Marked for Marek Dmitrijev
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad5 Jul 2027
Joonas Marin breaks a bone — 29 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 29 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market5 Jul 2027
The offer from Flora for Marek Dmitrijev 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.
Match3 Jul 2027
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now FCI Tallinn have 4 straight wins of it.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Sergei Sappinen: 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.” FCI Tallinn have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad5 Jul 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Liliu Sorga and FCI Tallinn agree another 3 years.
Player ratings5 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at FCI Tallinn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hendrik Tamm 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.
Match3 Jul 2027
A 1‑0 win over Levadia, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings5 Jul 2027
Both jobs done by Brent Liivak — 6.89
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 9 actions, 6.89, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Jun 2027
Joonas Marin breaks a bone — 52 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 52 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market14 Jun 2027
Add another name to the list: Parnu have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Hendrik Tamm. The answer from FCI Tallinn has not changed — yet.
Market14 Jun 2027
The offer from Tulevik for Nikita Kait 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Brent Igonen and FCI Tallinn agree another 3 years.
Squad14 Jun 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 FCI Tallinn this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Hendrik Tamm 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.
Match12 Jun 2027
Paide left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings14 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Loan watch14 Jun 2027
“I did not go to Tammeka to sit and watch. I want to come back to FCI Tallinn and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 21 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Jun 2027
Joonas Marin breaks a bone — 59 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 59 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Sander Zenjov 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at FCI Tallinn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marek Dmitrijev 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.
Match5 Jun 2027
Narva Trans left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Market7 Jun 2027
The name of Nikita Kait has come up in conversations FCI Tallinn were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad7 Jun 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Vlasi Marin commits to FCI Tallinn for another 4 years.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings31 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 52. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad31 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FCI Tallinn this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 May 2027
Marek Dmitrijev 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.
Match29 May 2027
It finished 1‑0, and it was Brent Liivak’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to FCI Tallinn.
Player ratings31 May 2027
A performance of 8.09 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad31 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alexey Naidenov, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match22 May 2027
Brent Liivak had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Tammeka were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Market24 May 2027
Hendrik Tamm 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 FCI Tallinn can pretend not to have heard.
Squad24 May 2027
Sander Zenjov 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 May 2027
Marko Veličković 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.
Squad24 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Liliu Sorga
“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 ratings24 May 2027
Ninety minutes of Joonas Antonov at his very best
Marked 8.49. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at FCI Tallinn.
Player ratings24 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings24 May 2027
Marked 8.03 — 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.
Match22 May 2027
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings17 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 45. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad17 May 2027
Marko Veličković was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad17 May 2027
Marek Dmitrijev 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 terraces17 May 2027
At 22 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.
Match15 May 2027
A 1‑0 win over Nomme Kalju, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings17 May 2027
Joonas Antonov ran the middle of the pitch — 7.31
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 10 combined actions and a mark of 7.31, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 May 2027
Hendrik Tamm was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad10 May 2027
Marko Veličković 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.
Squad10 May 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Nikita Marin commits to FCI Tallinn for another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 39. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.12, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad5 Apr 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” FCI Tallinn may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad5 Apr 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 FCI Tallinn this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at FCI Tallinn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hendrik Tamm 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 terraces5 Apr 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Joonas Antonov 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.
Match3 Apr 2027
A 2‑0 win over Narva Trans, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
Both jobs done by Brent Liivak — 7.01
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 9 actions, 7.01, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Squad5 Apr 2027
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Marko Veličković is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Mar 2027
Marko Veličković: 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.” FCI Tallinn have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Erik Marin runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match20 Mar 2027
No end in sight to FCI Tallinn's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at FCI Tallinn has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad22 Mar 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 FCI Tallinn this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at FCI Tallinn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marek Dmitrijev 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 terraces22 Mar 2027
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad15 Mar 2027
Marko Veličković 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.
Match13 Mar 2027
3 matches without a goal for FCI Tallinn
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Marek Dmitrijev falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Feb 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 FCI Tallinn this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at FCI Tallinn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marek Dmitrijev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Loan watch22 Feb 2027
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at FCI Tallinn, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market1 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.
Market1 Feb 2027
The Tulevik deal is off
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Nikita Marin reports back to FCI Tallinn with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Marko Veličković 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Marek Dmitrijev falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad1 Feb 2027
25 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alexey Naidenov, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market25 Jan 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at FCI Tallinn, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad25 Jan 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 FCI Tallinn this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at FCI Tallinn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marek Dmitrijev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market11 Jan 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at FCI Tallinn, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A fracture rules Martin Tamm out for 28 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason FCI Tallinn will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Sander Zenjov 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at FCI Tallinn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marek Dmitrijev 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.
Market11 Jan 2027
The phone has started ringing about Nikita Marin again, and this time the name on the line is Tulevik. FCI Tallinn are listening politely and promising nothing.
Market11 Jan 2027
Tammeka are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. FCI Tallinn will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. FCI Tallinn have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Market10 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Joonas Antonov and FCI Tallinn agree another 4 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FCI Tallinn this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Marek Dmitrijev 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Aug 2026
Sander Zenjov 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
“The easiest signature of my career.” Karl Sorga and FCI Tallinn agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at FCI Tallinn training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marek Dmitrijev 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. FCI Tallinn have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Joonas Antonov 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
Markus Pikk told to find a new club
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Markus Pikk has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at FCI Tallinn.