From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Feb 2027
64 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Stumbras lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market22 Feb 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Stumbras people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market22 Feb 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Stumbras can pretend not to have heard.
Market22 Feb 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Stumbras they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Arnas Jankauskas 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 Feb 2027
Joe Ashton arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Joe Ashton has, at Stumbras, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Aleksandar Pavlović 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 dugout22 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Gracien Deseri
“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.
Market22 Feb 2027
He is 20, and nobody at Stumbras signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Feb 2027
Deividas Novikovas damages knee ligaments — 72 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 72 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.
Market15 Feb 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Stumbras have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market15 Feb 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Stumbras can pretend not to have heard.
Squad15 Feb 2027
54 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Stumbras
Andrius Vaitkunas 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
A row about effort at Stumbras
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Justas Eliosius was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Feb 2027
Deividas Novikovas damages knee ligaments — 79 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 79 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.
Market8 Feb 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Stumbras can pretend not to have heard.
Market8 Feb 2027
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Donatas Vaitkunas reports back to Stumbras with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Market8 Feb 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Stumbras they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Stumbras
Justas Eliosius 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Aleksandar Pavlović 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Feb 2027
86 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Stumbras lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market1 Feb 2027
Atlantas come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Stumbras did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market1 Feb 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market1 Feb 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Atlantas waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Stumbras is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Stumbras close the window on a squad of their own making
2 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.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
Everything agreed with Kauno Zalgiris, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad1 Feb 2027
A falling-out at Stumbras
Aleksandar Pavlović and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Stumbras
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Justas Eliosius was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Slavko Kasalo and Stumbras agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad25 Jan 2027
93 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Stumbras lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market25 Jan 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Stumbras have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market25 Jan 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad25 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stumbras this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Justas Eliosius falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Jan 2027
100 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Stumbras lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market18 Jan 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Stumbras people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market18 Jan 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Justas Eliosius 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
Aleksandar Pavlović falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
Stumbras have made the call to Kauno Zalgiris. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Market18 Jan 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Darius Dubickas may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Jan 2027
107 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Stumbras lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market11 Jan 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Stumbras, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market11 Jan 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Stumbras
Aleksandar Pavlović 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Stumbras
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Justas Eliosius was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Stumbras 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.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Darius Dubickas
“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.
Market11 Jan 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Karolis Sernas has his answer from Stumbras; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Squad11 Jan 2027
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Stumbras know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market4 Jan 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market4 Jan 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Stumbras can pretend not to have heard.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Stumbras
Arnas Jankauskas 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Stumbras
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Justas Eliosius was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
Stumbras asked and Zalgiris said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market4 Jan 2027
Darius Dubickas is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Stumbras has been clear about where Darius Dubickas stands, which is more than many ever get.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Gracien Deseri and Stumbras agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Justas Eliosius trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
Open for business: Stumbras enter the window
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market28 Dec 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Stumbras can pretend not to have heard.
Squad28 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stumbras this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Stumbras training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksandar Pavlović 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
“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 Stumbras know it.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Stumbras are still strangers to each other
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Stumbras, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Dec 2026
31 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Stumbras
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Justas Eliosius was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Stumbras
Slavko Kasalo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Stumbras
Aleksandar Pavlović 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 Dec 2026
Justas Eliosius 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 dugout14 Dec 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Arnas Jankauskas'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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Stumbras
Justas Eliosius 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
Aleksandar Pavlović 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Modestas Cernych is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stumbras this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Stumbras training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Justas Eliosius 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Stumbras are still strangers to each other
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Nov 2026
Aleksandar Pavlović 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Stumbras training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Justas Eliosius 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
The medical room confirms 15 days on the sidelines for Karolis Dapkus, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Loan watch23 Nov 2026
“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 Stumbras, and 4 appearances in 12 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Slavko Kasalo and Stumbras agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market23 Nov 2026
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Justas Eliosius may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Nov 2026
Andrius Vaitkunas 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Stumbras
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aleksandar Pavlović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Stumbras
Arnas Jankauskas and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Stumbras
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aleksandar Pavlović was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Loan watch9 Nov 2026
“I watch every Stumbras game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Siauliai runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stumbras this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Stumbras training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Justas Eliosius 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Oct 2026
“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 Stumbras, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A move Adamu Hussaini would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Adamu Hussaini is living that version at Stumbras, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Justas Eliosius 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Stumbras
Aleksandar Pavlović 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
Words at Stumbras training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Justas Eliosius 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 dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Arnas Jankauskas'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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Stumbras
Aleksandar Pavlović and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Stumbras training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Justas Eliosius is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Loan watch12 Oct 2026
“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 Stumbras, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Oct 2026
Karolis Sernas damages knee ligaments — 17 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 17 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stumbras this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Aleksandar Pavlović 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Sep 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Karolis Sernas
24 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Stumbras lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market28 Sep 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad28 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stumbras this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Sep 2026
31 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Stumbras lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Stumbras
Arnas Jankauskas and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Justas Eliosius 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Sep 2026
Karolis Sernas damages knee ligaments — 38 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 38 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.
