Marked for Yan Philippe
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad12 Jul 2027
Nika Arveladze damages knee ligaments — 70 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 70 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Breno Santos breaks a bone — 21 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 21 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market12 Jul 2027
“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 The request is on a desk at Sioni, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match10 Jul 2027
Sioni make home a hard place to visit
11 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.
Match10 Jul 2027
Sioni make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Sioni have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words exchanged at Sioni
Dachi Tsnobiladze 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.
Player ratings12 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Hadrian 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.
Match10 Jul 2027
Three points for Sioni, 1‑0 the final word against Kolkheti in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Jun 2027
84 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sioni lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Breno Santos breaks a bone — 35 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 35 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match26 Jun 2027
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Guria, and it could have been more.
Match26 Jun 2027
Still nobody has beaten Sioni
The unbeaten run reaches 13. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Market28 Jun 2027
The bid was some way short and Sioni did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market28 Jun 2027
“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 Sioni, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings28 Jun 2027
Both of them João Paulo's — 8.21
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.21, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Match26 Jun 2027
The run at home goes on for Sioni
10 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Tempers go at Sioni
Luís Fernando 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
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Squad
Home comes calling for Joelson
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The dugout
No hiding place for Yan Philippe
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Boardroom
Wages swallow 110% of the Sioni income
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Jun 2027
Nika Arveladze damages knee ligaments — 91 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 91 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Breno Santos breaks a bone — 43 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 43 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market21 Jun 2027
Joelson 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 Sioni can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Sioni may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match19 Jun 2027
Still nobody has beaten Sioni
The unbeaten run reaches 12. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Player ratings21 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Sioni have done the hard part with Dila, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad21 Jun 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 Sioni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match19 Jun 2027
The run at home goes on for Sioni
9 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Jun 2027
99 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sioni lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Breno Santos breaks a bone — 50 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 50 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market14 Jun 2027
“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 Sioni, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings14 Jun 2027
Both of them Hadrian's — 8.26
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.26, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Match12 Jun 2027
11 unbeaten for Sioni
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 11 matches without defeat is a foundation Sioni did not have in the autumn.
Match12 Jun 2027
At last: Sioni win one
7 matches without a win, and then this, against Zugdidi. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Squad14 Jun 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Sioni can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad14 Jun 2027
A falling-out at Sioni
Luís Fernando and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets14 Jun 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Jun 2027
Nika Arveladze damages knee ligaments — 106 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 106 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad7 Jun 2027
57 days out for Breno Santos after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Sioni will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market7 Jun 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.
Match5 Jun 2027
7 matches without a win for Sioni
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Sioni are no longer polite ones.
Match5 Jun 2027
10 unbeaten for Sioni
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 10 matches without defeat is a foundation Sioni did not have in the autumn.
Squad7 Jun 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Sioni can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words exchanged at Sioni
Luís Fernando 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.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dinamo Batumi have kept their man, and Sioni go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match5 Jun 2027
Sioni make home a hard place to visit
8 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 May 2027
A fracture rules Breno Santos out for 71 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sioni will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad24 May 2027
23 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sioni lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market24 May 2027
“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 Sioni, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout24 May 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Sioni may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match22 May 2027
5 matches without a win for Sioni
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Sioni are no longer polite ones.
Match22 May 2027
8 unbeaten for Sioni
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 8 matches without defeat is a foundation Sioni did not have in the autumn.
Player ratings24 May 2027
Nobody could get near Gonzalo
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad24 May 2027
Tempers go at Sioni
Dachi Tsnobiladze 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.
Squad24 May 2027
A row about effort at Sioni
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vitor Gabriel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 May 2027
A fracture rules Breno Santos out for 78 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sioni will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad17 May 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Saba Nioradze
30 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sioni lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market17 May 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.
Match15 May 2027
No end in sight to Sioni's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Sioni has to find a result from somewhere.
Match15 May 2027
Whatever happens, Sioni do not lose
7 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad17 May 2027
Hadrian 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.
Squad17 May 2027
Breno Santos 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 Sioni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings17 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout17 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gabriel Recife, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 May 2027
A fracture rules Breno Santos out for 92 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sioni will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad3 May 2027
26 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sioni lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market3 May 2027
“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 Sioni, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad3 May 2027
Tempers go at Sioni
Luís Fernando 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.
Player ratings3 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad3 May 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 Sioni know it.
The dugout3 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Yan Philippe
“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.
Boardroom3 May 2027
90% of the income goes out in wages at Sioni
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Player ratings3 May 2027
Marked 7.27. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
In brief
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The dugout
Vitor Gabriel gets picked when it counts
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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The dugout
Joelson asks for a word with the manager
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Apr 2027
Breno Santos breaks a bone — 106 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 106 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
Luís Fernando pops up at the right end — 7.87
7.87, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Squad19 Apr 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 Sioni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Apr 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Sioni can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Sioni training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hadrian 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.
