Marked for Bart Straalman
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Feb 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Liepaja this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Words at Liepaja training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andriy Korobenko 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 dugout28 Feb 2028
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Samuel Segun, and the manager let it.
The dugout28 Feb 2028
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Liam Hall still has not settled
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Liepaja would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 Jan 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Moustapha Diaw
40 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Liepaja lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market31 Jan 2028
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Liepaja have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market31 Jan 2028
“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.
Market31 Jan 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Liepaja is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Transfer targets31 Jan 2028
The paperwork begins on Izu Onunta
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Liepaja have done the hard part with AFC Wimbledon, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad31 Jan 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Liepaja this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Jan 2028
A row about effort at Liepaja
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nils Zätterström was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets31 Jan 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lokomotiv Moscow have kept their man, and Liepaja go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout31 Jan 2028
Bart Straalman has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Liepaja 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
Squad24 Jan 2028
47 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Liepaja lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market24 Jan 2028
Terms done: Mory Cissé is going
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Jelgava waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Liepaja is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market24 Jan 2028
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Amadou Traoré had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Market24 Jan 2028
“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.
Market24 Jan 2028
Liepaja say no — this time
The offer from Jelgava for Ivans Patrikejevs 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.
Squad24 Jan 2028
A falling-out at Liepaja
Marvin Martins and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Words at Liepaja training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bart Straalman 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.
Transfer targets24 Jan 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Fiorentina have kept their man, and Liepaja go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Transfer targets24 Jan 2028
Lokomotiv Moscow have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad27 Dec 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Moustapha Diaw
78 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Liepaja lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 23 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Words exchanged at Liepaja
Marvin Martins 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.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Mory Cissé 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 Dec 2027
Bart Straalman has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Liepaja 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.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
“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.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
Dāvis Ošs has been promised minutes
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Dāvis Ošs has written the date down.
Market27 Dec 2027
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Vjačeslavs Isajevs leaves Liepaja the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
Boardroom27 Dec 2027
Liepaja board back the manager
A public word of support from the board and, more usefully, an understanding about what the next window will look like.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad13 Dec 2027
92 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Liepaja lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match13 Dec 2027
The view from the top for Liepaja
31 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
Market13 Dec 2027
Only the photograph left for Kyvon Leidsman
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kyvon Leidsman will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Liepaja the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad13 Dec 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 Liepaja this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Bart Straalman 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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Liepaja can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad29 Nov 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Moustapha Diaw
106 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Liepaja lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Nils Zätterström 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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
A falling-out at Liepaja
Ryan Carr and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Liepaja are still strangers to each other
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Bart Straalman is on it.
Market29 Nov 2027
The loan was meant to give him football. 0 games and 0 goals later he is back at Liepaja no further forward, and everybody involved will explain why it was not their doing.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
Mory Cissé 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.
Market29 Nov 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Rodolphe Ekou may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Nov 2027
Moustapha Diaw damages knee ligaments — 114 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 114 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.
Market22 Nov 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Liepaja is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad22 Nov 2027
A falling-out at Liepaja
Marvin Martins and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Words at Liepaja training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bart Straalman 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 Nov 2027
“I watch every Liepaja game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Ventspils runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
The manager makes an example of Ingars Pūlis
“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.
Squad22 Nov 2027
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Liepaja will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
The dugout22 Nov 2027
Amar Haïdara knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Liepaja, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad1 Nov 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Moustapha Diaw
136 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Liepaja lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words exchanged at Liepaja
Marvin Martins 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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Bart Straalman 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 dugout1 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vjačeslavs Isajevs, and the manager let it.
Loan watch1 Nov 2027
“I did not go to Skonto to sit and watch. I want to come back to Liepaja and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 21 matches say the rest.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
Bart Straalman has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Liepaja 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
Upbeat
Squad11 Oct 2027
A falling-out at Liepaja
Nils Zätterström and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Bart Straalman 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Liepaja know it.
Loan watch11 Oct 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 Liepaja, and 10 appearances in 39 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Squad11 Oct 2027
A window away with the national side, and a shirt at Liepaja that briefly doubles as an advertisement. A call-up flatters the player and the club that built him in the same breath.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad4 Oct 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Danijel Petković and Liepaja agree another 2 years.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Words exchanged at Liepaja
Marvin Martins 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.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vjačeslavs Isajevs, and the manager let it.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
Liepaja release $545.1K for the manager
The board have put money on the table rather than an encouraging word. What happens to it now is somebody else's problem, and somebody else's job.
Loan watch4 Oct 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 Liepaja, and 0 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Squad4 Oct 2027
A row about effort at Liepaja
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniils Ulimbaševs was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market4 Oct 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Amar Haïdara has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Liepaja.