Market14 Sep 2026
“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 Stumbras, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
Stumbras had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Kauno Zalgiris, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Stumbras training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksandar Pavlović is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Loan watch14 Sep 2026
“I watch every Stumbras game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Siauliai runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Alexandru Chiriches 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Sep 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Karolis Sernas
45 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Stumbras lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market7 Sep 2026
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Market7 Sep 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Stumbras can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Window shuts: 3 in, 3 out at Stumbras
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 3 arrived, 3 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Stumbras have done the hard part with Kauno Zalgiris, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad7 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stumbras this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Justas Eliosius falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Gornik Leczna have kept their man, and Stumbras go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Vikintas Satkus has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad31 Aug 2026
Karolis Sernas damages knee ligaments — 52 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 52 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.
Market31 Aug 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market31 Aug 2026
Suduva come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Stumbras did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Boardroom31 Aug 2026
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $10.0K — a club that wants Andrius Satkus enough to be asked twice.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Aleksandar Pavlović 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.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
$10.0K was the most the club would pay and Utenis were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Market31 Aug 2026
Everyone has stopped pretending: Zalgiris will make the call about Arnas Jankauskas this week. Stumbras have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Justas Eliosius falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Aug 2026
Karolis Sernas damages knee ligaments — 59 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 59 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.
Market24 Aug 2026
Atlantas come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Stumbras did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market24 Aug 2026
“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 Stumbras, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Dimitrije Novićević has, at Stumbras, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Stumbras
Aleksandar Pavlović 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.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Suduva have kept their man, and Stumbras go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Stumbras
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dimitrije Novićević was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market24 Aug 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Stumbras, another week without a signature from Dimitrije Novićević.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 Aug 2026
11 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match12 Aug 2026
Stumbras bow out of the cup
Suduva go through and Stumbras go home, 1‑3 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Market17 Aug 2026
Siauliai come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Stumbras did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Aleksandar Pavlović has just signed for Stumbras, and for once the answer mattered.
Market17 Aug 2026
Stumbras spend $330.0K to raise the standard
This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $330.0K has been paid because Kristaps Kamess is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Stumbras
Arnas Jankauskas 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.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
No deal for Kajus Bička at that price
Stumbras offered $7.0K; Zalgiris said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Market17 Aug 2026
The name of Edvinas Vaitkunas has come up in conversations Stumbras were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Aleksandar Pavlović 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The deal with Trakai is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Arnas Jankauskas commits to Stumbras for another 4 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Justas Eliosius 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.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Tyumen have kept their man, and Stumbras go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Stumbras
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Donatas Vaitkunas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market10 Aug 2026
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Stumbras will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
A loan enquiry to Suduva: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Stumbras, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Edvinas Kuklys, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Stumbras can pretend not to have heard.
Squad3 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Stumbras this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market3 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: Siauliai have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Deividas Kuklys. The answer from Stumbras has not changed — yet.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Stumbras
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Arnas Jankauskas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Stumbras, and both men came out saying it was fine.