“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Daugavpils can pretend not to have heard.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Maxence Hahn and Daugavpils agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad15 May 2028
Words at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Kivinda 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.
“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 Daugavpils know it.
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.
Ikechukwu Nwabueze 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.
Ikechukwu Nwabueze scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑3 to Spartaks, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Words at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Kivinda 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Abuchi Onuoha, and the manager let it.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Raivis Oss to a room that had heard them before.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Daugavpils have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Liepaja in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.60 for the rest of it.
Ziad Ouled-Haj-M'hand 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 Apr 2028
Words at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Kivinda 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Ceti Junior Tchibinda 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.
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. 10 actions, 6.63, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Ceti Junior Tchibinda is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.