Marked for Glib Katkov
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad16 Nov 2026
87 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Torpedo Kutaisi lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Nodar Lominadze and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
No hiding place for Sori Mané
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sori Mané, and the manager let it.
The dugout16 Nov 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.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“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.
Market16 Nov 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Torpedo Kutaisi know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad19 Oct 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Filip Kljajić
116 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Torpedo Kutaisi lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Moisés and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Mateo Stamatov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Torpedo Kutaisi 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 dugout19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Oto Goshadze, and the manager let it.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Mateo Itrak 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.
Market19 Oct 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Torpedo Kutaisi know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Oct 2026
Glaybson 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 Sapovnela
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Anderson Künzel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market12 Oct 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Lasha Gvelesiani has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Saulo
“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 dugout12 Oct 2026
A promise honoured for Glib Katkov
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Sapovnela told Glib Katkov something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Squad12 Oct 2026
The penny has dropped for Gleibson
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at Sapovnela the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad3 Aug 2026
There were 20 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.
Match1 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑20 by Lokomotivi, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Sandro Shugladze commits to Sapovnela for another 1 years.
Match1 Aug 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 20 goals between Sapovnela and Lokomotivi, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Sapovnela 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Sandro Shugladze has his answer from Sapovnela; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Market3 Aug 2026
He signed expecting a bigger stage than the one he found. It has not taken long, and it has not taken the dressing room long to notice either.
Squad3 Aug 2026
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Boardroom3 Aug 2026
Nobody left the Sapovnela 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.