Marked for Aleksandrs Zjuzins
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market28 Aug 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 Bylis can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout28 Aug 2028
Denis Shera: 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.” Bylis have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market28 Aug 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Bylis is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match26 Aug 2028
The wait goes on for Bylis
4 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.
Match26 Aug 2028
The goals have deserted Bylis
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Bylis can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Words exchanged at Bylis
Dime Dimov 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.
Boardroom28 Aug 2028
Graduation day at Bylis
7 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.
Transfer targets28 Aug 2028
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.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Words at Bylis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksandrs Zjuzins 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
Crisis
The terraces14 Aug 2028
Supporters organise against the Bylis board
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.
Market14 Aug 2028
“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 targets14 Aug 2028
Everything agreed with Tirana, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad14 Aug 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 Bylis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Aug 2028
A row about effort at Bylis
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aleksandrs Zjuzins was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Everybody at Bylis saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 37 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
The dugout14 Aug 2028
The manager makes an example of Tristan Vella
“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 dugout14 Aug 2028
Ahmed Sanogo 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.
Squad14 Aug 2028
The table has started to be checked before the results are in, and that is always the tell. Nobody at Bylis says the word out loud, and everybody in the building is thinking it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market7 Aug 2028
Ahmed Sanogo hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bylis can pretend not to have heard.
Market7 Aug 2028
The name of Saheed Owolabi has come up in conversations Bylis were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad7 Aug 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Maciej Wichtowski and Bylis agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Words at Bylis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Denis Shera 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 Aug 2028
A falling-out at Bylis
Maxim Borisov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout7 Aug 2028
The manager makes an example of Saheed Owolabi
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market31 Jul 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 Bylis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad31 Jul 2028
A falling-out at Bylis
Aleksandrs Zjuzins and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets31 Jul 2028
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.
Market31 Jul 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ousmane Kane’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout31 Jul 2028
Denis Shera 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.
The dugout31 Jul 2028
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Saheed Owolabi has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match24 Jul 2028
Bylis are in real trouble now
Position 8, 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.
Boardroom24 Jul 2028
The scrutiny sharpens at Bylis
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Bylis is running low.
Market24 Jul 2028
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Bylis have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Squad24 Jul 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 Bylis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout24 Jul 2028
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Bylis told Pedro Vieira something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Denis Shera 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 dugout24 Jul 2028
Denis Shera 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 dugout24 Jul 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Aleksandrs Zjuzins trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Denis Shera has had enough of the bench
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Bylis will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces17 Jul 2028
The mood at Bylis 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.
Market17 Jul 2028
“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 targets17 Jul 2028
$280.0K was the most the club would pay and Teuta Durrës 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.
Squad17 Jul 2028
A row about effort at Bylis
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aleksandrs Zjuzins was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad17 Jul 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 Bylis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market17 Jul 2028
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Bylis will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
The dugout17 Jul 2028
The manager makes an example of Nikita Korolev
“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 dugout17 Jul 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Aleksandrs Zjuzins trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad17 Jul 2028
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Bylis will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market10 Jul 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 Bylis can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets10 Jul 2028
Bylis have gone to Teuta Durrës with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Squad10 Jul 2028
A falling-out at Bylis
Dime Dimov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Words at Bylis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksandrs Zjuzins 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.
Transfer targets10 Jul 2028
Egnatia Rrogozhinë 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.
The dugout10 Jul 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tristan Vella, and the manager let it.
Market10 Jul 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Pedro Vieira’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad10 Jul 2028
The table has started to be checked before the results are in, and that is always the tell. Nobody at Bylis says the word out loud, and everybody in the building is thinking it.
Market10 Jul 2028
Bylis have made Ahmed Sanogo available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market3 Jul 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 Bylis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market3 Jul 2028
Only the photograph left for Saheed Owolabi
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Saheed Owolabi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Bylis the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad3 Jul 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Olamilekan Adeduro and Bylis agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Words exchanged at Bylis
Dime Dimov 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 targets3 Jul 2028
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.
