The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 17 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
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.
Position 4 on 16 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Trakai 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 Trakai this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Trakai has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Alexis Alibert has written the date down.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Trakai, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ignas Barauskas will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Trakai the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Lukas Sernas 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.
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.
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 Modestas Dubickas is on it.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Trakai has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
16 points from position 4. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Trakai this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Jean-Pascal Fontaine 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.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Trakai than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Trakai is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Marko Konatar 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 Edvinas Lasickas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Andréa Vennettilli is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Marko Konatar 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 Edvinas Lasickas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Andréa Vennettilli has his answer from Trakai; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Alexis Alibert has written the date down.
Jean-Pascal Fontaine 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.
Trakai offered $44.0K; Atlantas 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.
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.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Trakai know which stage they are at.
Position 4 on 16 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
A new face in his position and a shirt he thought he owned suddenly up for discussion. Trakai have promised nothing, which is what clubs promise at this stage.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Trakai would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
“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 Trakai, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Trakai close the window on a squad of their own making
15 in and 12 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.
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.
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.
Trakai have gone to Atlantas with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
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. Trakai will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Toheeb Dare Bamigboye is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
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 Trakai will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Trakai have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ignas Barauskas will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Trakai the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The deal with Atlantas 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.
Trakai asked and Kauno 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Edvinas Lasickas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A call-up flatters the player and the club that produced him in the same breath. Trakai would like him back in one piece and know they will not be consulted.
A window away with the national side, and a shirt at Trakai that briefly doubles as an advertisement. A call-up flatters the player and the club that built him in the same breath.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Alexis Alibert has written the date down.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Trakai will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs have shaken hands with Utenis; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Trakai will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Trakai people have started saying his name in the past tense.
$44.0K was the most the club would pay and Atlantas 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.
Trakai asked and Utenis said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Savely Nikiforov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Trakai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edvinas Lasickas 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 Modestas Dubickas is on it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Trakai will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The offer went to Atlantas this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
The name of Ignas Barauskas has come up in conversations Trakai were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Trakai will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Trakai they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The deal with NK Maribor 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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Trakai. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Trakai, 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. 109 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Trakai have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. SKA Khabarovsk have kept their man, and Trakai go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at Trakai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edvinas Lasickas 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. 116 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Stumbras waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Trakai is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Trakai asked and Kauno 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at Trakai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edvinas Lasickas 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 Trakai this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Trakai will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Ignas Barauskas had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Trakai have done the hard part with Atlantas, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vikintas Jankauskas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Trakai asked and MFK Michalovce 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.
“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 Trakai, and it is not being withdrawn.
Trakai asked and NK Maribor said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Savely Nikiforov 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.
Trakai 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at Trakai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edvinas Lasickas 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 respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Trakai would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Trakai, another week without a signature from Suren Harutyunyan.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Trakai people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Trakai can pretend not to have heard.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Suren Harutyunyan is living that version at Trakai, and it tends to show in the first month.
Suren Harutyunyan is 18, and Trakai have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vikintas Jankauskas 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 Alexis Alibert
$370.0K is a serious amount of money and it does not play centre-forward. Everybody in the dressing room knows who used to be looked at when it went wrong.
Position 4 on 16 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
He is going to Zalgiris, the club has $370.0K it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
Everything agreed with MFK Michalovce, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Slovan Bratislava have kept their man, and Trakai go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Tadas Novikovas left the room before anybody could ask which.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. DAC Dunajska Streda have kept their man, and Trakai go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Add another name to the list: Zalgiris have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Saulius Klimavicius. The answer from Trakai has not changed — yet.
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. Trakai will try very hard not to make too much of it.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Olimpija Ljubljana 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 Linas Jankauskas is in the works
At 38 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.10 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 14 actions, 7.78, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Piotr Holcel is living that version at Trakai, and it tends to show in the first month.
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.
Lukas Sernas 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Simone Albè and Trakai agree another 3 years.
The dugout31 May 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Tadas Novikovas kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
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.
He is 21 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.
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Atlantas scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Modestas Kuklys was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Modestas Kuklys has his answer from Trakai; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Trakai will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.85 at 38, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at Trakai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abraham Ojo 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 not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
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 Modestas Dubickas is on it.
Nobody at Trakai is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
“If we are going to be beaten, let it not be because somebody in here could not be bothered.” He stood up and said it in front of everybody, which is a thing a squad remembers about a man for years.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Trakai will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
0‑1 to Stumbras, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Trakai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abraham Ojo 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Tadas Novikovas after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Darius Mikoliunas trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Trakai will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The young player of the month award goes to a 20-year-old at Trakai who has looked like the finished article for four weekends running. The next four are the ones that decide whether he is.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Abraham Ojo is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Tadas Novikovas after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Suduva defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
12 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Nobody at Trakai is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 39 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
A brace, and Abraham Ojo takes the afternoon — 8.27
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Abraham Ojo provided it, and the 8.27 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.02 at 38, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Eliot Boudet commits to Trakai for another 4 years.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Trakai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abraham Ojo 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.
Position 4, 10 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Tadas Novikovas on a 3‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Trakai will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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.
