7 Feb 2028
Ventspils are in real trouble now
Position 7, 8 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market7 Feb 2028
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Nikita Zjuzins reports back to Ventspils with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Squad7 Feb 2028
A move Evrack Nkounkou would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Evrack Nkounkou is living that version at Ventspils, and it tends to show in the first month.
Market7 Feb 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ventspils is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Arturs Cauna 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad31 Jan 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Sergey Kuznetsov
101 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ventspils lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Boardroom31 Jan 2028
The scrutiny sharpens at Ventspils
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Ventspils is running low.
Market31 Jan 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ventspils is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Jan 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Sergey Kuznetsov
108 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ventspils lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The terraces24 Jan 2028
Anger at Ventspils spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Market24 Jan 2028
Only the photograph left for Nikita Zjuzins
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nikita Zjuzins will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ventspils the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market24 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 Ventspils, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Arturs Cauna 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.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Eduards Jagodinskis 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
Squad17 Jan 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Sergey Kuznetsov
115 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ventspils lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Arturs Cauna 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 Ventspils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market17 Jan 2028
Spartaks paid $330.0K and Ventspils took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad17 Jan 2028
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Dimitrij Ismayilov is living that version at Ventspils, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Words at Ventspils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomaž Zakrajšek 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.
Market17 Jan 2028
The Gatis Oss conversation is coming
Everyone has stopped pretending: Jelgava will make the call about Gatis Oss this week. Ventspils have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 Jan 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Sergey Kuznetsov
122 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ventspils lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match10 Jan 2028
Every point is an argument now for Ventspils
Position 7 and 8 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 19 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Arturs Cauna 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.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Yefferson Colmenárez 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.
Market10 Jan 2028
Daugavpils are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Ventspils will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Jan 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Sergey Kuznetsov
130 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ventspils lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 27 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market3 Jan 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Boardroom3 Jan 2028
The scrutiny sharpens at Ventspils
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Ventspils is running low.
Market3 Jan 2028
Add another name to the list: Jelgava have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Gatis Oss. The answer from Ventspils has not changed — yet.
Squad3 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 Ventspils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Nov 2027
Sergey Kuznetsov damages knee ligaments — 24 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 24 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 Nov 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 94 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The terraces1 Nov 2027
The mood at Ventspils has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad25 Oct 2027
Sergey Kuznetsov damages knee ligaments — 31 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 31 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.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 101 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad25 Oct 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 Ventspils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Oct 2027
Sergey Kuznetsov damages knee ligaments — 38 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 38 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.
Match18 Oct 2027
Ventspils sink to position 7
8 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Yefferson Colmenárez 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Oct 2027
Sergey Kuznetsov damages knee ligaments — 45 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 45 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.
Squad11 Oct 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 Ventspils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Oct 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Davis Tarasovs and Ventspils agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad4 Oct 2027
Sergey Kuznetsov damages knee ligaments — 52 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 52 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.
The terraces4 Oct 2027
The mood at Ventspils has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Yefferson Colmenárez 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad27 Sep 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Sergey Kuznetsov
62 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ventspils lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market27 Sep 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 Ventspils, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad27 Sep 2027
A muscle injury sidelines Janis Ikaunieks for 15 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Ventspils will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad27 Sep 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 Ventspils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Eduards Jagodinskis 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 watch27 Sep 2027
“I did not go to Jelgava to sit and watch. I want to come back to Ventspils and fight for my place.” 2 appearances in 37 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad20 Sep 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Sergey Kuznetsov
69 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ventspils lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match20 Sep 2027
Ventspils sink to position 7
8 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Yefferson Colmenárez 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Words at Ventspils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eduards Jagodinskis 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.
Loan watch20 Sep 2027
“I watch every Ventspils game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Liepaja runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad20 Sep 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
Uneasy
Squad13 Sep 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Sergey Kuznetsov
78 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ventspils lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad13 Sep 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 Ventspils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch13 Sep 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 Ventspils, and 0 appearances in 34 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Nobody at Ventspils 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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Alvis Dubra 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.
