Marked for Jorginho
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad13 Dec 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Lekso Otinashvili is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Tempers go at Dila
Tedo Kikabidze 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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Words at Dila training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kaio César 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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Lasha Menteshashvili and Dila agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
Lucas Hian 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market27 Sep 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.
Squad27 Sep 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; Dila are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Tempers go at Dila
Nikoloz Mali 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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Words at Dila training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alioune Tall 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 dugout27 Sep 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
Jorginho knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jorginho trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad20 Sep 2027
Words exchanged at Dila
Jean Irmer 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Emmanuel Fobi is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
The manager makes an example of Ibrahima Dramé
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad20 Sep 2027
A row about effort at Dila
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kaio César was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad20 Sep 2027
The decline has begun for Magno Souza
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 37 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Dila is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Loan watch20 Sep 2027
“I did not go to Kolkheti-1913 Poti to sit and watch. I want to come back to Dila and fight for my place.” 10 appearances in 34 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Aug 2027
The medical room confirms 15 days on the sidelines for Ibrahima Dramé, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad30 Aug 2027
A falling-out at Dila
Lucas Rangel and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Words at Dila training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kaio César 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.
Market30 Aug 2027
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Dila will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
Léo Carvalho 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.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Alisson Taddei has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout26 Jul 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Dila may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words exchanged at Dila
Jean Irmer 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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Nikoloz Mali falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad26 Jul 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; Dila are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
Dila asked and Merani 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 dugout26 Jul 2027
Léo Carvalho 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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
This league is too small for Jean Irmer
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Dila will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
A promise honoured at Dila
Something was said to Jorginho and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
Blankson Anoff knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Dila, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match3 Jul 2027
Chastening afternoon for Dila
A 0‑3 beating by Dinamo Tbilisi was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Market5 Jul 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dila can pretend not to have heard.
Match3 Jul 2027
4 matches without a win for Dila
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Dila are no longer polite ones.
Market5 Jul 2027
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Rustavi moved on, Lasha-Giorgi Titvinidze reports back to Dila, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Squad5 Jul 2027
A falling-out at Dila
Lucas Rangel and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Jul 2027
A row about effort at Dila
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikoloz Mali was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings5 Jul 2027
Jorginho runs at them all day
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.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Guilherme Ferreira, and the manager let it.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
Nobody left the Dila dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
In brief
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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Squad
Tray Fuller wants to go home
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Boardroom
Dila sign 6 boys into the academy
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Jun 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Merani waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Dila is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Squad14 Jun 2027
7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Market14 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ibrahima Dramé and Dila agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
The offer went to Lokomotivi this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words exchanged at Dila
Lucas Rangel 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
A row about effort at Dila
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikoloz Mali was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings14 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
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.