Squad3 Jul 2028
A row about effort at Bylis
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Denis Shera was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets3 Jul 2028
A loan enquiry to Egnatia Rrogozhinë: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Boardroom3 Jul 2028
Bylis sign 6 boys into the academy
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
The dugout3 Jul 2028
Ahmed Sanogo knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Bylis, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Jun 2028
Every point is an argument now for Bylis
Position 8 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.
Boardroom26 Jun 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Bylis
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market26 Jun 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 Bylis can pretend not to have heard.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Tempers go at Bylis
Olamilekan Adeduro 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 targets26 Jun 2028
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.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Aleksandrs Zjuzins 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 dugout26 Jun 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kristian Gjini, and the manager let it.
Transfer targets26 Jun 2028
A loan move for Daniel Adjessa is in the works
Bylis have made the call to Egnatia Rrogozhinë. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Squad26 Jun 2028
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Bylis will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces19 Jun 2028
The mood at Bylis 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.
Market19 Jun 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 Bylis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market19 Jun 2028
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Bylis people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Squad19 Jun 2028
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Bylis can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Aleksandrs Zjuzins 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.
Squad19 Jun 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 Bylis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets19 Jun 2028
A loan move for Daniel Adjessa is in the works
Bylis have made the call to Egnatia Rrogozhinë. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout19 Jun 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nikita Korolev, and the manager let it.
Market19 Jun 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ahmed Sanogo’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market12 Jun 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 Bylis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets12 Jun 2028
The deal with Teuta Durrës died in the treatment room. Nobody will say what was found and everybody in the game will find out by Friday.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Words exchanged at Bylis
Aleksandrs Zjuzins 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.
Squad12 Jun 2028
“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; Bylis are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Denis Shera 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.
Transfer targets12 Jun 2028
Egnatia Rrogozhinë 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.
Market12 Jun 2028
A conversation is coming this week. Bylis will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
The dugout12 Jun 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tristan Vella, and the manager let it.
Market12 Jun 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Pedro Vieira’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom5 Jun 2028
Bernard Vata has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Bylis can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market5 Jun 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 Bylis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets5 Jun 2028
Everything agreed with Egnatia Rrogozhinë, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Transfer targets5 Jun 2028
The offer went to Partizani Tirana this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Squad5 Jun 2028
35 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad5 Jun 2028
A row about effort at Bylis
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aleksandrs Zjuzins was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Words exchanged at Bylis
Maxim Borisov 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 dugout5 Jun 2028
Roberts Ozols loses the manager who believed in him
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Roberts Ozols's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
The dugout5 Jun 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Aleksandrs Zjuzins trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match29 May 2028
Bylis sink to position 8
8 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market29 May 2028
“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.
Boardroom29 May 2028
The scrutiny sharpens at Bylis
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Bylis is running low.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market15 May 2028
“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.
Squad15 May 2028
A falling-out at Bylis
Dime Dimov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 May 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Kristian Gjini and Bylis agree another 3 years.
Squad15 May 2028
Aleksandrs Zjuzins 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 dugout15 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Maxim Borisov, and the manager let it.
The dugout15 May 2028
Ahmed Sanogo knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ahmed Sanogo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market8 May 2028
“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.
Squad8 May 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Olávio Olávio commits to Bylis for another 2 years.
Squad8 May 2028
63 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad8 May 2028
Words exchanged at Bylis
Olamilekan Adeduro 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.
Squad8 May 2028
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Bylis would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
The dugout8 May 2028
Ahmed Sanogo asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces24 Apr 2028
The mood at Bylis 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.
Market24 Apr 2028
“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 Apr 2028
Saheed Owolabi has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Bylis they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad24 Apr 2028
60 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Tempers go at Bylis
Aleksandrs Zjuzins 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 Apr 2028
A muscle injury and 16 days out for Tomas Paulauskas
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Bylis will quote 16 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad24 Apr 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 Bylis know it.
