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After the end of the 2006 season of the "A Lyga," one of the longest coaching epochs in the history of Lithuanian football at one club came to an end – Virginijus Liubšys, who had led Panevėžio "Ekranas" for seventeen years, announced his departure from his position, but did not rule out the possibility of staying at the club and taking on the role of sports director offered to him.
"These were my last matches as the head coach of 'Ekranas.' I dedicated seventeen years to 'Ekranas' as the head coach. My farewell was not successful. I cannot say whether I will stay at 'Ekranas' or leave for another club. I have offers, but I will decide only after taking a break. I didn't have a vacation for eighteen years," said the 48-year-old V. Liubšys officially to the "A Lyga" website.
The coach's players did not give him a farewell victory – on Sunday, "Ekranas" suffered a 0-4 defeat in a decisive match against the champions "Kaunas" and thus ended their unsuccessful season. After interrupting the dominance of the team from Kaunas in the Lithuanian championships in 2005 and becoming the national champions, "Ekranas" only won the Baltic Cup this season – in the "A Lyga" and the LFF Cup tournament, the team had to settle for silver medals, while in the second qualifying round of the Champions League, they had to acknowledge the overwhelming advantage of Zagreb's "Dinamo."
On Monday, "Ekranas" announced on their website that V. Liubšys, who is leaving his position as head coach, was offered to stay at the Panevėžys club and take on the role of sports director, but after a conversation with club leaders, the strategist stated that he would make his decision after the holidays.
"'Ekranas' understands the coach's decision and acknowledges that it is time for changes. The club respects the coach, his long-term work with the team, and his achievements. Although yesterday was V. Liubšys' last match as head coach, the club's leaders hope that he will agree to stay with the club. The long-time team strategist was offered higher duties as a sports director at the club. V. Liubšys would be responsible for recruiting new players, selection and other sports issues," the "Ekranas" website stated.
Related to V. Liubšys' name, the biggest victories of "Ekranas" are connected – being a player, he defended the goal of the Panevėžys team that became Lithuanian champions in 1985, and after taking over as coach four years later, during the 1992/93 season, he again took the first place in the league. However, the strategist did not manage to repeat such success for a long time, and only after returning to the club after a short break in the middle of the decade did he win the LFF Cup with "Ekranas" in 1998 and 2000.
Nevertheless, V. Liubšys managed to train a new generation of football players, including current Lithuanian national team players such as Marius Stankevičius, Gediminas Paulauskas, the brothers Edgaras and Deividas Česnauskas, Vitalijus Kavaliauskas, and Mantas Savėnas, and although in 2003 and 2004 "Ekranas" had to acknowledge the superiority of "Kaunas" in the Lithuanian championships and settle for silver medals, in 2005 the team from Panevėžys managed to become champions again after a long break. During his coaching career, the specialist from Panevėžys also led the Lithuanian youth (under 21) national team for about a year, but in September 2004, he stepped down from his position to focus all his attention on "Ekranas."
