31 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Siauliai lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martin Šindelář was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
38 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Siauliai lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Dmitry Stotskiy 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at Siauliai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nemanja Subotić 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. 45 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.
Miloš Ostojić 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.
Stumbras have accepted the money. What Siauliai do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Siauliai close the window on a squad of their own making
3 in and 0 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Siauliai this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Trakai have kept their man, and Siauliai go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
In brief
SquadMartin Šindelář falls out with a teammate over standards
Rokas Satkus was the name on every phone-in, and the club has gone and signed him for $290.0K. For one week the board can do no wrong, which is a week most boards never get.
In brief
SquadNemanja Subotić falls out with a teammate over standards
Squad11 new faces, and Siauliai are still learning each other
MarketA stepping stone, not a home, for Rokas Satkus
Miloš Ostojić 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nemanja Subotić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Miloš Ostojić
At 18 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.
$290.0K on the table at Atlantas. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Dāvis Ikaunieks 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.
At 35, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Siauliai can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Siauliai asked and Stumbras said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Siauliai this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Everybody at Siauliai saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 38 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
“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 Siauliai know it.
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.
Siauliai asked and Trakai said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Kauno Zalgiris 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.
36 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
The registration window is open and the phone has started. Between now and the deadline this club will be linked with forty players and sign three, which is the usual ratio.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nemanja Subotić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
7 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.
Miloš Ostojić 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Kacper Jureczko has, at Siauliai, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martin Šindelář was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Odah Marshall and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Siauliai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nemanja Subotić 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 Siauliai this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nemanja Ilić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
He is doing his job and he is not settling. Siauliai were supposed to be a step up in his own reckoning, and his own reckoning has been adjusted since he arrived.
Dāvis Ikaunieks 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.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Killyan Arragain commits to Siauliai for another 3 years.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Siauliai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sigitas Olberkis 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 version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Killyan Arragain is living that version at Siauliai, and it tends to show in the first month.
Miloš Ostojić 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 Siauliai this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Siauliai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihajlo Savanović 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 no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Donatas Kazlauskas has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Dušan Brković's mistake
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Enzo Monchatre has, at Siauliai, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Karolis Lasickas 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 Oct 2026
Words at Siauliai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sigitas Olberkis 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 language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
Miloš Ostojić 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.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 37 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Siauliai is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Siauliai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihajlo Savanović 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 Siauliai this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Miloš Ostojić 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mihajlo Savanović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Dušan Brković trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Dmitry Stotskiy 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sigitas Olberkis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad21 Sep 2026
24 new faces, and Siauliai 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.
Karolis Lasickas and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Siauliai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sigitas Olberkis 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 dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Dušan Brković's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
That is the business done at Siauliai until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Siauliai this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Trakai have kept their man, and Siauliai go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Miloš Ostojić 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.
Siauliai asked and Stumbras 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 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. Siauliai know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Siauliai would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Siauliai will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
“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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Siauliai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sigitas Olberkis 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.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Siauliai this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Siauliai asked and Tammeka said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Siauliai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihajlo Savanović 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Aleksandar Janković has, at Siauliai, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Miloš Ostojić 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Aleksandar Janković and Siauliai agree another 4 years.
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 transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Sigitas Olberkis is a Siauliai player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Signings arrive with a picture of the club in their head, and this one’s picture was bigger than the building. He will play well and he will be gone, in that order, and everybody knows it.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Siauliai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sigitas Olberkis 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.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Siauliai will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Kauno Zalgiris 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.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Rokas Pačėsa is in the works