Match17 Apr 2027
A 1‑0 win over Sapovnela, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Gabriel Recife
“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 dugout19 Apr 2027
The form table has caught Yan Philippe
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match31 Mar 2027
The cup run ends for Sioni
0‑1 against Saburtalo, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Squad5 Apr 2027
“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; Sioni are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad5 Apr 2027
A falling-out at Sioni
Dachi Tsnobiladze and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Apr 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Breno Santos and Sioni agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Hadrian 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 dugout5 Apr 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.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market5 Apr 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Paata Kiteishvili has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Sioni.
Match3 Apr 2027
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Sioni close the window on a squad of their own making
3 in and 0 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“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; Sioni are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Sioni
Dachi Tsnobiladze 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 Feb 2027
Vitor Gabriel 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
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.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market25 Jan 2027
“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 Sioni, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad25 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 Sioni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
Sioni asked and Dinamo Batumi said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Hadrian 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 dugout25 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Yan Philippe, and the manager let it.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Sioni are still strangers to each other
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.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
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 dugout25 Jan 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Gabriel Ferreira trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Sioni. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
Everything was agreed with Dinamo Tbilisi and then the doctor spoke. Sioni have walked away from a signing on the advice of somebody who never saw him play, which is how it is supposed to work.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Sioni
Luís Fernando was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gabriel Recife, and the manager let it.
Squad18 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Sioni
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tornike Dundua was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
Gonzalo gets picked when it counts
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 Gonzalo is on it.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
Yan Philippe 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 Sioni, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market18 Jan 2027
The shop window has Adam Huskić in it
Sioni have let the market know Adam Huskić can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Squad18 Jan 2027
A season on the outside for Lucas Flores
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Sioni has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Sioni
Dachi Tsnobiladze 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Breno Santos 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 dugout28 Dec 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Dec 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Dachi Tsnobiladze and Sioni agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“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 Sioni know it.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Sioni
Gonzalo 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 dugout7 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Yan Philippe
“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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Tornike Dundua 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 dugout7 Dec 2026
Paata Kiteishvili has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Sioni 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Yan Philippe: 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.” Sioni have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad30 Nov 2026
“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 Sioni know it.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Sioni
Gonzalo 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Sioni training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Gabriel 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Sioni are still strangers to each other
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.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
85% of the income goes out in wages at Sioni
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market12 Oct 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sioni is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Jeffão gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Jeffão has just signed for Sioni, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“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; Sioni are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Sioni
Gonzalo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad12 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Sioni
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hadrian was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Yan Philippe, and the manager let it.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Joelson asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market12 Oct 2026
Talks stall between Sioni and Jeffão
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Paata Kiteishvili has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Sioni 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
14 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Home is on Gonzalo's mind
“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; Sioni are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Sioni
Gonzalo 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.
Match4 Oct 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Vitor Gabriel’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Sioni.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.92 on the card, and the Sioni support went home talking about one name.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Too much change too quickly at Sioni
16 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.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
95% of the income goes out in wages at Sioni
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The form table has caught Yan Philippe
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
In brief
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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The dugout
When it matters, Vitor Gabriel plays
-
The dugout
The manager makes an example of Tornike Dundua
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 Aug 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Sioni, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match29 Aug 2026
4 matches without a win for Sioni
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Sioni are no longer polite ones.
Squad31 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Sioni
Gonzalo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Sioni training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vitor Gabriel 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.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Torpedo Kutaisi have kept their man, and Sioni go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gabriel Recife, and the manager let it.
Match29 Aug 2026
It needed Gonzalo to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Tskhinvali, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
When it matters, Gonzalo plays
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.
In brief
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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The dugout
Joelson asks for a word with the manager
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Squad
A season on the outside for Yan Philippe
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match15 Aug 2026
Sioni march on in the cup
Dila are out and Sioni go through, 0‑2 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Match12 Aug 2026
Cup progress for Sioni
A 1‑0 win over Dila, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Sioni
Dachi Tsnobiladze 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.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Vitor Gabriel 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 dugout17 Aug 2026
Yan Philippe 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
No place for Vitor Gabriel in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Sioni are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Market17 Aug 2026
Talks stall between Sioni and Gonzalo
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Vakhtang Mchedlidze left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad3 Aug 2026
The match ball belongs to Giorgi Gabedava, whose 5 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Match1 Aug 2026
No mercy from Sioni
Sapovnela will want this one forgotten quickly: 12‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Sioni were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
At 36 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 10.00, and nobody on the pitch better.
Squad3 Aug 2026
The match ball belongs to Varlam Kilasonia, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.33 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.28, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A move Yan Philippe would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Yan Philippe is living that version at Sioni, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Varlam Kilasonia commits to Sioni for another 2 years.
Match1 Aug 2026
Giorgi Gabedava among the goals in a wild afternoon
12 goals in one match, Giorgi Gabedava on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Sioni and Sapovnela.