Market24 Apr 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ahmed Sanogo’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
Rinaldo Nela knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Bylis, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 Apr 2028
A fracture rules Ousmane Kane out for 15 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Bylis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market17 Apr 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 Bylis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad17 Apr 2028
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Bylis can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Words at Bylis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksandrs Zjuzins 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
Tempers go at Bylis
Rinaldo Nela 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.
Market17 Apr 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Pedro Vieira’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 Apr 2028
A fracture rules Ousmane Kane out for 22 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Bylis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market10 Apr 2028
“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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Olávio Olávio wants to finish where he started
Every long career reaches the week the player starts thinking about the last one. He would like it to be at the club that first put him on a pitch, and Bylis now know that too.
Squad10 Apr 2028
A falling-out at Bylis
Aleksandrs Zjuzins and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words at Bylis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomas Paulauskas 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 dugout10 Apr 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tristan Vella, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces27 Mar 2028
Anger at Bylis 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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Ousmane Kane breaks a bone — 36 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 36 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market27 Mar 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 Bylis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market27 Mar 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Bylis is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Dime Dimov 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 Bylis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Aleksandrs Zjuzins 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 dugout27 Mar 2028
Ahmed Sanogo knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ahmed Sanogo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad27 Mar 2028
“I want to play”: Denis Shera speaks
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Market27 Mar 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ahmed Sanogo’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market13 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 Bylis can pretend not to have heard.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Words at Bylis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomas Paulauskas 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.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Words exchanged at Bylis
Maxim Borisov 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 dugout13 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.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
Kristian Gjini knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Bylis, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market13 Mar 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ousmane Kane’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match6 Mar 2028
Bylis sink to position 8
8 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market6 Mar 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 Bylis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom6 Mar 2028
The scrutiny sharpens at Bylis
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Bylis is running low.
Squad6 Mar 2028
A row about effort at Bylis
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aleksandrs Zjuzins was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad6 Mar 2028
A falling-out at Bylis
Rinaldo Nela and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout6 Mar 2028
The manager makes an example of Kristian Gjini
“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.
Squad6 Mar 2028
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Bylis will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Boardroom6 Mar 2028
Bylis pull $667.9K back off the table
The money that was there in the summer is not there now. Nobody upstairs calls this a change of ambition, and everybody downstairs reads it as one.
The dugout6 Mar 2028
Rinaldo Nela asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces28 Feb 2028
Supporters organise against the Bylis board
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.
Market28 Feb 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 Bylis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market28 Feb 2028
Saheed Owolabi has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Bylis they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Tempers go at Bylis
Aleksandrs Zjuzins 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 Feb 2028
Tomas Paulauskas 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.
Market28 Feb 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ahmed Sanogo’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
Rinaldo Nela knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Bylis, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Bylis. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Market28 Feb 2028
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Rinaldo Nela may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market21 Feb 2028
Maxim Borisov hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bylis can pretend not to have heard.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Words exchanged at Bylis
Aleksandrs Zjuzins 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.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Words at Bylis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomas Paulauskas 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 dugout21 Feb 2028
The manager makes an example of Saheed Owolabi
“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.
Market21 Feb 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Pedro Vieira’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market21 Feb 2028
Bylis have made Aleksandrs Zjuzins available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Feb 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 Bylis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad14 Feb 2028
“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; Bylis are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words exchanged at Bylis
Dime Dimov 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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words at Bylis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksandrs Zjuzins 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 dugout14 Feb 2028
The manager makes an example of Jamie Noreci
“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.
Market14 Feb 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ousmane Kane’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match7 Feb 2028
Every point is an argument now for Bylis
Position 8 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.
Market7 Feb 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 Bylis, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout7 Feb 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.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Bylis close the window on a squad of their own making
2 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.
