It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Samtredia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tato Zhividze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Samtredia have done the hard part with Meshakhte Tkibuli, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
This is not rotation. Davit Arveladze has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Samtredia is pretending otherwise.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Words at Samtredia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eric Barrios 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.
Samtredia asked and Gagra said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The new man at Samtredia has worked with Tato Zhividze before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Samtredia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Samtredia can pretend not to have heard.
The deal with Gareji Sagarejo 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Eric Barrios was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kolkheti-1913 Poti have kept their man, and Samtredia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The new man at Samtredia has worked with Tato Zhividze before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
The words a physio says slowly. 24 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.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Words at Samtredia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eric Barrios 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.
The new man at Samtredia has worked with Tato Zhividze before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Samtredia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 Ruben Gauto is on it.
It is the least glamorous business a club does and the reason seasons do not collapse in February. Luka Avaliani is here for the weeks when three men are injured and somebody still has to play.
3 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Samtredia could ask drops and the wages Dimitris Naoumis can ask rise.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Samtredia can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Samtredia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The shortfall was covered from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be relieved and entitled to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings usually arrive together.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Julen Cordero 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 new man at Samtredia has worked with Tato Zhividze before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
In brief
The dugoutJulen Cordero has become a man the manager trusts
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Samtredia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tato Zhividze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 new man at Samtredia has worked with Tato Zhividze before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Samtredia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Eric Barrios was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 36 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
The new man at Samtredia has worked with Tato Zhividze before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
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 Ruben Gauto is on it.
Eric Barrios 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tato Zhividze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The new man at Samtredia has worked with Tato Zhividze before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
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 easiest signature of my career.” Hadrian and Samtredia agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Words at Samtredia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eric Barrios 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.
The new man at Samtredia has worked with Tato Zhividze before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
The borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
Nobody at Samtredia 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Samtredia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Kakha Daraselia has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Telavi had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
“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.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Deadline passes with 11 signed and 22 gone
That is the business done at Samtredia until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
The gap in the accounts was filled from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be grateful and to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings arrive together.
Samtredia asked and Telavi said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Every club 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 it has been tried.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Samtredia can pretend not to have heard.
Eric Barrios 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 Aug 2028
Words at Samtredia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Julen Cordero 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.
“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 Samtredia know it.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Brian Lopez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
14 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Samtredia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Samtredia can pretend not to have heard.
Samtredia offered $37.0K; Gonio said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Words at Samtredia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ruan Costa 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.
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
The borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
Nobody at Samtredia 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 words a physio says slowly. 21 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Samtredia can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Samtredia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ruan Costa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
28 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Samtredia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Samtredia can pretend not to have heard.
Eric Barrios 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.
Samtredia offered $92.0K; Gagra said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Giuli Manjgaladze and Samtredia agree another 2 years.
This is money that keeps the lights on rather than money that buys a centre-half, and the difference is the whole story. A club funded by its owner rather than by its football has exactly one conversation left ahead of it.
35 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Samtredia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Eric Barrios 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.
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.
Samtredia asked and Gonio said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ruan Costa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Samtredia know it.
The words a physio says slowly. 42 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.
“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 Samtredia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Samtredia have gone to Gonio with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Soso Kopaliani 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.
“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; Samtredia are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dinamo Batumi have kept their man, and Samtredia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Ruan Costa 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.
49 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Samtredia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Daniel Suško was one of the reasons people came, and $290.0K does not replace that by itself.
Soso Kopaliani 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 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.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Tato Zhividze 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.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
56 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Samtredia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Samtredia can pretend not to have heard.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.96 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Successful dribbles: 25. 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.
Eric Barrios 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.
This is money that keeps the lights on rather than money that buys a centre-half, and the difference is the whole story. A club funded by its owner rather than by its football has exactly one conversation left ahead of it.
The words a physio says slowly. 63 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.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Samtredia and Iberia 1999-2 in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad29 May 2028
Tato Zhividze 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.
70 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Samtredia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 Samtredia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Successful dribbles: 24. 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.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 36 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Samtredia is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Squad22 May 2028
Words at Samtredia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tato Zhividze 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.
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
The borrowing is past what the bank agreed, which is the line where a debt stops being how football is financed and starts being a problem. Every phone-in in this town will quote the figure for the next five years.
77 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Samtredia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Samtredia can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Samtredia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ruan Costa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every club 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 it has been tried.
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
15 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager’s verdict
The dugoutDaniel Suško asks for a word with the manager
84 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Samtredia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 Samtredia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Eric Barrios 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 easiest signature of my career.” Giorgi Mchedlishvili and Samtredia agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
This is money that keeps the lights on rather than money that buys a centre-half, and the difference is the whole story. A club funded by its owner rather than by its football has exactly one conversation left ahead of it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ruan Costa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
91 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Samtredia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Samtredia can pretend not to have heard.
Eric Barrios 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tato Zhividze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Samtredia know it.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Samtredia told Daniel Suško something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The words a physio says slowly. 98 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.
Soso Kopaliani 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.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Ruan Costa 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 manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
“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 Samtredia know it.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
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 0‑1 Kakha Daraselia left the room before anybody could ask which.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 36 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Anthony Owusu is a Samtredia player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Julen Cordero 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.
Boardroom6 Mar 2028
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Samtredia
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.