Jean-Pascal Fontaine 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Tadas Novikovas after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Trakai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Modestas Kuklys 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Saulius Klimavicius has his answer from Trakai; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Trakai will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Abraham Ojo did not need any: 7.80, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Lukas Sernas 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 needed Abraham Ojo to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Utenis, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Tadas Novikovas chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Trakai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edvinas Lasickas 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 20 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Kirill Radchenko's mistake
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 60 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The 88th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Jean-Pascal Fontaine decided nobody was going anywhere. Atlantas had no time left to answer.
Everybody at Trakai 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ariel Mosór was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 20 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.
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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Ariel Mosór 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Darius Mikoliunas has his answer from Trakai; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Trakai, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A call-up flatters the player and the club that produced him in the same breath. Trakai would like him back in one piece and know they will not be consulted.
In brief
SquadEliot Boudet is not doing himself any favours
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Trakai will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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 manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
14 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Trakai lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Trakai will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Two goals and a mark of 8.59 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Modestas Dubickas. 2‑1 against Stumbras, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Modestas Kuklys 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Abraham Ojo 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 dugout15 Mar 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Tadas Novikovas, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
23 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Trakai lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Trakai will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Mantas 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. Edvinas Barauskas 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 Satkus 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. Saulius Simkus is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
31 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Trakai lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Trakai will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Jean-Pascal Fontaine 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 Trakai 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. 104 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Trakai asked and Dugopolje said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Abraham Ojo 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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Saulius Klimavicius signs something — a contract at Trakai or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Trakai will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Trakai asked and MFK Michalovce said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at Trakai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abraham Ojo 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.
Where he used to play does most of his talking for him at Trakai. The room defers to it, the kids study it, and the only thing that can puncture it is a bad month.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Trakai would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 120 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. NK Maribor have kept their man, and Trakai go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Edvinas Lasickas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 127 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Trakai close the window on a squad of their own making
3 in and 1 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.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: NK Maribor keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abraham Ojo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Trakai know which stage they are at.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Trakai will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Saulius Klimavicius was one of the reasons people came, and $170.0K does not replace that by itself.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Admira Wacker keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Rodina have kept their man, and Trakai go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vikintas Jankauskas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Trakai, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Saulius Klimavicius signs something — a contract at Trakai or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
20 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Trakai lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Trakai can pretend not to have heard.
The name of Saulius Klimavicius has come up in conversations Trakai were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Trakai had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Plymouth Argyle, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Alexis Alibert has just signed for Trakai, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Matej Tadič 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.
Raków Częstochowa 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 27 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Trakai 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 Trakai this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Trakai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abraham Ojo 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.
34 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Trakai lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 Trakai, and it is not being withdrawn.
“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; Trakai are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abraham Ojo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
42 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Trakai lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
At 19 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Trakai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matej Tadič 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.
19 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Trakai lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Trakai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abraham Ojo 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.
27 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Trakai lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Trakai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abraham Ojo 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.
34 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Trakai lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Trakai will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Matej Tadič 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. 41 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Trakai will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Trakai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abraham Ojo 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. 33 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Matej Tadič 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Saulius Dapkus trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody writes a headline about a tutor. Nobody has to be told, either, what happens to a signing who spends two years being the man nobody can talk to at lunch.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abraham Ojo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abraham Ojo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Eliot Boudet is 20, and Trakai have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Squad2 Nov 2026
5 new faces, and Trakai 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.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Darius Eliosius 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.
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.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Trakai would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Trakai, and both men came out saying it was fine.
24 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Trakai lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Ignas Barauskas is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
In brief
SquadWords at Trakai training over how hard people work
The words a physio says slowly. 31 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Mantas Paulauskas is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Abraham Ojo 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.
38 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Trakai lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
46 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Trakai lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Modestas Kuklys was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Kirill Radchenko may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Words at Trakai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matej Tadič 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 year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Trakai would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
The offer from Zeleznicar Pancevo for Saulius Klimavicius 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.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Brinje Grosuplje keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Trakai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matej Tadič 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 Trakai know which stage they are at.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Trakai would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
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.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Naftan had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
“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 Trakai, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 3 arrived, 1 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Trakai asked and CSKA 1948 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.
A loan enquiry to Brinje Grosuplje: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Trakai would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
23 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Trakai lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Trakai can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from Vitebsk for Modestas Dubickas 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.
Everything agreed with Raków Częstochowa, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
30 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Trakai lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Trakai asked and Wieczysta Kraków said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Trakai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vikintas Jankauskas 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 year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Trakai would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Saulius Klimavicius had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Toheeb Dare Bamigboye has just signed for Trakai, and for once the answer mattered.
Trakai 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 doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Trakai know which stage they are at.
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Tadas Novikovas to a room that had heard them before.
“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.
The offer from Utenis for Fiodor Kazlauskas 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.
Everything agreed with Lausanne-Sport, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Add another name to the list: Ventspils have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Saulius Klimavicius. The answer from Trakai has not changed — yet.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Zalgiris have kept their man, and Trakai go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Trakai training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edvinas Lasickas 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 Trakai this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The phone has started ringing about Darius Mikoliunas again, and this time the name on the line is Siauliai. Trakai are listening politely and promising nothing.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Stripfing have kept their man, and Trakai go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Edvinas Lasickas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.