Marked for Levi
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad28 Feb 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 38 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Boardroom28 Feb 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Merani
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad28 Feb 2028
“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 Merani know it.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Tempers go at Merani
Davit Paghava 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 Feb 2028
A row about effort at Merani
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lucas Black was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom28 Feb 2028
Merani are $8.0M in the red
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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad31 Jan 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 68 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Boardroom31 Jan 2028
The scrutiny sharpens at Merani
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Merani is running low.
Market31 Jan 2028
“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.
Transfer targets31 Jan 2028
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Merani have done the hard part with Iberia 1999, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad31 Jan 2028
David Mindombe 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.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Tempers go at Merani
Davit Paghava 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
Upbeat
Squad27 Dec 2027
A fracture rules Alison Araçoiaba out for 106 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.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Tempers go at Merani
Niklas Determann 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 Dec 2027
Lucas Black 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.
Boardroom27 Dec 2027
Wages swallow 246% of the Merani income
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.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Levi wants to go home
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Merani can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
The manager makes an example of Levi
“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
Upbeat
Squad20 Dec 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 113 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad20 Dec 2027
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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
David Mindombe 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 dugout20 Dec 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 dugout20 Dec 2027
A promise honoured at Merani
Something was said to Davit Zurabiani and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Market20 Dec 2027
It is the least glamorous business a club does and the reason seasons do not collapse in February. Sergi Bazerashvili is here for the weeks when three men are injured and somebody still has to play.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad29 Nov 2027
Tempers go at Merani
Niklas Determann 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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
A row about effort at Merani
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Mindombe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom29 Nov 2027
Wages eat 275% of everything Merani earn
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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Merani are still strangers to each other
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Squad29 Nov 2027
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. Merani will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
When it matters, Levi plays
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad1 Nov 2027
21 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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Tempers go at Merani
Niklas Determann 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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
David Mindombe 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.
Boardroom1 Nov 2027
Wages eat 238% of everything Merani earn
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.
The dugout1 Nov 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.
Market1 Nov 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Merani, another week without a signature from Niklas Determann.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
The owner puts $105.7K into Merani
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.
Squad4 Oct 2027
A row about effort at Merani
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lucas Black was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
267% of the income goes out in wages at Merani
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 dugout4 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Aslan Mutaliev, and the manager let it.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Štěpán Hapal 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 Merani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Oct 2027
The captaincy has been taken off Niklas Determann. Merani will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Mateo Stamatov has moved up it.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
Levi gets picked when it counts
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 Levi is on it.
Market4 Oct 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad19 Jul 2027
35 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.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, and a scan that said otherwise. He goes back to Dinamo Tbilisi; Merani go back to the market; and both will insist there is no story here.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words exchanged at Merani
Niklas Determann 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.
Boardroom19 Jul 2027
Belts tighten at Merani
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
Squad19 Jul 2027
David Mindombe 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.
Transfer targets19 Jul 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.
Boardroom19 Jul 2027
Merani are $5.1M in the red
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.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
“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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Home is on Levi's mind
“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; Merani are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad7 Jun 2027
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Merani will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad7 Jun 2027
A one-man rearguard from Levi
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.
Match5 Jun 2027
The cup run ends for Merani
1‑5 against Iberia 1999, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
The terraces7 Jun 2027
A cup hiding at Iberia 1999 leaves Merani explaining themselves
1-5, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.
Market7 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.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
The deal with Torpedo Kutaisi 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
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 Jun 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Zviad Sikharulia and Merani agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 May 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 21 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market31 May 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.
Player ratings31 May 2027
A defender's goal wins it for Merani — 7.79
1 for Jafar Bynoe, marked 7.79, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Squad31 May 2027
A falling-out at Merani
Niklas Determann and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad31 May 2027
A row about effort at Merani
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lucas Black was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match29 May 2027
A 1‑1 draw with Meshakhte Tkibuli leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout31 May 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Nika Mikautadze chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout31 May 2027
David Mindombe 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 David Mindombe trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Looking ahead31 May 2027
Merani take on the side everybody is chasing
Iberia 1999 arrive as leaders. A side at the top is beaten roughly once a month, and the club that does it gets a week it remembers for a year.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager makes an example of Levi
-
Player ratings
Nobody could get near Lucas Black
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The dugout
The plan did not have a place for Zviad Sikharulia
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad24 May 2027
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Merani will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market24 May 2027
“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.
Player ratings24 May 2027
Jafar Bynoe pops up at the right end — 7.91
7.91, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Squad24 May 2027
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.
Boardroom24 May 2027
Merani counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Merani now.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Merani training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Mindombe 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.
Match22 May 2027
It finished 2‑1, and it was Aleksandre Avaliani’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Merani.
The terraces24 May 2027
Merani supporters have found a favourite in Jafar Bynoe
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Jafar Bynoe has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Player ratings24 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. 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
Uneasy
Squad21 Dec 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 86 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Merani
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lucas Black was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Aslan Mutaliev, and the manager let it.
In brief
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Squad
A falling-out at Merani
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The dugout
Luka Tsulaia knocks on the manager’s door
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Squad
Levi remains an outsider
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Dec 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 93 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market14 Dec 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Merani is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad14 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Merani
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lucas Black was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Davit Paghava, and the manager let it.
Squad14 Dec 2026
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.
Market14 Dec 2026
Merani buy the years ahead of Levi
He is 20, 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
Squad7 Dec 2026
100 days out for Zviad Sikharulia after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Merani will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Transfer targets7 Dec 2026
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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
16 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Merani
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lucas Black was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Merani
Giorgi Gvasalia and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom7 Dec 2026
Merani counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Merani now.