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After the end of the 2005 Lithuanian "A Lyga" championship, some teams immediately started looking for new players and coaches, as well as announced which players they will not be renewing contracts with. The newspaper "Kauno Diena" took interest and reviewed the mid-season changes in the country's teams.
Three players left the championship team
Next season, three players who played in the Panevezys "Ekranas" team in 2005 will not be representing the Lithuanian football champion.
"Audrius Banevicius, Valerijus Mizigurskis, and Lauras Janusevicius will not be in the team. A. Banevicius will not be there because of his age, V. Mizigurskis will be replaced by Egidijus Varnas, and L. Janusevicius did not play a crucial role in the team," said "Ekranas" head coach Virginijus Liubsys.
There is currently one newcomer in the Panevezys team. The "Ekranas" club signed a two-year contract with thirty-year-old forward Egidijus Varnas. Part of the previous season, the player represented the Siauliai team, previously played in Israel, and earlier on wore the "Ekranas" jersey.
"Egidijus is an experienced player, I know his capabilities because he has already played for the Panevezys team. I think he will strengthen "Ekranas" because he played in Israel and matured there. I like that E. Varnas is a fighter," said V. Liubsys, also adding that "Ekranas" will be looking for players who can strengthen the team.
"Kaunas" added defender N. Radzius
The Lithuanian vice-champion, Kaunas FBK "Kaunas," began training for the "Sandraugos Taure" tournament on December 14th. On that day, the team was introduced to the new head coach, the Belarusian Eduard Malofeyev. For over a month, the residents of Kaunas did not have a head coach, as the former strategist Igor Pankratjevas bid farewell to the team on November 9th.
On December 23rd, experienced 29 year-old defender Nerijus Radzius signed a contract with "Kaunas," who had recently played for lower league teams in Russia. Previously, the player had represented the Lithuanian national team eleven times.
As EuroFootball.com already reported, two "Kaunas" players - goalkeeper Modestas Stonys and defender Darius Regelskis - were loaned to the Estonian club Tallinn "Levadia" for a year, who won silver in their country's championship last season.
