Marked for Mateja Premović
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 Jul 2030
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market1 Jul 2030
“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.
Squad1 Jul 2030
Enzo Geerts 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 Chikhura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match29 Jun 2030
0‑2 to Dinamo Tbilisi, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad1 Jul 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Avto Chakhmashvili, and the manager let it.
Player ratings1 Jul 2030
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings1 Jul 2030
Marked 4.60, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
Squad1 Jul 2030
The fine is internal, the amount is nobody's business, and the fact that everybody at Chikhura knows about it by lunchtime is exactly the point of it.
Market1 Jul 2030
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Chikhura know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Jun 2030
Enzo Geerts 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 Chikhura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings3 Jun 2030
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.49, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match1 Jun 2030
A 1‑0 win over Samtredia, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings3 Jun 2030
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 19 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad3 Jun 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Avto Chakhmashvili, and the manager let it.
Squad3 Jun 2030
“The easiest signature of my career.” Shota Mikautadze and Chikhura agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings3 Jun 2030
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 15 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings3 Jun 2030
Successful dribbles: 12. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad3 Jun 2030
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Chikhura have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match4 May 2030
The wait goes on for Chikhura
6 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.
Match4 May 2030
Whatever happens, Chikhura do not lose
8 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.
Player ratings6 May 2030
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad6 May 2030
Spartak Gogniev 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.
Squad6 May 2030
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Alexander Lien and Chikhura agree another 4 years.
Squad6 May 2030
The manager makes an example of Ángel Vázquez
“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.
Player ratings6 May 2030
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 16 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings6 May 2030
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 16 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Match4 May 2030
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Kolkheti will be the happier side with the point.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Apr 2030
2 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
Match3 Apr 2030
The small margins put Chikhura out
Out, 0‑0 to Lokomotivi, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Squad8 Apr 2030
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Chikhura may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings8 Apr 2030
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad8 Apr 2030
“The easiest signature of my career.” Spartak Gogniev and Chikhura agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Apr 2030
Enzo Geerts 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 Chikhura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings8 Apr 2030
Marked 8.54 — 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.
Player ratings8 Apr 2030
Twelve yards, a goalkeeper guessing, and it still did not go in. He will take the next one, and every soul in the ground will hold their breath.
Player ratings8 Apr 2030
A defender's afternoon for Beka Beridze
Defensive actions: 16. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad11 Mar 2030
Enzo Geerts 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 Chikhura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match9 Mar 2030
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad11 Mar 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ardit Peposhi, and the manager let it.
Player ratings11 Mar 2030
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad11 Mar 2030
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nika Shengelia and Chikhura agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad11 Mar 2030
At 18 years old, Dragos Chiriches became the latest name off the academy production line to be handed a senior shirt.
Market11 Mar 2030
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Chikhura know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market11 Mar 2030
“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.
Player ratings11 Mar 2030
5.72 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad25 Feb 2030
Enzo Geerts 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 Chikhura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Feb 2030
The manager makes an example of Denis Rudenok
“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.
Market25 Feb 2030
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Chikhura know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom4 Feb 2030
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Jaba Gamsakhurdia has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Squad4 Feb 2030
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ardit Peposhi commits to Chikhura for another 2 years.
Market4 Feb 2030
The deal that would have taken Shota Kobiashvili to Samtredia has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Chikhura with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Squad4 Feb 2030
Enzo Geerts 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 Chikhura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Feb 2030
The captaincy has been taken off Ardit Peposhi. Chikhura will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
Boardroom4 Feb 2030
Chikhura pull $1.8M back off the table
The money that was there in the summer is not there now. Nobody upstairs calls this a change of ambition, and everybody downstairs reads it as one.
Market4 Feb 2030
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Chikhura know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad4 Feb 2030
It is a strip of cloth and it decides nothing on a Saturday. It still tells the dressing room exactly whose opinion the manager values, which is the whole point of it.
Market4 Feb 2030
6 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
In brief
-
Market
The market said no: Ilya Udodov stays put
-
Boardroom
Chikhura were not finished after all
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom7 Jan 2030
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Jaba Gamsakhurdia has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market7 Jan 2030
Only the photograph left for Vitaliy Para
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vitaliy Para will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Chikhura the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad7 Jan 2030
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Anatoliy Sannikov commits to Chikhura for another 4 years.
Squad7 Jan 2030
Spartak Gogniev 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.
Market7 Jan 2030
He is 18, and nobody at Chikhura signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Boardroom7 Jan 2030
Chikhura pull $1.8M back off the table
The money that was there in the summer is not there now. Nobody upstairs calls this a change of ambition, and everybody downstairs reads it as one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market10 Dec 2029
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Chikhura is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad10 Dec 2029
Spartak Gogniev 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 Dec 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Danila Patijčuks and Chikhura agree another 2 years.
Squad10 Dec 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Santiago Sinisterra, and the manager let it.