Market4 Oct 2027
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match20 Sep 2027
First, on 31 points. The table is a fact and a fact is allowed to be enjoyed, which is as far as anybody at the club is prepared to go in public.
Market20 Sep 2027
Only the photograph left for Kyvon Leidsman
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kyvon Leidsman will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Liepaja the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Yellu Santiago is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 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.
Market20 Sep 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad20 Sep 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 Liepaja this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Words at Liepaja training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bart Straalman 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 watch20 Sep 2027
“I did not go to Daugavpils to sit and watch. I want to come back to Liepaja and fight for my place.” 12 appearances in 36 matches say the rest.
Market20 Sep 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Ivans Patrikejevs has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Liepaja.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
The manager makes an example of Ingars Pūlis
“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
Upbeat
Market6 Sep 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 Liepaja, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Window shuts: 21 in, 7 out at Liepaja
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 21 arrived, 7 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Transfer targets6 Sep 2027
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at AS Nancy is saying, and nobody at Liepaja is enjoying the guessing.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words exchanged at Liepaja
Marvin Martins 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words at Liepaja training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nils Zätterström 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 watch6 Sep 2027
“I watch every Liepaja game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Skonto runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout6 Sep 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Amadou Traoré, and the manager let it.
The dugout6 Sep 2027
Bart Straalman has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Liepaja 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market30 Aug 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Liepaja have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market30 Aug 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Liepaja can pretend not to have heard.
Market30 Aug 2027
Liepaja say no — this time
The offer from Jelgava for Kyvon Leidsman 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.
Market30 Aug 2027
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Amar Haïdara reports back to Liepaja with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Squad30 Aug 2027
A falling-out at Liepaja
Marvin Martins and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Bart Straalman 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.
Transfer targets30 Aug 2027
Catanzaro have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Marvin Martins is on it.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kyvon Leidsman, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market9 Aug 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Metta/LU waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Liepaja is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market9 Aug 2027
The deal that would have taken Kyvon Leidsman to Jelgava has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Liepaja with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Market9 Aug 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Pandurii is saying, and nobody at Liepaja is enjoying the guessing.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Liepaja
Marvin Martins 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Liepaja training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bart Straalman 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.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Hellas Verona have kept their man, and Liepaja go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Amar Haïdara and Liepaja agree another 3 years.
Loan watch9 Aug 2027
“I watch every Liepaja game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Skonto runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match21 Jul 2027
Liepaja through in the cup
A 3‑2 win over Ventspils, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Match26 Jul 2027
31 points and nobody above them. The word is not being said around the ground yet, and it is being thought in every seat.
Market26 Jul 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Liepaja people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Squad26 Jul 2027
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad26 Jul 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 Liepaja this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings26 Jul 2027
Ninety minutes of Djibril Guèye at his very best
Marked 9.56. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Liepaja.
Match21 Jul 2027
The run at home goes on for Liepaja
9 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at Liepaja training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bart Straalman 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
Upbeat
Market19 Jul 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Liepaja people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Liepaja may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Südtirol is saying, and nobody at Liepaja is enjoying the guessing.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Marvin Martins 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Bart Straalman 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.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Market19 Jul 2027
Add another name to the list: Metta/LU have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Amar Haïdara. The answer from Liepaja has not changed — yet.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
A loan enquiry to Sheffield United: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
A loan enquiry to Hellas Verona: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market12 Jul 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Liepaja people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market12 Jul 2027
Liepaja say no — this time
The offer from Jelgava for Amadou Traoré 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.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Gil Vicente keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words exchanged at Liepaja
Marvin Martins 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.
Market12 Jul 2027
Business is business: Kirils Iļjins goes
Ventspils paid $310.0K and Liepaja took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
Liepaja asked and Qarabag said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market12 Jul 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Gatis Oss 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ryan Carr and Liepaja agree another 3 years.
Loan watch12 Jul 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 Liepaja, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market5 Jul 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Liepaja can pretend not to have heard.
Market5 Jul 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Liepaja have done the hard part with Gil Vicente, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Market5 Jul 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Liepaja have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
Ventspils will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Sani Mubarak has pre-agreed a move to Liepaja, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Squad5 Jul 2027
A row about effort at Liepaja
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bart Straalman was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words exchanged at Liepaja
Ryan Carr 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.
Market5 Jul 2027
Ventspils are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Liepaja will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match28 Jun 2027
31 points and nobody above them. The word is not being said around the ground yet, and it is being thought in every seat.
