It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Ahmed Guettaf 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.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Daugavpils are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Words at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Guettaf 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.
Nemanja Andrijanić 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Words at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Guettaf 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.
Nobody at Daugavpils 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.
In brief
BoardroomThe Daugavpils production line keeps running
Nemanja Andrijanić 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.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Ahmed Guettaf 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Rinolds Baikovs trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Ahmed Guettaf has been around long enough to know what the spring feels like when it goes wrong, and he can feel it. A dressing room that is frightened plays like one.
Position 6, 12 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.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Ahmed Guettaf 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Words at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Guettaf 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.
Nobody at Daugavpils 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Daugavpils, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Words at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Guettaf 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 offer from Skonto for Cristian Cruz 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.
“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.
Nemanja Andrijanić 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 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 injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody at Daugavpils 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.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Daugavpils have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Nemanja Andrijanić 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 Jun 2028
Ahmed Guettaf 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Harry Hawkins and Daugavpils agree another 4 years.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Words at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Guettaf 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.
Miloš Zličić 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.
Every paper's favourite story and every manager's least. What happened is being dealt with internally, which is the phrase clubs use when they would rather nobody asked again.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Spartaks left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Raised voices on the training ground at Daugavpils
It involved Miloš Zličić, it was loud enough to reach the car park, and it was over by lunch. Dressing rooms run hot; the ones that should worry you are the silent ones.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Daugavpils has been clear about where Rinalds Aizups stands, which is more than many ever get.
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.08, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad29 May 2028
Words at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Guettaf 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.
Miloš Zličić 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.
A touch he did not want, a bounce he could not have read, and his name in the wrong column. There is no consoling a man after one of these, and Daugavpils will not try tonight.
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.
Nemanja Andrijanić 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.
Squad22 May 2028
Ahmed Guettaf 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.
At 22 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody at Daugavpils 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.
Marked 4.87. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Skonto defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Position 5 and 7 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Nemanja Andrijanić 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.
Squad8 May 2028
Ahmed Guettaf 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.43 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Daugavpils are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 May 2028
Words at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Guettaf 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.
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.
The terracesThe press cannot get enough of Daniel Kivinda
BoardroomThe Daugavpils production line keeps running
91Edition
The Daugavpils Gazette
24 Apr 2028
From our football correspondentCrisis
The terraces24 Apr 2028
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 7 of the 31 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 19 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Daugavpils can tell you which week it ends in.
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.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Words at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Guettaf 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 26 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Position 5 and 4 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
4 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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Daugavpils can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Ahmed Guettaf 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 33 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Daugavpils has been clear about where Miloš Zličić stands, which is more than many ever get.
“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.
Squad3 Apr 2028
A place in the month's best eleven for Cristian Cruz
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Cristian Cruz has come out of that comparison in the side, and Daugavpils have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 40 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The terraces27 Mar 2028
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 11 of the 31 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Nemanja Andrijanić 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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Ahmed Guettaf 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 goal that put Skonto ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Daugavpils equalised, 2 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
Marked 5.63. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 47 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Words at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Guettaf 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 54 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Nemanja Andrijanić 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 61 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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.
Boardroom6 Mar 2028
6 academy players handed senior numbers at Daugavpils
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
Words at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Guettaf 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Olegs Vanins is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Davis Kamess is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Aleksandrs Ciganovs 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Kristaps Oss 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 68 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadAhmed Guettaf falls out with a teammate over standards
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 75 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Jack Moore has just signed for Daugavpils, and for once the answer mattered.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 82 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Nemanja Andrijanić 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 89 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadWords at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 96 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Nemanja Andrijanić 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.
In brief
SquadWords at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 103 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Words at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Guettaf 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 110 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Ahmed Guettaf 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 117 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Zack Stritch 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Daugavpils will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Daugavpils will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Daugavpils will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Nemanja Andrijanić 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.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Ahmed Guettaf 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Zack Stritch 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.
0‑1 against Aston Villa. Continental football is unforgiving about the things a domestic league lets a side get away with, and this was a night spent finding out which of those the club still has.
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.
7 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Daugavpils can tell you which week it ends in.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Daugavpils have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“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 Daugavpils, and it is not being withdrawn.
Nemanja Andrijanić 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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Ahmed Guettaf 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 words a physio says slowly. 16 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadWords at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
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.
0‑2 against Red Bull Salzburg. Continental football is unforgiving about the things a domestic league lets a side get away with, and this was a night spent finding out which of those the club still has.
The terraces29 Nov 2027
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 7 of the 32 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
6 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.
6 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Daugavpils can tell you which week it ends in.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The words a physio says slowly. 30 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.
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.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Words at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Guettaf 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 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.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Daugavpils have had the benefit of it.