Market10 Dec 2029
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Chikhura know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market10 Dec 2029
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Luka Rekhviashvili may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market12 Nov 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chikhura can pretend not to have heard.
Market12 Nov 2029
Vitaliy Para has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Chikhura they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad12 Nov 2029
Spartak Gogniev 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market15 Oct 2029
“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 Chikhura, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market15 Oct 2029
Only the photograph left for Vitaliy Para
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vitaliy Para will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Chikhura the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad15 Oct 2029
Spartak Gogniev 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.
Squad15 Oct 2029
“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 Chikhura know it.
Squad15 Oct 2029
45 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Market15 Oct 2029
He is 17, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market17 Sep 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chikhura can pretend not to have heard.
Market17 Sep 2029
Only the photograph left for Vitaliy Para
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Vitaliy Para will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Chikhura the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad17 Sep 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chikhura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings17 Sep 2029
A performance of 8.87 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad17 Sep 2029
“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.
Match15 Sep 2029
It needed David Barrero to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Samtredia, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Market17 Sep 2029
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Chikhura know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Player ratings17 Sep 2029
A mark of 5.76 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
Player ratings17 Sep 2029
Successful dribbles: 10. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market20 Aug 2029
“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.
Match18 Aug 2029
Whatever happens, Chikhura do not lose
8 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.
Squad20 Aug 2029
Spartak Gogniev 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.
Market20 Aug 2029
Everyone has stopped pretending: Zugdidi will make the call about Luka Rekhviashvili this week. Chikhura have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Squad20 Aug 2029
“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 ratings20 Aug 2029
Defensive actions: 19, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings20 Aug 2029
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings20 Aug 2029
Marked 7.55 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Chikhura had the best player on the pitch.
Player ratings20 Aug 2029
Defensive actions: 15, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market30 Jul 2029
“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 Chikhura, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom30 Jul 2029
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Chikhura
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad30 Jul 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings30 Jul 2029
Defensive actions: 26, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings30 Jul 2029
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.
Squad30 Jul 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chikhura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market23 Jul 2029
“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.
Market23 Jul 2029
Zugdidi come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Chikhura did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad23 Jul 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chikhura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings23 Jul 2029
Defensive actions: 22, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad23 Jul 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Avto Chakhmashvili, and the manager let it.
Player ratings23 Jul 2029
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 14 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings23 Jul 2029
Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match21 Jul 2029
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Zugdidi defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Squad23 Jul 2029
Every debut is a small story about the future: Santiago Sinisterra, 17 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market25 Jun 2029
“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.
Market25 Jun 2029
Chikhura say no — this time
The offer from Tskhinvali for Luka Rekhviashvili 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.
Match23 Jun 2029
The wait goes on for Chikhura
4 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.
Squad25 Jun 2029
Spartak Gogniev 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.
Match23 Jun 2029
Tskhinvali left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad25 Jun 2029
“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 ratings25 Jun 2029
Marked 8.36 — 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.
Player ratings25 Jun 2029
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market25 Jun 2029
Ilya Udodov is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Chikhura has been clear about where Ilya Udodov stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad18 Jun 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad18 Jun 2029
15 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Match16 Jun 2029
Lokomotivi left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad18 Jun 2029
Aleksandar Buchkov 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
The manager makes an example of Enzo Geerts
“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.
Player ratings18 Jun 2029
Marked 8.36 — 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.
Player ratings18 Jun 2029
The one thing David Barrero could not do
Shots: 6, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
Market18 Jun 2029
Chikhura have made Ángel Vázquez available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Market18 Jun 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with David Barrero’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings28 May 2029
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad28 May 2029
Ardit Peposhi 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.
Match26 May 2029
Sapovnela made Chikhura work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings28 May 2029
A performance of 8.68 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings28 May 2029
Marked 8.68 — 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.
Squad28 May 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Giorgos Theodosiou and Chikhura agree another 3 years.
Squad28 May 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ilya Udodov, and the manager let it.
Squad28 May 2029
Ardit Peposhi 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.
Player ratings28 May 2029
Shots: 8, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match19 May 2029
The wait goes on for Chikhura
13 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.
Squad21 May 2029
There were 10 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad21 May 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Chikhura may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad21 May 2029
The medical room confirms 47 days on the sidelines for Mateja Premović, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad21 May 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chikhura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings21 May 2029
A performance of 8.64 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings21 May 2029
Marked 8.25 — 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.
Match19 May 2029
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Player ratings21 May 2029
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match21 Apr 2029
9 matches without a win for Chikhura
The run now stands at 9, and the questions being asked around Chikhura are no longer polite ones.
Market23 Apr 2029
“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.
Player ratings23 Apr 2029
A defender's afternoon for Enzo Geerts
Defensive actions: 29. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad23 Apr 2029
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad23 Apr 2029
The medical room confirms 75 days on the sidelines for Mateja Premović, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Spartak Gogniev 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 ratings23 Apr 2029
Defensive actions: 22, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad23 Apr 2029
48 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Player ratings23 Apr 2029
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match14 Apr 2029
No end in sight to Chikhura's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Chikhura has to find a result from somewhere.