Market28 Jun 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Metta/LU waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Liepaja is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Squad28 Jun 2027
The step up is real for Noa Kljajić
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad28 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 Liepaja this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market28 Jun 2027
Add another name to the list: Jelgava have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Kyvon Leidsman. The answer from Liepaja has not changed — yet.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at Liepaja training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bart Straalman 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.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
“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.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
A loan move for Ivan Gulko is in the works
Liepaja have made the call to MFK Michalovce. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market14 Jun 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Liepaja people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Liepaja have done the hard part with Metta/LU, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words exchanged at Liepaja
Marvin Martins 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.
Market14 Jun 2027
Skonto pay $260.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Liepaja training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bart Straalman 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.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
Liepaja asked and Qarabag said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market14 Jun 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Kaspars Ikaunieks 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.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
“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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Liepaja can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings7 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 34. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match5 Jun 2027
The run is over for Liepaja
15 matches without defeat, and then Daugavpils. Nobody at the ground pretended it would go on forever; nobody expected it to stop here either.
Squad7 Jun 2027
A falling-out at Liepaja
Marvin Martins and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market7 Jun 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Liepaja have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Match5 Jun 2027
The run at home goes on for Liepaja
9 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Bart Straalman 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.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
Liepaja asked and Metta/LU said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
“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.
Match5 Jun 2027
Daugavpils left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match22 May 2027
15 unbeaten for Liepaja
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 15 matches without defeat is a foundation Liepaja did not have in the autumn.
Match22 May 2027
3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings24 May 2027
A brace, and Mikkel Bro Hansen takes the afternoon — 8.97
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Mikkel Bro Hansen provided it, and the 8.97 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings24 May 2027
No sign of nerves from Beknaz Almazbekov at 21 — 7.99
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Beknaz Almazbekov did not need any: 7.99, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Market24 May 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Liepaja is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Player ratings24 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad24 May 2027
Marvin Martins 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
Bart Straalman 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 terraces24 May 2027
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match1 May 2027
Liepaja cannot stop winning
9 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Match1 May 2027
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Liepaja scored in the 93th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Match3 May 2027
24 points and nobody above them. The word is not being said around the ground yet, and it is being thought in every seat.
Player ratings3 May 2027
Marked 8.23 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.
Market3 May 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Liepaja is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad3 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 Liepaja this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 May 2027
Bart Straalman 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.
Squad3 May 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Gatis Gabovs
10 goals and a season average of 7.35 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Match1 May 2027
Three points for Liepaja, 2‑1 the final word against Ventspils in a contest settled by the finer margins.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad1 Mar 2027
60 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Liepaja lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market1 Mar 2027
Only the photograph left for Amar Haïdara
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Amar Haïdara will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Liepaja the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Liepaja
Marvin Martins 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Liepaja
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andriy Korobenko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Loan watch1 Mar 2027
“I did not go to Ventspils to sit and watch. I want to come back to Liepaja and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 7 matches say the rest.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Bart Straalman is on it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad1 Feb 2027
90 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Liepaja lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market1 Feb 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Skonto waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Liepaja is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market1 Feb 2027
Liepaja say no — this time
The offer from Skonto for Ivans Patrikejevs 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.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Liepaja close the window on a squad of their own making
6 in and 3 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Squad1 Feb 2027
A move Steven Turner would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Steven Turner is living that version at Liepaja, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Liepaja
Marvin Martins 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.
Market1 Feb 2027
The name of Rodolphe Ekou has come up in conversations Liepaja were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Liepaja training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Danila Kozlov 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.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad4 Jan 2027
Ivans Patrikejevs damages knee ligaments — 91 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 91 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Liepaja
Marvin Martins 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.
Market4 Jan 2027
The name of Rodolphe Ekou has come up in conversations Liepaja were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at Liepaja training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Timi Ogunniyi 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.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Amadou Traoré and Liepaja agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vjačeslavs Isajevs, and the manager let it.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
Jelgava have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Market4 Jan 2027
The Bruno Melnis conversation is coming
Everyone has stopped pretending: Daugavpils will make the call about Bruno Melnis this week. Liepaja have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad7 Dec 2026
Ivans Patrikejevs damages knee ligaments — 120 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 120 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Liepaja
Marvin Martins 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A move Chinaza Joseph would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Chinaza Joseph is living that version at Liepaja, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad7 Dec 2026
17 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
The dugout7 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.
Market7 Dec 2026
He is 20, and nobody at Liepaja signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad12 Oct 2026
Artūrs Karašausks damages knee ligaments — 61 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 61 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
39 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Liepaja
Marvin Martins 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad14 Sep 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Artūrs Karašausks
90 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Liepaja lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Danila Kozlov 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.
Market14 Sep 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Janis Jurkovskis 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Andriy Korobenko 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.
Loan watch14 Sep 2026
“I watch every Liepaja game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Spartaks runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Bart Straalman is on it.