The Stumbras Herald
Match4 Mar 2028
Stumbras taken apart
0‑3 to Zalgiris, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
The dugout6 Mar 2028
Tadas Barauskas says Stumbras went back on their word
“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.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Ivan Nikčević stays put
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ivan Nikčević and Stumbras agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Ignas Slavickas 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 Stumbras this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom6 Mar 2028
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Stumbras
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Mirko Andrić 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.
Market6 Mar 2028
Stumbras promote Linas Jankauskas from within
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Linas Jankauskas has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market6 Mar 2028
One of our own: Edvinas Sernas joins the Stumbras first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Edvinas Sernas is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market6 Mar 2028
Arnas Simkus steps up from the Stumbras academy
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Arnas Simkus has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
In brief
- Market One of our own: Modestas Barauskas joins the Stumbras first team
- The dugout No hiding place for Tomas Mikoliunas
- Player ratings The game went through Andrius Simkus — 6.34