Lucas Ríos 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.
Squad1 Oct 2029
Words at Zalgiris training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Greg Docherty is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Zalgiris would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Lucas Ríos wants continental football; whether Zalgiris can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Lucas Ríos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 Sep 2029
Words at Zalgiris training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Greg Docherty 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.
Nobody at Zalgiris will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Zalgiris would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
3 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Zalgiris could ask drops and the wages Jetmir Haliti can ask rise.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zalgiris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Greg Docherty was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Zalgiris, another week without a signature from Conor Masterson.
A new face in his position and a shirt he thought he owned suddenly up for discussion. Zalgiris have promised nothing, which is what clubs promise at this stage.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Zalgiris know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
“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 Zalgiris, and it is not being withdrawn.
Lucas Ríos was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad10 Sep 2029
Words at Zalgiris training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jacopo Martini 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.
Nicholas Callarà is 20, and Zalgiris 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.
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.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Zalgiris have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 25 arrived, 12 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Kauno Zalgiris moved on, Suleiman Abubakar reports back to Zalgiris, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Greg Docherty was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Zalgiris, another week without a signature from Greg Docherty.
“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 Zalgiris know it.
Squad3 Sep 2029
5 new faces, and Zalgiris 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.
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 Greg Docherty is on it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Zalgiris have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zalgiris is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Lucas Ríos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad27 Aug 2029
Words at Zalgiris training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Greg Docherty 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 have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Zalgiris can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
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 Bobby Wales is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Zalgiris, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Zalgiris. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vincentas Šarkauskas will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zalgiris the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zalgiris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Aug 2029
Words at Zalgiris training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jacopo Martini 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 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 Zalgiris know it.
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 Bryan Teixeira is on it.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Atlantas waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Zalgiris is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zalgiris can pretend not to have heard.
$2.9M was the most the club would pay and Milton Keynes Dons 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Marko Capan will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zalgiris the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Lucas Ríos 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.
Squad13 Aug 2029
Words at Zalgiris training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Greg Docherty 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 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 Zalgiris know it.
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 Lucas Ríos is on it.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Suduva waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Zalgiris is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The offer went to Milton Keynes Dons 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.
Lucas Ríos 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.
Squad6 Aug 2029
Greg Docherty 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.
5 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Nobody at Zalgiris will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
32 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
A 5‑0 win over Siauliai, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Player ratings30 Jul 2029
A brace, and Pedro Vieira takes the afternoon — 9.42
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Pedro Vieira provided it, and the 9.42 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Zalgiris will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Zalgiris have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Zalgiris 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 Zalgiris people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“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 Zalgiris, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zalgiris they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Zalgiris can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zalgiris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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. Zalgiris will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Zalgiris have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zalgiris is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zalgiris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 Lucas Ríos is on it.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Zalgiris has been clear about where Vincentas Šarkauskas stands, which is more than many ever get.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Zalgiris will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Zalgiris have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Zalgiris have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zalgiris can pretend not to have heard.
Lucas Ríos 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Ibrahim Obansa has just signed for Zalgiris, and for once the answer mattered.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 34 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zalgiris can pretend not to have heard.
Lucas Ríos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad2 Jul 2029
Words at Zalgiris training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivan Lytvynenko 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.
None of them will be seen by anybody outside the training ground for three years, most of them will never play a senior match, and one of them might change the club. That is the whole proposition, and it is why academies exist.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Marko Capan is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Zalgiris will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
40 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
“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 Zalgiris, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zalgiris they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zalgiris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Words at Zalgiris training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jacopo Martini is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Zalgiris are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Nobody at Zalgiris will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Zalgiris will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Atlantas waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Zalgiris is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Lucas Ríos 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 Jun 2029
Words at Zalgiris training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jacopo Martini 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 have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Zalgiris can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
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.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Suduva waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Zalgiris is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The offer went to Porto 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 offer went to Kauno Zalgiris 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.
Lucas Ríos 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.
Zalgiris offered $93.0K; Kauno 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.
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.
“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 Zalgiris know it.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Alessandro Sassaro and Zalgiris agree another 3 years.
