The mood at Metta/LU 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Metta/LU this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Gabi Caschili 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.
45 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.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Skonto have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The clubs have shaken hands with Liepaja; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Everything was agreed with Jelgava and then the doctor spoke. Skonto have walked away from a signing on the advice of somebody who never saw him play, which is how it is supposed to work.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Gatis Kamess 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 training ground goes quiet for a fortnight. 8 men have gone off to be somebody else’s players, and the manager is left with the ones nobody has called.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dinamo City have kept their man, and Skonto go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Marius Klimavicius 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.
“I watch every Skonto game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Metta/LU runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
In brief
The dugoutGatis Kamess has become a man the manager trusts
The dugoutMiguel Vieira knocks on the manager's door
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
The deal with Jelgava 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Metta/LU this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Gabi Caschili 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.
Metta/LU 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.
75 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.
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.
Miguel Vieira 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” João Forelle and Skonto agree another 4 years.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words at Skonto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gatis Kamess 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Slavia Prague have kept their man, and Skonto go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at Skonto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gatis Kamess 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.
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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Skonto can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The young player of the month award goes to a 21-year-old at Skonto who has looked like the finished article for four weekends running. The next four are the ones that decide whether he is.
“I watch every Skonto game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Metta/LU runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
A loan enquiry to Olimpija Ljubljana: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Metta/LU have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ivo Minkevičs and Metta/LU agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Gabi Caschili 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Skonto is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Miguel Vieira is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Successful dribbles: 22. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Gatis Kamess 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.
Skonto asked and Sigma Olomouc said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
At 33, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
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.
“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 Metta/LU, and it is not being withdrawn.
Ghali Falke 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gabi Caschili was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Metta/LU, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Daugavpils next, and one man in the Metta/LU dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Gatis Kamess will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Skonto the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Miguel Vieira 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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gatis Kamess was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.17 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
8 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.
6 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Metta/LU can tell you which week it ends in.
Ghali Falke 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gabi Caschili was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
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.
Liepaja go through and Metta/LU go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
6 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.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Metta/LU can tell you which week it ends in.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Metta/LU can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Gabi Caschili 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gianluca Scremin was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Nikita Cauna after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
In brief
The dugoutRaivis Rugins asks for a word with the manager
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Gatis Kamess will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Skonto the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jan Dorożko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I watch every Skonto game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Metta/LU runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Metta/LU this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Metta/LU training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gabi Caschili 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.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Metta/LU are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Ghali Falke 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Gabi Caschili 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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Daugavpils in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Metta/LU. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
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.
At 18 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Vitalijs Dubra and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Skonto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jan Dorożko 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.
“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 2 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
Gaël Delplanque is 20, and Skonto have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Skonto is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The offer from Naftan for Vitalijs Dubra 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.
Skonto asked and Slavia Prague said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Marcis Stolcers trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Skonto will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
“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 Metta/LU, and it is not being withdrawn.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Metta/LU have done the hard part with Skonto, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Splinter de Mooij and Metta/LU agree another 3 years.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Splinter de Mooij was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Metta/LU are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Splinter de Mooij trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The words a physio says slowly. 39 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Skonto can pretend not to have heard.
Gatis Kamess 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Spartaks have kept their man, and Skonto go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The words a physio says slowly. 54 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.
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
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.
84 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.
“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 15 say he has earned the hearing.
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.
In brief
SquadThe training reports on Arturs Cauna are not good
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Arturs Cauna
113 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.
Marius Klimavicius 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 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.
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 words a physio says slowly. 72 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.
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.
“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.
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Gatis Kamess may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Skonto training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikita Ikaunieks 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Daugavpils 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Eduards Laizans 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Davis Fertovs 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Eduards Vanins 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Eduards Dubra 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.
In brief
SquadWords at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ziad Ouled-Haj-M'hand and Daugavpils agree another 4 years.
Ziad Ouled-Haj-M'hand 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ceti Junior Tchibinda 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.