Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Siauliai will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Alessandro Berardi 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 Dániel Farkas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Siauliai, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
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.
10 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.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Đorđe Glišović'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.
In brief
The dugoutMiroljub Kostić has become a man the manager trusts
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Siauliai will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Siauliai close the window on a squad of their own making
8 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Miroljub Kostić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Siauliai, another week without a signature from Justice Apaingolo.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Siauliai will quote 18 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Siauliai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Asion Daja 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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Siauliai have done the hard part with Suduva, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Alessandro Berardi 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 Jan 2027
Words at Siauliai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dániel Farkas 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 every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Siauliai know which stage they are at.
Nobody at Siauliai 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.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Siauliai are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Siauliai have done the hard part with Suduva, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Alessandro Berardi 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 Miroljub Kostić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Arnas Barauskas 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Fiodor Girdvainis is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
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.
8 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Abubakar Abubakar has, at Siauliai, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Josh Robinson and Siauliai agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at Siauliai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dániel Farkas 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 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 Alessandro Berardi is on it.
Henri Laurent is 34 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
In brief
BoardroomOpen for business: Siauliai enter the window
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 Dániel Farkas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Vido Marković is on it.
Nemanja Milić and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Siauliai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dāvis Ikaunieks 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 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.
Ognjen Marinković 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 Dāvis Ikaunieks was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Saulius Novikovas 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. Mantas Cernych 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.
Ognjen Marinković and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Dániel Farkas 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.
Nobody at Siauliai 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.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Siauliai are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Siauliai will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Kacper Skrobański is living that version at Siauliai, and it tends to show in the first month.
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.
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 Dániel Farkas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Dāvis Ikaunieks is on it.
Alessandro Berardi 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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Ivan Inzoudine is living that version at Siauliai, and it tends to show in the first month.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Asion Daja was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Nobody at Siauliai 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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Siauliai. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
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.
Alessandro Berardi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Siauliai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Asion Daja 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.
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.
Nobody at Siauliai 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.
Ognjen Marinković 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
Asion Daja 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.
Ognjen Marinković 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Asion Daja 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 dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Đorđe Glišović'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.
“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.
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.
Squad12 Oct 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Tomas Sernas is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
22 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.
Nobody at Siauliai 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.
“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; Siauliai 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 Siauliai this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Asion Daja 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.
In brief
The dugoutWilfried Moimbé has become a man the manager trusts
Alessandro Berardi 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Siauliai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Asion Daja 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.
Alessandro Berardi 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 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 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Asion Daja 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Tomas Kuklys 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Edgaras Vaitkunas is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
22 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.
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 Alessandro Berardi is on it.
Siauliai close the window on a squad of their own making
33 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.
Ognjen Marinković 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.
Squad31 Aug 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.
Siauliai asked and Jelgava 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Asion Daja was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Saulius Paulauskas after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Đorđe Glišović'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.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Dāvis Ikaunieks obliged against Trakai. 2‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Siauliai.
There is exactly one of these per career and it does not usually go like this. 0 on the scoresheet, 7.29 beside the name, and a crowd that had never seen him before chanting it by the end.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Miroljub Kostić scored, was marked 7.64, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Marko Pavlovski and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Asion Daja 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.
Siauliai asked and Suduva said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
He is 16 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.
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.
Alessandro Berardi 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 Aug 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.
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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Deividas Barauskas 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. Aidas Kuklys 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Aidas Dapkus 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Rokas Kazlauskas is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
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.
20 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 Siauliai this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Siauliai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Asion Daja 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.
Siauliai asked and Atlantas said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
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.