Marked for Leandro Sobral
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Nov 2027
24 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Dila lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market29 Nov 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dila can pretend not to have heard.
Market29 Nov 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Dila they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Words exchanged at Dila
Aílton 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 Nov 2027
Nikoloz Mali 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 dugout29 Nov 2027
The manager makes an example of Mohamed Kanté
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Market29 Nov 2027
Matheus Barboza is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Dila has been clear about where Matheus Barboza stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
Ibrahima Dramé knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Dila, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
The manager makes Tray Fuller a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Dila. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Nov 2027
38 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Dila lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market15 Nov 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Dila they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Dila may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad15 Nov 2027
A falling-out at Dila
Jemal Tabidze and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words at Dila training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikoloz Mali 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Dila can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Loan watch15 Nov 2027
“I did not go to Aktobe to sit and watch. I want to come back to Dila and fight for my place.” 5 appearances in 19 matches say the rest.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
The manager makes an example of Zurab Museliani
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
Davit Kereselidze has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Dila 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
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The dugout
The manager makes Abdulmalik Olatunji a promise
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Match
Nothing left to play for but pride at Dila
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Boardroom
The Dila board put their names to it
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market8 Nov 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market8 Nov 2027
Ibrahima Dramé has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Dila they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words exchanged at Dila
Jemal Tabidze 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
A row about effort at Dila
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikoloz Mali was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad8 Nov 2027
“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 Dila know it.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Leandro Sobral wants one last season at home
Every long career reaches the week the last one is thought about. He would like it to be where he started, and Dila know now that the thought has arrived.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
Ramaric Etou has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Dila 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 dugout8 Nov 2027
Tray Fuller gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market8 Nov 2027
The Nikoloz Mali story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Nikoloz Mali signs something — a contract at Dila or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout1 Nov 2027
Saba Akhalkatsi: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Dila have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market1 Nov 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lekso Otinashvili will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dila the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Tempers go at Dila
Jemal Tabidze 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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
A row about effort at Dila
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikoloz Mali was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lasha Menteshashvili, and the manager let it.
Squad1 Nov 2027
A season on the outside for Aílton
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Dila has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Market1 Nov 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Dila, another week without a signature from Lasha Menteshashvili.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
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 Lasha-Giorgi Titvinidze has written the date down.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
Ruben Compaoré knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Dila, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market11 Oct 2027
Ibrahima Dramé has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Dila they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Tempers go at Dila
Aílton 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 Oct 2027
Nikoloz Mali 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Emmanuel Boansi and Dila agree another 4 years.
Squad11 Oct 2027
“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 Dila know it.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
Ramaric Etou has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Dila 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 dugout11 Oct 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
Mohamed Kanté knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mohamed Kanté trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Looking ahead11 Oct 2027
A test against the best for Dila
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Dinamo Batumi.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 43. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market20 Sep 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dila can pretend not to have heard.
Market20 Sep 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Dila is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Dila may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad20 Sep 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Badri Gogoberishvili and Dila agree another 3 years.
Squad20 Sep 2027
A falling-out at Dila
Jemal Tabidze and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad20 Sep 2027
A row about effort at Dila
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikoloz Mali was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
The manager makes an example of Ibrahima Dramé
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match18 Sep 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
Nikoloz Mali beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 34. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Market23 Aug 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Dila people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market23 Aug 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Transfer targets23 Aug 2027
The deal with Dinamo Tbilisi 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.
Transfer targets23 Aug 2027
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Athletico Paranaense is saying, and nobody at Dila is enjoying the guessing.
Transfer targets23 Aug 2027
The offer went to Lokomotivi 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Aílton in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dila this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Aug 2027
34 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Jul 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Dila have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market26 Jul 2027
Camargo hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dila can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
This is not rotation. Blankson Anoff has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Dila is pretending otherwise.
Market26 Jul 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Dila they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
The deal with Bahia 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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
The medical room confirms 67 days on the sidelines for Tedo Kikabidze, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad26 Jul 2027
A falling-out at Dila
Jemal Tabidze and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
Dila asked and Lokomotivi said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Nikoloz Mali 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.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Market17 May 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dila can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings17 May 2027
A brace, and Shota Shekiladze takes the afternoon — 9.16
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Shota Shekiladze provided it, and the 9.16 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Match15 May 2027
11 unbeaten for Dila
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 11 matches without defeat is a foundation Dila did not have in the autumn.
The dugout17 May 2027
Camargo says Dila went back on their word
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Market17 May 2027
Only the photograph left for Luka Sanikidze
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Luka Sanikidze will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dila the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Player ratings17 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad17 May 2027
Tempers go at Dila
Jemal Tabidze 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.
Squad17 May 2027
Nikoloz Mali 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.
Match15 May 2027
Lokomotivi made Dila work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match13 Mar 2027
The wait goes on for Dila
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
“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 Dila know it.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Emin Bayram in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dila this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match13 Mar 2027
4 matches without a goal for Dila
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Dila training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikoloz Mali 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Leandro Sobral wants to finish where he started
Every long career reaches the week the player starts thinking about the last one. He would like it to be at the club that first put him on a pitch, and Dila now know that too.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
A mark of 7.25, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Kakha Okriashvili was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Dila dressing room was either.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market11 Jan 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Dila people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market11 Jan 2027
Dila say no — this time
The offer from Sioni for Mohamed Kanté 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dila this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Dato Bukia is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Dila
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikoloz Mali was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“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 Dila know it.
Market11 Jan 2027
He is 19, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Luka Sanikidze
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.