Marked for Jack Mitchell
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Oct 2035
Karolis Sernas damages knee ligaments — 19 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 19 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.
Boardroom22 Oct 2035
The scrutiny sharpens at Siauliai
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Siauliai is running low.
Market22 Oct 2035
Jack Mitchell 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 Siauliai can pretend not to have heard.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Sep 2035
Ignas Slavickas damages knee ligaments — 44 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 44 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.
Market24 Sep 2035
Jack Mitchell 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 Siauliai can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom24 Sep 2035
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Siauliai
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market27 Aug 2035
“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 The request is on a desk at Siauliai, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom27 Aug 2035
Pressure builds in the Siauliai boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad27 Aug 2035
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Siauliai this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Jul 2035
Simas Venckevičius damages knee ligaments — 23 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 23 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.
Market30 Jul 2035
Jack Mitchell 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 Siauliai can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom30 Jul 2035
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Siauliai
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Jul 2035
Simas Venckevičius damages knee ligaments — 37 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 37 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.
Squad16 Jul 2035
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Siauliai this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Jul 2035
Words at Siauliai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muhammed Sevgili 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
Market2 Jul 2035
“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.
Boardroom2 Jul 2035
Pressure builds in the Siauliai boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad2 Jul 2035
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Siauliai this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad2 Jul 2035
Words at Siauliai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicola Rafanelli 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.
Squad2 Jul 2035
The manager makes an example of Aidas Slavickas
“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.
Boardroom2 Jul 2035
Siauliai sign 4 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad4 Jun 2035
There were 13 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad4 Jun 2035
A fracture rules Tomas Barauskas out for 16 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Siauliai will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings4 Jun 2035
A brace, and Nicola Rafanelli takes the afternoon — 8.25
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Nicola Rafanelli provided it, and the 8.25 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market4 Jun 2035
Jack Mitchell 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 Siauliai can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings4 Jun 2035
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad4 Jun 2035
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Siauliai this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 May 2035
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match19 May 2035
1‑5 to Suduva, 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.
Squad21 May 2035
A fracture rules Tomas Barauskas out for 30 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Siauliai will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad21 May 2035
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Siauliai this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match19 May 2035
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Siauliai and Suduva in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Player ratings21 May 2035
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.06, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 May 2035
A fracture rules Tomas Barauskas out for 44 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Siauliai will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings7 May 2035
Jack Mitchell, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 7.90
A mark of 7.90 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Market7 May 2035
“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.
Squad7 May 2035
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Siauliai this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 May 2035
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Zan Kampl and Siauliai agree another 2 years.
Squad7 May 2035
Words at Siauliai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muhammed Sevgili 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 terraces7 May 2035
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Jack Mitchell 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.
Match5 May 2035
It finished 1‑0, and it was Jack Mitchell’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Siauliai.
Player ratings7 May 2035
Ninety minutes of Zakhar Gitselev at his very best
Marked 8.12. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Siauliai.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces30 Apr 2035
The mood at Siauliai 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.
Squad30 Apr 2035
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 17 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match28 Apr 2035
Nowhere to hide for Siauliai
0‑7 against Utenis, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Match30 Apr 2035
Siauliai are in real trouble now
Position 7, 4 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.
Squad30 Apr 2035
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market30 Apr 2035
“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 Siauliai, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad30 Apr 2035
Azriel Gonzalez 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.
Match28 Apr 2035
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Siauliai and Utenis, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad30 Apr 2035
“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
Squad16 Apr 2035
There were 16 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad16 Apr 2035
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 31 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad16 Apr 2035
Donatas Eliosius damages knee ligaments — 17 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 17 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 ratings16 Apr 2035
No sign of nerves from Jack Mitchell at 19 — 8.38
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Jack Mitchell did not need any: 8.38, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Market16 Apr 2035
“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 ratings16 Apr 2035
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad16 Apr 2035
Azriel Gonzalez 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.
Match14 Apr 2035
It needed Jack Mitchell to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Trakai, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Market16 Apr 2035
The clock does Enea Likaj’s negotiating for him
2 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Siauliai could ask drops and the wages Enea Likaj can ask rise.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Apr 2035
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 13 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad9 Apr 2035
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 38 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad9 Apr 2035
Donatas Eliosius damages knee ligaments — 24 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 24 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.
Match4 Apr 2035
The cup run ends for Siauliai
0‑3 against Suduva, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Match7 Apr 2035
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Siauliai scored in the 94th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Player ratings9 Apr 2035
A brace, and Jack Mitchell takes the afternoon — 8.26
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Jack Mitchell provided it, and the 8.26 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The terraces9 Apr 2035
Siauliai are taken apart by Suduva — and the town wants answers
It finished 0-3. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.
Market9 Apr 2035
“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.
Squad9 Apr 2035
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Siauliai this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces2 Apr 2035
The mood at Siauliai 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.
Match31 Mar 2035
No end in sight to Siauliai's wait for a win
13 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Siauliai has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad2 Apr 2035
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 45 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad2 Apr 2035
There were 11 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad2 Apr 2035
Donatas Eliosius damages knee ligaments — 31 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 31 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.
Match31 Mar 2035
2‑5 to Suduva, 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.
Match2 Apr 2035
Siauliai sink to position 7
0 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Player ratings2 Apr 2035
A brace, and Zakhar Gitselev takes the afternoon — 8.45
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Zakhar Gitselev provided it, and the 8.45 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings2 Apr 2035
Jack Mitchell, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 7.64
A mark of 7.64 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 May 2034
A knee injury of the worst kind for Saulius Lasickas
63 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Siauliai lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The terraces29 May 2034
Anger at Siauliai 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.
Match29 May 2034
Siauliai sink to position 7
7 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Match27 May 2034
The wait goes on for Siauliai
7 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.
Market29 May 2034
“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 Siauliai, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad29 May 2034
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Siauliai this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings29 May 2034
Zakhar Gitselev was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.21. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad29 May 2034
Words at Siauliai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Muhammed Sevgili 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.
Squad29 May 2034
“The easiest signature of my career.” Jack Mitchell and Siauliai agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 Apr 2034
Saulius Lasickas damages knee ligaments — 105 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 105 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.
Match15 Apr 2034
0‑4 to Trakai, 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.
Squad17 Apr 2034
A one-man rearguard from Yahor Noyok
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market17 Apr 2034
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ayrton Figueira will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Siauliai the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Player ratings17 Apr 2034
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad17 Apr 2034
Azriel Gonzalez 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 Apr 2034
Muhammed Sevgili 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.
Boardroom17 Apr 2034
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Player ratings17 Apr 2034
Nobody's fault and entirely his: a goal that goes into the book with his name against it and nothing about it intended. Siauliai deserved better, and so did he.