Market16 Apr 2029
“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 Chikhura, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Ardit Peposhi 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.
Match14 Apr 2029
David Barrero scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑3 to Dila, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad16 Apr 2029
The manager makes an example of Ardit Peposhi
“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.
Player ratings16 Apr 2029
A performance of 8.42 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings16 Apr 2029
There was no pressure on him and nowhere he had to be. Chikhura lost a goal to a decision that took half a second and will be discussed all week.
Squad16 Apr 2029
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
Player ratings16 Apr 2029
Shots: 10. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad26 Mar 2029
105 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Match24 Mar 2029
The wait goes on for Chikhura
4 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.
Squad26 Mar 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chikhura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Mar 2029
79 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad26 Mar 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Arda Öztürk, and the manager let it.
Match24 Mar 2029
0‑1 to Saburtalo, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings26 Mar 2029
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market26 Mar 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until David Barrero signs something — a contract at Chikhura or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Player ratings26 Mar 2029
A mark of 5.67 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match17 Mar 2029
Still nobody has beaten Chikhura
The unbeaten run reaches 9. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Ardit Peposhi 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.
Squad19 Mar 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Luka Rekhviashvili, and the manager let it.
Squad19 Mar 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Dato Tsitaishvili and Chikhura agree another 3 years.
Match17 Mar 2029
A 1‑1 draw with Dinamo Tbilisi leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Squad19 Mar 2029
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Chikhura have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Market19 Mar 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Mateja Premović’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Player ratings19 Mar 2029
Successful dribbles: 11. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings19 Mar 2029
A mark of 5.66 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
In brief
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Market
The clock does Jairo Pérez’s negotiating for him
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Boardroom
The Chikhura production line keeps running
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match10 Mar 2029
Whatever happens, Chikhura do not lose
8 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.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Spartak Gogniev 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 Mar 2029
The manager makes an example of Mateja Premović
“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.
Player ratings12 Mar 2029
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad12 Mar 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jaba Lobjanidze commits to Chikhura for another 3 years.
Player ratings12 Mar 2029
Defensive actions: 15, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Market12 Mar 2029
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Squad12 Mar 2029
“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.
Match10 Mar 2029
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Tskhinvali defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Feb 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chikhura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market19 Feb 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Mateja Premović’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad19 Feb 2029
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market22 Jan 2029
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market22 Jan 2029
“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.
Squad22 Jan 2029
“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.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Ardit Peposhi 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.
Squad22 Jan 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Khvicha Chakvetadze and Chikhura agree another 4 years.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Jairo Pérez 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Jan 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chikhura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market15 Jan 2029
The phone has started ringing about Kakha Mikautadze again, and this time the name on the line is Lokomotivi. Chikhura are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Jairo Pérez 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 Chikhura, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad15 Jan 2029
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Chikhura has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Squad15 Jan 2029
The move was somebody else's story. What it left behind was a dressing-room stall nobody has taken and a player who keeps looking at it.
Market15 Jan 2029
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Chikhura know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market18 Dec 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Chikhura is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Spartak Gogniev 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 Dec 2028
“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.
Market18 Dec 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Chikhura know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market18 Dec 2028
5 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Chikhura money.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Questions about Luka Rekhviashvili on the training pitch
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Dec 2028
Nika Buzaladze: 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.” Chikhura have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad4 Dec 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ardit Peposhi and Chikhura agree another 2 years.
Squad4 Dec 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chikhura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad6 Nov 2028
Spartak Gogniev 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.
Squad6 Nov 2028
“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.
Squad6 Nov 2028
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Oct 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chikhura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Oct 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jairo Pérez and Chikhura agree another 1 years.
Squad9 Oct 2028
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Sep 2028
Vitaliy Para: 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.” Chikhura have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Ardit Peposhi 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 Sep 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Víctor Mañón, and the manager let it.
Player ratings11 Sep 2028
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings11 Sep 2028
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 18 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings11 Sep 2028
A defender's afternoon for Enzo Geerts
Defensive actions: 17. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad11 Sep 2028
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Chikhura pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
Match9 Sep 2028
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Sapovnela will be the happier side with the point.
Market11 Sep 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Mateja Premović’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market14 Aug 2028
Only the photograph left for Ilia Buzaladze
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ilia Buzaladze will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Chikhura the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Shota Mikautadze: 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.” Chikhura have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad14 Aug 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ardit Peposhi, and the manager let it.
Match12 Aug 2028
Shukura left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad14 Aug 2028
15 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad14 Aug 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Giorgi Jalaghonia commits to Chikhura for another 2 years.
Market14 Aug 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Mateja Premović’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Player ratings14 Aug 2028
Successful dribbles: 11. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings14 Aug 2028
A mark of 5.51 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.