Marked for Valer Chachava
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad6 Oct 2031
17 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Merani lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad6 Oct 2031
“The easiest signature of my career.” Javohir Esonqulov and Merani agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad6 Oct 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Merani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Oct 2031
Words at Merani training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nodar Kavtaradze 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 dugout6 Oct 2031
The manager makes an example of Mattia Lione
“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 dugout6 Oct 2031
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Merani told Valer Chachava something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad22 Sep 2031
27 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Merani lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match20 Sep 2031
A hiding for Merani
Beaten 0‑4 by Tskhinvali, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Squad22 Sep 2031
There were 9 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.
Match22 Sep 2031
Full time on the season at Merani
Position 11 on 30 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Squad22 Sep 2031
A falling-out at Merani
Nodar Kavtaradze and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match20 Sep 2031
3 matches without a goal for Merani
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad22 Sep 2031
Words at Merani training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexandr Bárta 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 dugout22 Sep 2031
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Giorgi Gvasalia, and the manager let it.
Boardroom22 Sep 2031
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Sep 2031
The words a physio says slowly. 34 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.
Squad15 Sep 2031
Tempers go at Merani
Ruslan Askerov 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 targets15 Sep 2031
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.
Squad15 Sep 2031
Words at Merani training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nodar Kavtaradze 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.
Player ratings15 Sep 2031
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad15 Sep 2031
“The easiest signature of my career.” Valer Chachava and Merani agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout15 Sep 2031
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
The dugout15 Sep 2031
Renat Gagity 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.
The dugout15 Sep 2031
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Interim Coach after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad11 Aug 2031
The words a physio says slowly. 69 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 Aug 2031
There were 7 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.
Transfer targets11 Aug 2031
Merani asked and Dila said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad11 Aug 2031
Words at Merani training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexandr Bárta 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.
Squad11 Aug 2031
Words exchanged at Merani
Douglas Lima 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 dugout11 Aug 2031
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Interim Coach was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Merani dressing room was either.
The dugout11 Aug 2031
Mattia Lione 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 Merani, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Looking ahead11 Aug 2031
The leaders are next for Merani
Torpedo Kutaisi top the table and they are coming into view. Nothing to lose, which is what every manager says before losing.
Player ratings11 Aug 2031
14 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match2 Apr 2031
The small margins put Merani out
Out, 0‑5 to Dinamo Batumi, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Squad7 Apr 2031
8 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.
Squad7 Apr 2031
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 69 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The terraces7 Apr 2031
0-5. Going out of a cup is one afternoon; going out like that is a week of phone-ins, and the manager will hear every one of them.
Player ratings7 Apr 2031
At 33 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.97, and nobody on the pitch better.
Squad7 Apr 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Merani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Apr 2031
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Liam Gibson and Merani agree another 2 years.
Boardroom7 Apr 2031
Doors closed at Merani
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Player ratings7 Apr 2031
A touch he did not mean and a goal that goes in the book with his name against it. Merani will not blame him tonight and he will not need them to.
In brief
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Market
Doueugui Mala told to find a new club
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Match
Merani and Guria take a point apiece
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad6 Jan 2031
Words exchanged at Merani
Ruslan Askerov 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.
Squad6 Jan 2031
Words at Merani training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nodar Kavtaradze 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.
Boardroom6 Jan 2031
Dinamo Batumi will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Calum Moreland has pre-agreed a move to Merani, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Transfer targets6 Jan 2031
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dinamo Tbilisi have kept their man, and Merani go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout6 Jan 2031
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Transfer targets6 Jan 2031
A loan enquiry to Dinamo Tbilisi: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Market6 Jan 2031
He is 18, and nobody at Merani signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Squad6 Jan 2031
“The easiest signature of my career.” Irakli Ananidze and Merani agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad6 Jan 2031
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Merani are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout11 Nov 2030
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Merani may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad11 Nov 2030
A falling-out at Merani
Nodar Kavtaradze and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Nov 2030
Words at Merani training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Liam Gibson 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 dugout11 Nov 2030
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
The dugout11 Nov 2030
“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.
Market11 Nov 2030
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Giorgi Ugrekhelidze’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Oct 2030
A fracture rules Mate Bakhtadze out for 32 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Merani will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market7 Oct 2030
“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 Merani, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout7 Oct 2030
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Merani may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
The dugout7 Oct 2030
news_b_frozen_out_of_the_side
Squad7 Oct 2030
Words exchanged at Merani
Ruslan Askerov 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.
Squad7 Oct 2030
Words at Merani training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nodar Kavtaradze 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.
Squad7 Oct 2030
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Giorgi Ugrekhelidze and Merani agree another 2 years.