4 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Player ratings4 Jun 2029
A brace, and Aaron Drinan takes the afternoon — 9.52
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Aaron Drinan provided it, and the 9.52 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 40 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
8 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
5 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Adam Richardson 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Jacopo Martini. 3‑2 against Suduva, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad28 May 2029
Words at Zalgiris training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jacopo Martini is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Bobby Wales 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.
Two goals and a mark of 9.35 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings21 May 2029
A brace, and Bobby Wales takes the afternoon — 9.28
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Bobby Wales provided it, and the 9.28 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zalgiris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Lucas Ríos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 May 2029
Words at Zalgiris training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jacopo Martini 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.
Player ratings14 May 2029
Lucas Ríos was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.24. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Successful dribbles: 27. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
1 for Jacopo Martini, marked 7.87, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Lucas Ríos 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.
Marked 9.92 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
In brief
SquadJacopo Martini falls out with a teammate over standards
Player ratingsLucas Ríos was on a different afternoon to everybody else
25 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 12 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Lucas Ríos was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
12 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
A season average of 7.63 with 19 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Player ratings23 Apr 2029
A brace, and Lucas Ríos takes the afternoon — 8.51
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Lucas Ríos provided it, and the 8.51 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
5 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zalgiris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Marked 8.43 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
28 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
11 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Marked 10.00 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 12 goals between Zalgiris and Utenis, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
27 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
The 2-goal deficit was real and so was the recovery. Bobby Wales was at the centre of it, Suduva were at the end of it, and everybody who left early will hear about this one for years.
Player ratings9 Apr 2029
A brace, and Aaron Drinan takes the afternoon — 8.10
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Aaron Drinan provided it, and the 8.10 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
26 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Lucas Ríos 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.
Marked 10.00 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 8 goals between Zalgiris and Atlantas, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
7 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Bryan Teixeira provided it, and the 9.26 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 18 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zalgiris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
7 goals in one match, Bryan Teixeira on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Zalgiris and Siauliai.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Carlos Olses 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.
25 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Bryan Teixeira provided it, and the 9.71 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Zalgiris will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Zalgiris can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Zalgiris and Trakai in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
In brief
SquadGreg Docherty falls out with a teammate over standards
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Zalgiris will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
5 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Player ratings12 Mar 2029
Up for the corner, and Greg Docherty delivers — 7.84
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Greg Docherty scored, was marked 7.84, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Lucas Ríos 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.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Words at Zalgiris training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Greg Docherty 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.
Marked 8.35 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
24 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Zalgiris will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Bryan Teixeira provided it, and the 8.39 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Lucas Ríos 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
MatchBobby Wales among the goals in a wild afternoon
Player ratingsBobby Wales was on a different afternoon to everybody else
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zalgiris 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 Zalgiris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Words at Zalgiris training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Greg Docherty is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Zalgiris are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
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.
$6.3M 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.
He is going to Krasnodar, the club has $6.3M 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.
Bryan Teixeira 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 Feb 2029
Greg Docherty 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.
8 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Nobody at Zalgiris will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Vincentas Šarkauskas reports back to Zalgiris with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Carlos Olses 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.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Ronaldo Mejía is living that version at Zalgiris, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Grigore Turda 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Zalgiris, another week without a signature from Jetmir Haliti.
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.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
38 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
Boardroom5 Feb 2029
Deadline passes with 4 signed and 4 gone
That is the business done at Zalgiris 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.
The name of Jonathan Okoronkwo has come up in conversations Zalgiris were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Lucas Ríos 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 Greg Docherty was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Zalgiris 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.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Lirim Kastrati 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Levadia waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Zalgiris is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Zalgiris have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vincentas Šarkauskas will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zalgiris the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The offer from Atlantas for Lukáš Gothard 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zalgiris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Words at Zalgiris training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Greg Docherty 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 have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zalgiris can pretend not to have heard.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Edoardo Olivieri has, at Zalgiris, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
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.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Grigore Turda 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.
Add another name to the list: Levadia have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Balázs Ulviczki. The answer from Zalgiris has not changed — yet.
Zalgiris have made the call to CSKA Moscow. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
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.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Zalgiris people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“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 Zalgiris, and it is not being withdrawn.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Conor Masterson has, at Zalgiris, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Lucas Ríos wants continental football; whether Zalgiris can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Lucas Ríos 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 Jan 2029
Greg Docherty 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.
