From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Feb 2027
58 days out for Dajan Ponjević after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Utenis will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
Utenis and Trakai have settled on $61.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 0 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Utenis until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
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
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Arvydas Slavickas 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad25 Jan 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 65 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kauno Zalgiris have kept their man, and Utenis go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad25 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Utenis
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Šimon Slončík was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad25 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Utenis
Andrius Satkus and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad25 Jan 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Aidas Novikovas and Utenis agree another 3 years.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
Utenis 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Jan 2027
72 days out for Dajan Ponjević after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Utenis will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Utenis
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Šimon Slončík was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Jan 2027
A fracture rules Dajan Ponjević out for 79 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Utenis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Nuno Sousa is 17, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Everybody at Utenis saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 37 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Utenis
Andrius Satkus 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 targets11 Jan 2027
Utenis 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad4 Jan 2027
86 days out for Dajan Ponjević after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Utenis will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market4 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Utenis
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Šimon Slončík was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad4 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 Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
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.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
Utenis 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Dec 2026
94 days out for Dajan Ponjević after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Utenis will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Šimon Slončík 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
Tempers go at Utenis
Karolis Kuklys 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
Squad21 Dec 2026
Dajan Ponjević breaks a bone — 101 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 101 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Linas Dubickas
16 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Utenis lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Aidas Novikovas is a better footballer than he was
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Dec 2026
A fracture rules Dajan Ponjević out for 108 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Utenis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad14 Dec 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Linas Dubickas
23 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Utenis lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Nuno Sousa is 17, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Dec 2026
Dajan Ponjević breaks a bone — 115 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 115 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Linas Dubickas damages knee ligaments — 30 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 30 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Šimon Slončík 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Nov 2026
Dajan Ponjević breaks a bone — 122 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 122 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad30 Nov 2026
30 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Utenis lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Utenis
Justas Girdvainis 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.
In brief
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Squad
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Nov 2026
Dajan Ponjević breaks a bone — 129 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 129 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad23 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 Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Šimon Slončík and Utenis agree another 3 years.
In brief
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Squad
A row about effort at Utenis
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Nov 2026
Dajan Ponjević breaks a bone — 136 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 136 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Šimon Slončík 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. Šimon Slončík has, at Utenis, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad16 Nov 2026
33 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Utenis
Karolis Kuklys and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market16 Nov 2026
He is 19, and nobody at Utenis signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Andrius Satkus
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Nov 2026
143 days out for Dajan Ponjević after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Utenis will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Lukas Dubickas and Utenis agree another 4 years.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Utenis
Karolis Kuklys 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Dajan Ponjević out for 150 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Utenis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Justas Klimavicius 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
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Lukas Dubickas has moved up it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Oct 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Arvydas Slavickas commits to Utenis for another 3 years.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Utenis
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Justas Girdvainis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Oct 2026
Aidas Novikovas is a better footballer than he was
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.
Squad19 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 Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Oct 2026
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 37 years old, 4 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Utenis
Justas Girdvainis 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Questions about Arvydas Slavickas on the training pitch
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Oct 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Darius Girdvainis and Utenis agree another 1 years.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Utenis
Karolis Kuklys 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 36 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Utenis is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
In brief
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Squad
A row about effort at Utenis
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Sep 2026
A fracture rules Thibault Arnaud out for 20 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Utenis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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 Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Nuno Sousa is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 16 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Sep 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 27 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Utenis
Karolis Kuklys 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
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Aidas Novikovas is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad21 Sep 2026
At 37, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
Market21 Sep 2026
Utenis have made Justas Girdvainis available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 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 Utenis can pretend not to have heard.
Squad14 Sep 2026
34 days out for Thibault Arnaud after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Utenis will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Justas Girdvainis 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
41 days out for Thibault Arnaud after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Utenis will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market7 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.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Window shuts: 3 in, 1 out at Utenis
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.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Utenis 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Utenis
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Justas Girdvainis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 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 Utenis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 48 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market31 Aug 2026
Isloch come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Utenis did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Aug 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 55 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market24 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Utenis
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Justas Girdvainis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match12 Aug 2026
Utenis out of the cup
Zalgiris ended it 1‑2. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
A debut Andrius Satkus will not forget — 8.01
There is exactly one of these per career and it does not usually go like this. 1 on the scoresheet, 8.01 beside the name, and a crowd that had never seen him before chanting it by the end.
Market17 Aug 2026
Suduva come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Utenis did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market17 Aug 2026
The name of Mantas Cernych has come up in conversations Utenis were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Utenis
Karolis Kuklys 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.
Market17 Aug 2026
Trakai pay $26.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
He is 18 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 dugout17 Aug 2026
“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
Steady
Market10 Aug 2026
Atlantas come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Utenis did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Karolis Kuklys commits to Utenis for another 3 years.
Squad10 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 Utenis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Utenis 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Arvydas Vaitkunas 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 dugout10 Aug 2026
“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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Utenis know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
Market10 Aug 2026
Everyone has stopped pretending: Trakai will make the call about Edgaras Novikovas this week. Utenis have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
Karolis Kuklys knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Utenis, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Utenis
Karolis Kuklys 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 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
Words at Utenis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Justas Girdvainis 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
This league is too small for Joel Obi
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. Utenis will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Rokas Kuklys commits to Utenis for another 1 years.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
Karolis Kuklys knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Karolis Kuklys trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.