Marked for Mihkel Vassiljev
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Jul 2028
Thomas Nuhu 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 Sillamae Kalev can pretend not to have heard.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Kristen Lapa 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 Jul 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mihkel Vassiljev and Sillamae Kalev agree another 4 years.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Words at Sillamae Kalev training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikita Igonen 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 ratings3 Jul 2028
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 16 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Boardroom3 Jul 2028
Sillamae Kalev sign 5 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.
Squad3 Jul 2028
A place in the month's best eleven for Oscar Pihela
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Oscar Pihela has come out of that comparison in the side, and Sillamae Kalev have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Match1 Jul 2028
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Nomme Kalju? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Player ratings3 Jul 2028
5.59 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market26 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 The request is on a desk at Sillamae Kalev, and it is not being withdrawn.
The terraces26 Jun 2028
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 8 of the 31 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Kristen Lapa 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 Sillamae Kalev this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Nikita Igonen 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 Jun 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mihkel Vassiljev, and the manager let it.
Squad26 Jun 2028
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Erik Liivak knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Boardroom26 Jun 2028
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Sillamae Kalev now.
Player ratings26 Jun 2028
A mark of 5.26 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad1 May 2028
Erik Teniste breaks a bone — 39 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 39 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings1 May 2028
Sander Kruglov, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.81
A mark of 7.81 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.
Squad1 May 2028
Kristen Lapa 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 Sillamae Kalev this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom1 May 2028
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Sillamae Kalev now.
Match29 Apr 2028
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Sillamae Kalev did not have in the autumn.
The terraces1 May 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.
Squad1 May 2028
Nikita Igonen falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad1 May 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad13 Mar 2028
The match ball belongs to Silver Kallaste, whose 4 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Match11 Mar 2028
6‑0, and Silver Kallaste took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Sillamae Kalev tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Squad13 Mar 2028
A fracture rules Erik Teniste out for 91 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sillamae Kalev will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad13 Mar 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Sillamae Kalev may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings13 Mar 2028
No sign of nerves from Sander Kruglov at 21 — 7.87
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Sander Kruglov did not need any: 7.87, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Kristen Lapa 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.
Match11 Mar 2028
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Sillamae Kalev and Tulevik, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Player ratings13 Mar 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.44, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The terraces13 Mar 2028
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Sander Kruglov has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Jul 2027
Rauno Kallaste damages knee ligaments — 26 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 26 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.
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
Kristen Lapa 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 Sillamae Kalev this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Jun 2027
Erik Liivak decides it from twelve yards
3 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
Match16 Jun 2027
A 1‑1 win over Flora, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Match19 Jun 2027
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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Kristen Lapa 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 Sillamae Kalev this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Jun 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.
Player ratings21 Jun 2027
It was his to settle and he did not settle it. A long walk back to the halfway line, and a considerably longer week.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Leonardo Ponte 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.
Match19 Jun 2027
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Levadia will be the happier side with the point.
Player ratings21 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 11. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match7 Jun 2027
Position 2 and 24 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market7 Jun 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 Sillamae Kalev, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Kristen Lapa 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 Sillamae Kalev this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings7 Jun 2027
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 21 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Sergei Igonen 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
No hiding place for Erik Kait
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Erik Kait, and the manager let it.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Kristen Lapa named player of the month
The award goes to Kristen Lapa, and nobody around here is inclined to argue with the choice.
Player ratings7 Jun 2027
Marked 7.59. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Player ratings7 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market26 Apr 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 Sillamae Kalev, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Kristen Lapa 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 Sillamae Kalev this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mihkel Vassiljev, and the manager let it.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Mihkel Vassiljev dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Sillamae Kalev training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brent Baranov 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
Triumph
Match31 Mar 2027
A 1‑0 win over Tulevik, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Squad5 Apr 2027
Frank Baranov damages knee ligaments — 21 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 21 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.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
Brent Baranov could not have asked for more on his first appearance — 8.04
Debuts are survived rather than enjoyed. This one was enjoyed: 8.04, 1 goals, and a manager already being asked whether he starts again next week.
Match3 Apr 2027
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation Sillamae Kalev did not have in the autumn.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Kristen Lapa 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 Sillamae Kalev this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces5 Apr 2027
At 15 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad5 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kristen Lapa, and the manager let it.
Match3 Apr 2027
A 1‑0 win over Parnu, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.