Zalgiris asked and Lincoln City said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
Nobody at Zalgiris will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Zalgiris have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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 Zalgiris, and it is not being withdrawn.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Jetmir Haliti is living that version at Zalgiris, and it tends to show in the first month.
Lucas Ríos 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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Lirim Kastrati and Zalgiris agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Words at Zalgiris training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Greg Docherty 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 phone has started ringing about Martynas Šetkus again, and this time the name on the line is Trakai. Zalgiris are listening politely and promising nothing.
The words a physio says slowly. 105 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.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Zalgiris will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zalgiris is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zalgiris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Zalgiris told Henri Perk something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The words a physio says slowly. 112 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 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 Zalgiris know it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zalgiris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Words at Zalgiris training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Greg Docherty 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 Lucas Ríos is on it.
120 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Zalgiris lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Lucas Ríos 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.
“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 Zalgiris know it.
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 Greg Docherty is on it.
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 Vincentas Šarkauskas has written the date down.
127 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Zalgiris lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Lucas Ríos 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.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Grigore Turda falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody at Zalgiris will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
He 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Vincentas Šarkauskas trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zalgiris is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zalgiris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Greg Docherty was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Bryan Teixeira is on it.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Gabriel Mentz has his answer from Zalgiris; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Nemanja Cavnić is 33 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
Lucas Ríos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Words at Zalgiris training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Carlos Olses 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 Lucas Ríos is on it.
This is the season the town will measure the next twenty against. The trophy travels home with the squad, and the route through the streets was agreed days ago.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Zalgiris will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Lucas Ríos 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.
Squad20 Nov 2028
9 clean sheets and the golden glove for Carlos Olses
The one award on the pitch nobody else can win. 9 games in a season in which nobody scored past him, and a career that will be measured against this one.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Words at Zalgiris training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivan Lytvynenko 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.
Nobody at Zalgiris will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
This is the season the town will measure the next twenty against. The trophy travels home with the squad, and the route through the streets was agreed days ago.
Two goals and a mark of 9.13 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zalgiris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zalgiris is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Carlos Olses 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zalgiris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 Bryan Teixeira is on it.
“I will know when it is time. I am not there yet.” Klaudijus Upstas is 34, with 321 appearances behind him, and Zalgiris will have to plan for whichever answer comes.
16 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zalgiris 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 Zalgiris, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Carlos Olses was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Lucas Ríos is on it.
24 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Zalgiris lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 Zalgiris know it.
Lucas Ríos 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 Ivan Lytvynenko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
31 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zalgiris lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
38 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
Lucas Ríos 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 Oct 2028
Greg Docherty 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.
“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 Zalgiris know it.
Nobody at Zalgiris will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Axel Barreau
40 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Zalgiris lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zalgiris is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zalgiris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Greg Docherty falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Zalgiris will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Greg Docherty was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Zalgiris, another week without a signature from Greg Docherty.
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 Lucas Ríos is on it.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Zalgiris told Aaron Drinan something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Gabriel Mentz
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Greg Docherty was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Zalgiris will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Carlos Olses 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.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Words at Zalgiris training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Greg Docherty is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Evan Watts trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zalgiris they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Greg Docherty was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Bryan Teixeira is on it.
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 Gabriel Mentz has written the date down.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Suleiman Abubakar trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
MarketThe window shut and Klaudijus Upstas is still in the building
The bid was some way short and Zalgiris did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Zalgiris close the window on a squad of their own making
14 in and 6 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zalgiris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Greg Docherty was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
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 used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Zalgiris will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Zalgiris have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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; Zalgiris are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Lucas Ríos 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 Greg Docherty was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The name of Axel Barreau has come up in conversations Zalgiris were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
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 Dominik Franke is on it.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Zalgiris, another week without a signature from Cruz Allen.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Zalgiris will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
38 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
“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.
Lucas Ríos 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.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Words at Zalgiris training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Greg Docherty is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Zalgiris will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Lucas Ríos and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Greg Docherty 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 phone has started ringing about Patrik Matyžonok again, and this time the name on the line is Trakai. Zalgiris are listening politely and promising nothing.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Zalgiris can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
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 Bryan Teixeira is on it.