Market7 Feb 2028
Bylis say no — this time
The offer from Skonto for Ionuţ Gurău 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.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Tempers go at Bylis
Dime Dimov 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 Feb 2028
Bylis asked and Teuta Durrës said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad7 Feb 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Tomas Paulauskas commits to Bylis for another 3 years.
Transfer targets7 Feb 2028
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Bylis will try again when the window opens; Teuta Durrës may not be selling by then.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match10 Jan 2028
Every point is an argument now for Bylis
Position 8 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.
Market10 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 Bylis, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout10 Jan 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.
Market10 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.
Squad10 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 Bylis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets10 Jan 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Teuta Durrës have kept their man, and Bylis go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Transfer targets10 Jan 2028
A loan enquiry to Egnatia Rrogozhinë: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout10 Jan 2028
“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 dugout10 Jan 2028
Roberts Ozols knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Roberts Ozols trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces3 Jan 2028
The mood at Bylis 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.
Market3 Jan 2028
Roberts Ozols hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bylis can pretend not to have heard.
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 Bylis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market3 Jan 2028
Add another name to the list: Vllaznia Shkodër have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Saheed Owolabi. The answer from Bylis has not changed — yet.
The dugout3 Jan 2028
The manager makes an example of Kristian Gjini
“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.
Squad3 Jan 2028
A place in the month's best eleven for Fabjan Përndreca
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Fabjan Përndreca has come out of that comparison in the side, and Bylis have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The dugout3 Jan 2028
Roberts Ozols knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Bylis, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad3 Jan 2028
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Bylis will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Squad3 Jan 2028
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market27 Dec 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 Bylis, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
This is not rotation. Faisal Charwetey has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Bylis is pretending otherwise.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Bylis may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad27 Dec 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Aleksandrs Zjuzins commits to Bylis for another 3 years.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Words exchanged at Bylis
Dime Dimov 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.
Squad27 Dec 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Bylis can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match13 Dec 2027
Every point is an argument now for Bylis
Position 8 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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Aleksandrs Zjuzins is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Player ratings13 Dec 2027
Successful dribbles: 24. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad13 Dec 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Bylis can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad13 Dec 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 Bylis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Dec 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Fabjan Përndreca commits to Bylis for another 5 years.
Match11 Dec 2027
Egnatia Rrogozhinë left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Bernard Vata after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Looking ahead13 Dec 2027
Bylis take on the side everybody is chasing
Vllaznia Shkodër arrive as leaders. A side at the top is beaten roughly once a month, and the club that does it gets a week it remembers for a year.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match20 Nov 2027
10 matches without a win for Bylis
The run now stands at 10, and the questions being asked around Bylis are no longer polite ones.
Market22 Nov 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 Bylis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Words exchanged at Bylis
Aleksandrs Zjuzins 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.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Words at Bylis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pedro Vieira 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.
Match20 Nov 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings22 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match15 Nov 2027
Every point is an argument now for Bylis
Position 8 and 5 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Tempers go at Bylis
Aleksandrs Zjuzins 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 dugout15 Nov 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Bylis 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.
Squad15 Nov 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 Bylis would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Market15 Nov 2027
The name of Ousmane Kane keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Bylis say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces8 Nov 2027
Supporters organise against the Bylis board
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.
Match6 Nov 2027
The wait goes on for Bylis
9 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Tempers go at Bylis
Dime Dimov 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Pedro Vieira 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.
Match6 Nov 2027
0‑1 to Dinamo City, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings8 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Bernard Vata after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Squad8 Nov 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Fabjan Përndreca
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Fabjan Përndreca has come out of that comparison in the side, and Bylis have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad4 Oct 2027
Ionuţ Gurău is the hero from the spot
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Ionuţ Gurău: 2 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Match29 Sep 2027
Cup progress for Bylis
A 0‑0 win over Egnatia Rrogozhinë, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 33. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match2 Oct 2027
5 matches without a win for Bylis
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Bylis are no longer polite ones.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Olávio Olávio and Bylis agree another 2 years.