“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 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.
Position 2, 17 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.
0‑1 away to the standard of Monaco. Nobody will pretend this was a scandal; the gap is real, it is measurable, and closing it is a project rather than a team talk.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 5 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Zack Stritch 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.
Nemanja Andrijanić 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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Ahmed Guettaf 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.
0‑4. There is a level at which football is played every single week by clubs that have been doing it for fifty years, and an evening like this is what it feels like to arrive there without having done it.
The terraces25 Oct 2027
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 10 of the 34 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Words at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Guettaf 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.
Whether it was the goalkeeper or the ten in front of him is the argument that will fill every conversation in town this week. 4 saves does not settle it either way.
“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 Daugavpils, and it is not being withdrawn.
Nemanja Andrijanić 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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zack Stritch 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.
17 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Guettaf 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.
Miloš Zličić 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.
0‑1 against Aston Villa. Continental football is unforgiving about the things a domestic league lets a side get away with, and this was a night spent finding out which of those the club still has.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Ahmed Guettaf 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.
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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Zack Stritch 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.
0‑3 against Red Bull Salzburg. The honest reading is not that the players were poor; it is that the distance between this club and that one is currently measured in things money takes years to buy.
The terraces20 Sep 2027
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 11 of the 34 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
“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.
Nemanja Andrijanić 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Ahmed Guettaf 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 20 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
In brief
SquadWords at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 27 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 34 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
In brief
SquadWords at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 41 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Ahmed Guettaf 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 48 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 55 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Ahmed Guettaf 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 62 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Guettaf 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 69 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Daugavpils will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Position 2, 17 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.
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.
In brief
SquadWords at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Daugavpils will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Ahmed Guettaf 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Daugavpils will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Miloš Zličić 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Daugavpils will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadAhmed Guettaf falls out with a teammate over standards
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Daugavpils will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Position 2, 17 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.
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Daugavpils will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zack Stritch 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Daugavpils will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
A 0‑3 beating by Liepaja was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
The terraces7 Jun 2027
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 10 of the 33 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Guettaf 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 May 2027
Ahmed Guettaf 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.
At 22 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.
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.
Ventspils made Daugavpils work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad24 May 2027
Zack Stritch 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.
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Daugavpils has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad17 May 2027
Ahmed Guettaf 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.
Position 5 and 10 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Position 5, 10 points, and a crowd that arrives already braced. Relegation seasons are lost in exactly this atmosphere, and everybody who has lived through one recognises it immediately.
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.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Guettaf 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 watch every Daugavpils game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Metta/LU runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Marked 5.47. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Abdalla Zaal, and the manager let it.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zack Stritch 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.
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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Guettaf 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.
Marked 8.25 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
“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 Daugavpils, and 2 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Guettaf 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
A muscle injury sidelines Elijah Addai for 15 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Daugavpils will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Ventspils go through and Daugavpils go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Daugavpils have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Three points for Daugavpils, 1‑0 the final word against Spartaks in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zack Stritch 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.
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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Daugavpils can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Guettaf 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Harry Hawkins is the division's best young player this month
At 21 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. Daugavpils will try very hard not to make too much of it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Ahmed Guettaf 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.
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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Guettaf 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.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Nemanja Andrijanić knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Ahmed Guettaf 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
15 new faces, and Daugavpils are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
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.
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Guettaf 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 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Daniel Kivinda 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Kristaps Ciganovs is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Aleksandrs Laizans 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Kaspars Ciganovs 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Ahmed Guettaf 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.
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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Max Grbavac is living that version at Daugavpils, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Guettaf 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Ahmed Guettaf 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.
Miloš Zličić 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Guettaf 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
14 new faces, and Daugavpils are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Artem Zhelannikov has just signed for Daugavpils, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Ahmed Guettaf 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.
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.
The name of Maksims Bērziņš has come up in conversations Daugavpils were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
In brief
SquadWords at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Shunsuke Murakami may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Daugavpils has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ahmed Guettaf 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.
11 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Daugavpils know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Shunsuke Murakami has his answer from Daugavpils; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
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.
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Shunsuke Murakami’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 15 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 22 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Miloš Zličić 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.
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 29 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 36 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maksims Kopilovs 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 43 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Daugavpils is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 50 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 57 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Ricardo Canário is living that version at Daugavpils, and it tends to show in the first month.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadEdson falls out with a teammate over standards
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 64 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Miloš Zličić 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maksims Kopilovs 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Daugavpils will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Gļebs Mihaļcovs will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Daugavpils the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Daugavpils this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadWords at Daugavpils training over how hard people work
Squad9 new faces, and Daugavpils are still learning each other
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Daugavpils will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Miloš Zličić 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 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.