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Zalgiris will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Bryan Teixeira 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.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Words at Zalgiris training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Greg Docherty 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 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.
Squad7 Aug 2028
5 new faces, and Zalgiris 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.
Nobody at Zalgiris will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
22 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Zalgiris will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Ventspils waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Zalgiris is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Successful dribbles: 30. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Player ratings31 Jul 2028
A brace, and Greg Docherty takes the afternoon — 8.38
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Greg Docherty provided it, and the 8.38 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Zalgiris will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
38 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Zalgiris people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The offer from CSKA Sofia for Jonathan Okoronkwo 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Zalgiris have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zalgiris is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Lucas Ríos 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.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Greg Docherty 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 phone has started ringing about Axel Barreau again, and this time the name on the line is Ventspils. Zalgiris are listening politely and promising nothing.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Zalgiris will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Zalgiris can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Marko Capan is a Zalgiris player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Marko Capan is living that version at Zalgiris, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Greg Docherty falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody at Zalgiris will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“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 Zalgiris, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zalgiris is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zalgiris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Add another name to the list: Remo Stars have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Evan Watts. The answer from Zalgiris has not changed — yet.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Greg Docherty was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Zalgiris, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes Axel Barreau a promise
SquadQuestions about Jakob Zbašnik on the training pitch
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zalgiris can pretend not to have heard.
Zalgiris asked and Akron said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Lucas Ríos 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.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Greg Docherty 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.
Signed today, seen by nobody for years, and one of them may one day be the reason the club exists. That is the whole of the argument for an academy, and it is a good one.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Zalgiris have lost him in all but the paperwork.
This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $3.8M has been paid because Lucas Ríos is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.
Jonathan Okoronkwo 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.
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Lucas Ríos from Atlanta for $3.8M, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Atlanta have accepted the money. What Zalgiris do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Zalgiris people have started saying his name in the past tense.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Lirim Kastrati is living that version at Zalgiris, and it tends to show in the first month.
There comes a point where a club either backs its own ambition or admits it does not have any. Zalgiris have paid $1.4M for Lirim Kastrati, which is the loudest way there is of saying which one it chose.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zalgiris can pretend not to have heard.
Zalgiris offered $26.0K; Kauno 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.
The terraces19 Jun 2028
Zalgiris spend $1.4M on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $1.4M for Lirim Kastrati, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
Zalgiris have gone to Atlanta 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.
The deal with Kauno Zalgiris 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.
The offer went to Sochi 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 offer from Utenis for Marko Capan 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zalgiris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Words at Zalgiris training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Greg Docherty 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 have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zalgiris can pretend not to have heard.
Jonathan Okoronkwo 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 Jun 2028
Words at Zalgiris training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Greg Docherty 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.
Player ratings5 Jun 2028
Bryan Teixeira was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.07. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Jonathan Okoronkwo 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.
Squad29 May 2028
Greg Docherty 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.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Zalgiris pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 15 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad22 May 2028
Words at Zalgiris training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Greg Docherty 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.
Suduva next, and the two sides the division is watching meet each other. Whoever wins will be told nothing is decided in the same breath as being congratulated.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Zalgiris has been clear about where Ernestas Stočkūnas stands, which is more than many ever get.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Gabriel Mentz
15 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
20 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Zalgiris have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zalgiris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
7 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zalgiris is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Jonathan Okoronkwo 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.
Squad8 May 2028
Words at Zalgiris training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Greg Docherty 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 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zalgiris can pretend not to have heard.
Jonathan Okoronkwo 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 Greg Docherty was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.82 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
12 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
6 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Greg Docherty was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.37 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
11 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
18 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Two goals and a mark of 9.69 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Zalgiris have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zalgiris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Greg Docherty 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.
10 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
17 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 92th minute. Suduva will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Deividas Šešplaukis will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zalgiris the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match8 Apr 2028
Another one collected away from home
5 on the bounce on the road for Zalgiris. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Jonathan Okoronkwo 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.
8 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
16 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
15 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Zalgiris have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Jonathan Okoronkwo 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 Greg Docherty was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
7 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Bryan Teixeira 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.
4 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Greg Docherty was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
15 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
6 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Bryan Teixeira 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.