Match2 Oct 2027
Bylis cannot find the net
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad4 Oct 2027
A falling-out at Bylis
Aleksandrs Zjuzins and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Words at Bylis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pedro Vieira 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.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
Twelve yards and the whole ground holding its breath, and it did not go in. He will put his name down for the next one, which is the only thing to do.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market27 Sep 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bylis can pretend not to have heard.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Words exchanged at Bylis
Aleksandrs Zjuzins 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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Pedro Vieira 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 dugout27 Sep 2027
The manager makes an example of Ousmane Kane
“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.
Match25 Sep 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Bernard Vata after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
Roberts Ozols 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.
Looking ahead27 Sep 2027
Flamurtari next, and one man in the Bylis dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad20 Sep 2027
Dime Dimov 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 Bylis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match18 Sep 2027
Bylis come up short against Tirana
Tirana left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad20 Sep 2027
7 new faces, and Bylis are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Bernard Vata after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
Roberts Ozols knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Roberts Ozols trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Looking ahead20 Sep 2027
Bylis take on the side everybody is chasing
Teuta Durrës arrive as leaders. A side at the top is beaten roughly once a month, and the club that does it gets a week it remembers for a year.
Market20 Sep 2027
The name of Ousmane Kane keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Bylis say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces13 Sep 2027
The mood at Bylis 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.
Market13 Sep 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.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Tempers go at Bylis
Dime Dimov 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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words at Bylis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pedro Vieira 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 dugout13 Sep 2027
The manager makes an example of Roberts Ozols
“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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jamie Noreci and Bylis agree another 4 years.
Squad13 Sep 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Bylis can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.51 on the card, and the Bylis support went home talking about one name.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market6 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 Bylis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Window shuts: 6 in, 18 out at Bylis
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 6 arrived, 18 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Squad6 Sep 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Aleksandrs Zjuzins and Bylis agree another 3 years.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words exchanged at Bylis
Dime Dimov 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
A row about effort at Bylis
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pedro Vieira was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad6 Sep 2027
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Market6 Sep 2027
He is 20, and nobody at Bylis signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Market6 Sep 2027
He is 20, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Market6 Sep 2027
He is 20, and nobody at Bylis signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Feb 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Pavels Savalnieks
96 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Spartaks lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Spartaks
Roberts Zjuzins 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 targets22 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Spartaks
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Eduards Vanins was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Too much change too quickly at Spartaks
13 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Feb 2027
Pavels Savalnieks damages knee ligaments — 110 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 110 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.
Market8 Feb 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Akim Bouheddi gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Akim Bouheddi has just signed for Spartaks, and for once the answer mattered.
Transfer targets8 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Spartaks
Rodolphe Ekou 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Spartaks know which stage they are at.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
“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 dugout8 Feb 2027
Nikita Dubra knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nikita Dubra trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market8 Feb 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Jan 2027
Pavels Savalnieks damages knee ligaments — 147 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 147 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.
Market4 Jan 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Spartaks can pretend not to have heard.
Market4 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Roberts Zjuzins 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
Market4 Jan 2027
The phone has started ringing about Tomas Sernas again, and this time the name on the line is Skonto. Spartaks are listening politely and promising nothing.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vitalijs Rugins, and the manager let it.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
A loan enquiry to Skonto: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
A loan move for Arturs Cauna is in the works
Spartaks have made the call to Skonto. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Marcis Jagodinskis is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Roberts Zjuzins 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 dugout12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Raivis Bulvitis, and the manager let it.
Loan watch12 Oct 2026
“I did not go to Skonto to sit and watch. I want to come back to Spartaks and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Raivis Bulvitis is on it.
Squad12 Oct 2026
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.