Marked for Ergi Dita
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout8 May 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Laçi may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market8 May 2028
Only the photograph left for Eldi Pojana
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Eldi Pojana will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Laçi the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad8 May 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Gëzim Krasniqi commits to Laçi for another 2 years.
Squad8 May 2028
Words exchanged at Laçi
Bruno Lulaj 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 row about effort at Laçi
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Flavio Mecja was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout8 May 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad27 Mar 2028
Bruno Lulaj 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 Laçi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Flavio Mecja 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
Antonio Delaj 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 Antonio Delaj trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
Ergi Dita 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.
Market27 Mar 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Osagie Onisodumeya’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
Ergi Dita has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Laçi will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Feb 2028
A falling-out at Laçi
Klinshak Longbak and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Ernesto Bakiu gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Ernesto Bakiu has just signed for Laçi, and for once the answer mattered.
Boardroom28 Feb 2028
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Gëzim Krasniqi 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 dugout28 Feb 2028
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Laçi told Klaus Kashari something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match24 Nov 2027
Laçi march on in the cup
Luftëtari are out and Laçi go through, 3‑2 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Player ratings29 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 33. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match24 Nov 2027
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Laçi scored in the 96th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Match29 Nov 2027
Laçi are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 19 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Player ratings29 Nov 2027
Ergi Dita, 18, steals the show — 8.57
Marked 8.57 at 18, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Tempers go at Laçi
Klinshak Longbak 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.
Match27 Nov 2027
Still nobody has beaten Laçi
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Words at Laçi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bedri Greca 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 terraces29 Nov 2027
At 23 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.
In brief
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Match
Laçi get the job done against AF Elbasani
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Looking ahead
Top-of-the-table clash for Laçi
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Player ratings
Ninety minutes of Samuel Ajine at his very best
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match28 Dec 2026
Laçi refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 29 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Match26 Dec 2026
8 unbeaten for Laçi
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 8 matches without defeat is a foundation Laçi did not have in the autumn.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Laçi
Samuel Ajine 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 dugout28 Dec 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Laçi can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.49 on the card, and the Laçi support went home talking about one name.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Erjon Babe: “We have to be better”
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Laçi
Bruno Lulaj and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Fjoralb Deliaj
“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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Amoris Galli and Laçi agree another 3 years.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Laçi
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ergi Dita was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market16 Nov 2026
No place for Arlind Kurti in the plan
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Arlind Kurti has his answer from Laçi; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Looking ahead16 Nov 2026
Besa Kavajë next, and one man in the Laçi dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Market16 Nov 2026
The name of Ardit Hoxhaj keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Laçi say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad16 Nov 2026
“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 Laçi will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Arlind Kurti 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 Arlind Kurti trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
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.
Market14 Sep 2026
“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.
Market14 Sep 2026
Ortelio Biba has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Laçi they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
Laçi asked and Monte Azul said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Laçi
Klinshak Longbak 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 dugout14 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Osagie Onisodumeya, and the manager let it.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The form table has caught Fabio Hasa
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.
Match12 Sep 2026
Laçi share the spoils with Lushnja
A 1‑1 draw with Lushnja leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Erjon Babe after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.