Market7 Oct 2030
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Merani has been clear about where Mikheil Kvilitaia stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout7 Oct 2030
Liam Gibson 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 Merani, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match10 Aug 2030
Nowhere to hide for Merani
0‑5 against Dinamo Batumi, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
The dugout12 Aug 2030
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Merani may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market12 Aug 2030
“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 Merani, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market12 Aug 2030
The shirt still fits. Jaba Kvaratskhelia is back at Merani, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Squad12 Aug 2030
Words exchanged at Merani
Ruslan Askerov 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 targets12 Aug 2030
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.
Squad12 Aug 2030
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Jaba Kvaratskhelia has, at Merani, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad12 Aug 2030
Words at Merani training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nodar Kavtaradze 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 dugout12 Aug 2030
Luka Tsulaia 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
Player ratings22 Jul 2030
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.24 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad22 Jul 2030
A falling-out at Merani
Ruslan Askerov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Jul 2030
A row about effort at Merani
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nodar Kavtaradze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match20 Jul 2030
Merani get the job done against Guria
A 2‑0 win over Guria, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The dugout22 Jul 2030
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Nika Lobjanidze on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The dugout22 Jul 2030
Levan Tsotsonava 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 dugout22 Jul 2030
“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 dugout22 Jul 2030
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Market22 Jul 2030
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Javohir Esonqulov signs something — a contract at Merani or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match15 Jun 2030
Nowhere to hide for Merani
0‑6 against Dinamo Tbilisi, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market17 Jun 2030
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Merani people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Squad17 Jun 2030
6 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.
Transfer targets17 Jun 2030
$100.0K settles it between the clubs for Barnes Osei
Dinamo Tbilisi have accepted the money. What Merani do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
The dugout17 Jun 2030
“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.
Match15 Jun 2030
4 matches without a win for Merani
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Merani are no longer polite ones.
Match15 Jun 2030
4 matches without a goal for Merani
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad17 Jun 2030
A falling-out at Merani
Nodar Kavtaradze and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match15 Jun 2030
Nobody could stop scoring
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Merani and Dinamo Tbilisi in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad29 Apr 2030
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad29 Apr 2030
A falling-out at Merani
Ruslan Askerov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 Apr 2030
Words at Merani training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nodar Kavtaradze 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.
Match27 Apr 2030
The goals have deserted Merani
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Merani can tell you which week it ends in.
Match27 Apr 2030
0‑2 to Dinamo Batumi, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout29 Apr 2030
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Doueugui Mala, and the manager let it.
The dugout29 Apr 2030
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 Nika Lobjanidze left the room before anybody could ask which.
Looking ahead29 Apr 2030
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Nodar Kavtaradze’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Merani needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The dugout29 Apr 2030
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad11 Mar 2030
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match9 Mar 2030
The wait goes on for Merani
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.
Squad11 Mar 2030
18 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad11 Mar 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Merani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Mar 2030
A row about effort at Merani
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nodar Kavtaradze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match9 Mar 2030
Merani are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Match9 Mar 2030
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout11 Mar 2030
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout11 Mar 2030
“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
Uneasy
Squad25 Feb 2030
Nodar Kavtaradze 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 Feb 2030
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Squad25 Feb 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Merani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout25 Feb 2030
“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 dugout25 Feb 2030
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Market25 Feb 2030
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Javohir Esonqulov’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Jan 2030
Tempers go at Merani
Ruslan Askerov 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 Jan 2030
Words at Merani training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nodar Kavtaradze 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 dugout28 Jan 2030
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Squad28 Jan 2030
The medical room confirms 15 days on the sidelines for Mate Bakhtadze, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad28 Jan 2030
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Valer Chachava commits to Merani for another 4 years.
The dugout28 Jan 2030
Mikheil Janelidze is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Dec 2029
Words exchanged at Merani
Ruslan Askerov 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 Dec 2029
Nodar Kavtaradze 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 dugout24 Dec 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Valer Chachava, and the manager let it.
Market24 Dec 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Khazbulat Khamkhoev’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market24 Dec 2029
“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 dugout24 Dec 2029
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Merani, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market3 Dec 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 Merani can pretend not to have heard.
Squad3 Dec 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Nodar Kavtaradze commits to Merani for another 2 years.
Squad3 Dec 2029
Tempers go at Merani
Ruslan Askerov 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.
Squad3 Dec 2029
Words at Merani training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nodar Kavtaradze 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 dugout3 Dec 2029
The manager makes an example of Doueugui Mala
“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 dugout3 Dec 2029
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Market3 Dec 2029
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Nika Kiteishvili has his answer from Merani; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout3 Dec 2029
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Market3 Dec 2029
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Merani know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.