Market13 Sep 2027
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Gatis Gabovs leaves Ventspils the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad6 Sep 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Sergey Kuznetsov
85 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ventspils lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Yefferson Colmenárez 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 Sep 2027
Words at Ventspils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eduards Jagodinskis 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
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. Ventspils will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Loan watch6 Sep 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 Ventspils, and 10 appearances in 34 say he has earned the hearing.
Market6 Sep 2027
Ventspils opened the door and nobody walked through it. So Yefferson Colmenárez stays — listed, trained, and available — while both sides mark the days to January on the same calendar.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Aug 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Sergey Kuznetsov
94 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ventspils lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market30 Aug 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 Ventspils, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad30 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.
Squad30 Aug 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 Ventspils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Eduards Jagodinskis 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 watch30 Aug 2027
“I watch every Ventspils game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Jelgava runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Aug 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Sergey Kuznetsov
101 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ventspils lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match23 Aug 2027
Ventspils are in real trouble now
Position 7, 8 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Yefferson Colmenárez 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Vladimirs Dubra gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Vladimirs Dubra has just signed for Ventspils, and for once the answer mattered.
Boardroom23 Aug 2027
Skonto will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Benjamín Rivera has pre-agreed a move to Ventspils, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Kristaps Savalnieks 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 watch23 Aug 2027
“I watch every Ventspils game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Liepaja runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Market23 Aug 2027
Marcis Oss is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Ventspils has been clear about where Marcis Oss stands, which is more than many ever get.
Market23 Aug 2027
The best deals are the ones the accountants never notice. Vladimirs Dubra arrives at Ventspils with his wages the only cost and something to prove the only clause.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Aug 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Sergey Kuznetsov
110 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ventspils lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad16 Aug 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 Ventspils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Ventspils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kristaps Savalnieks 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Aug 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Sergey Kuznetsov
117 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ventspils lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Yefferson Colmenárez 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
The medical room confirms 15 days on the sidelines for Alvis Kamess, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Aug 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Sergey Kuznetsov
124 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ventspils lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market2 Aug 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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Ventspils may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad26 Jul 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Sergey Kuznetsov
131 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ventspils lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match26 Jul 2027
Every point is an argument now for Ventspils
Position 7 and 8 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Match21 Jul 2027
Liepaja ended it 0‑1. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
The terraces26 Jul 2027
7th and falling: the mood at Ventspils has gone
8 points and a position everybody in the ground can do the arithmetic on. The songs have stopped being about the team and started being about surviving, which is a different noise entirely.
Match21 Jul 2027
The wait goes on for Ventspils
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Market26 Jul 2027
Only the photograph left for Marcis Oss
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Marcis Oss will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ventspils the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Yefferson Colmenárez 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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Kristaps Savalnieks 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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lucas Ferreira, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Jul 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Sergey Kuznetsov
140 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ventspils lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad19 Jul 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Arturs Cauna 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 May 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 53 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad10 May 2027
Gatis Laizans: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ventspils have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market10 May 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ventspils is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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 Ventspils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch10 May 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 Ventspils, and 2 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad10 May 2027
Janis Ikaunieks has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Ventspils 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.
Player ratings10 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings10 May 2027
9 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.
Match8 May 2027
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Jelgava came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad3 May 2027
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.
Match3 May 2027
Every point is an argument now for Ventspils
Position 7 and 7 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market3 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.
Squad3 May 2027
Yefferson Colmenárez 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.
Match1 May 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.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Ventspils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eduards Jagodinskis 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Jan 2027
Yefferson Colmenárez 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.
Market18 Jan 2027
The name of Marcis Oss has come up in conversations Ventspils were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Ventspils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eduards Jagodinskis 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Dec 2026
Yefferson Colmenárez 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Ventspils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eduards Jagodinskis 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 Dec 2026
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Sergey Kuznetsov has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market9 Nov 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 Ventspils, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Arturs Cauna 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 Ventspils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Ventspils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yefferson Colmenárez 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Oct 2026
Yefferson Colmenárez 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Ventspils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eduards Jagodinskis 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.
Loan watch26 Oct 2026
“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 Ventspils, and 0 appearances in 10 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Oct 2026
The words a physio says slowly. 31 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.
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 Ventspils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Eduards Jagodinskis 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.