A 2‑0 win over Trakai, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Words at Zalgiris training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Greg Docherty 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.
Marked 8.05 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
“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; Zalgiris are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
10 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.
5 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Greg Docherty has just signed for Zalgiris, and for once the answer mattered.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Deividas Šešplaukis will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zalgiris the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zalgiris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 9.30 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Marked 9.20 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Match11 Mar 2028
Another one collected away from home
3 on the bounce on the road for Zalgiris. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
In brief
SquadGreg Docherty falls out with a teammate over standards
14 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
1 for Ivan Lytvynenko, marked 7.96, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Jonathan Okoronkwo 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 easiest signature of my career.” Paulius Golubickas and Zalgiris agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Evan Watts has, at Zalgiris, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Bryan Teixeira 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.
Nobody at Zalgiris will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Bryan Teixeira 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.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Grigore Turda 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.
Squad21 Feb 2028
10 new faces, and Zalgiris 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.
Axel Barreau is 19, and Zalgiris 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.
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 Carlos Olses is on it.
Something was said to Axel Barreau and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Deividas Šešplaukis will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zalgiris the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zalgiris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Grigore Turda was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Zalgiris can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Demiane Agustien is 20, and Zalgiris 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.
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 Ivan Fiolić is on it.
33 points and nobody above them. The word is not being said around the ground yet, and it is being thought in every seat.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Deadline passes with 3 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Zalgiris 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.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Ovidijus Verbickas reports back to Zalgiris with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kauno Zalgiris have kept their man, and Zalgiris go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody at Zalgiris will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Zalgiris have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Bryan Teixeira 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 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.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Grigore Turda 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.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Atlantas will make the call about Ovidijus Verbickas this week. Zalgiris have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Deividas Šešplaukis has his answer from Zalgiris; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Nobody at Zalgiris will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Zalgiris would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Bryan Teixeira 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.
Zalgiris asked and Torpedo Moscow 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 Jan 2028
Words at Zalgiris training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Grigore Turda 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.
7 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
A loan enquiry to Kauno Zalgiris: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
“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; Zalgiris are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
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 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.
Jonathan Okoronkwo 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Chacarita Juniors have kept their man, and Zalgiris go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Words at Zalgiris training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivan Lytvynenko 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 loan enquiry to Torpedo Moscow: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
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 Ivan Fiolić is on it.
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. Zalgiris will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Zalgiris would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Deividas Šešplaukis had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Torpedo Moscow have kept their man, and Zalgiris go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Words at Zalgiris training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Grigore Turda 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 loan enquiry to Kauno Zalgiris: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
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.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Zalgiris will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Jonathan Okoronkwo 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Jakob Zbašnik has just signed for Zalgiris, and for once the answer mattered.
Zalgiris 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.
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.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zalgiris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivan Lytvynenko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
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 Carlos Olses is on it.
Bryan Teixeira 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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Words at Zalgiris training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Grigore Turda 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 Ivan Fiolić is on it.
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. Zalgiris will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Zalgiris has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
33 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Zalgiris have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Bryan Teixeira and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Suleiman Abubakar has, at Zalgiris, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Grigore Turda 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 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.
Nobody at Zalgiris will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Words at Zalgiris training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kajus Bička 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 much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Zalgiris told Gabriel Mentz something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Ivan Lytvynenko 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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Grigore Turda 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.
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 Paulius Golubickas is on it.
Nobody sells a season ticket on a signing like this. Every manager who has been through a bad October wants one anyway, and Zalgiris have gone and got theirs early.
A new face in his position, and Carlos Olses suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Zalgiris have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
In brief
The dugoutLukáš Gothard asks for a word with the manager
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Ivan Fiolić
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Zalgiris have had the benefit of it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zalgiris this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
12 clean sheets across a season, and the one award on the pitch nobody else is eligible for. Most keepers get through a whole career without a year like it.
Nobody at Zalgiris will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
This is the season the town will measure the next twenty against. The trophy travels home with the squad, and the route through the streets was agreed days ago.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 92th minute. Suduva will replay every second of the added time for a week.
13 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.81 at 38, and nobody on the pitch was better.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Dominik Franke 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.
Dominik Franke and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at Zalgiris training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Grigore Turda 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.