It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zugdidi 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 Shota Qazaishvili was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Mikheil Kvaratskhelia 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.
“I watch every Zugdidi game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Kolkheti runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Shota Qazaishvili was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jaba Okriashvili signs something — a contract at Zugdidi or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The least glamorous thing a foreign signing ever does and the one that decides most of them. A player who can hear the shout behind him is a different footballer from one who cannot.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“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 dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Tornike Kakabadze was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Zugdidi dressing room was either.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giorgi Qazaishvili 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.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Zugdidi have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Guram Tsitaishvili 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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Zugdidi, and 1 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Shota Qazaishvili 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Zugdidi, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
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.
Marked 8.00 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Minute 92, against Sioni, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
Guram Tsitaishvili 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 Shota Qazaishvili was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Zugdidi, and 1 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Shota Qazaishvili 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.
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Tornike Kakabadze was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Zugdidi dressing room was either.
Nobody at Zugdidi is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
“Nobody outside is coming to save us.” It was short, it was not comfortable, and by all accounts the Zugdidi squad were quieter afterwards than they had been all season.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Zugdidi would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Zugdidi opened the door and nobody walked through it. So Mikheil Kiteishvili stays — listed, trained, and available — while both sides mark the days to January on the same calendar.
The offer from Samtredia for Dato Daraselia was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The offer went to Torpedo Kutaisi 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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mikheil Kvaratskhelia and Zugdidi agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The phone has started ringing about Revaz Gvelesiani again, and this time the name on the line is Merani. Zugdidi are listening politely and promising nothing.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dinamo Batumi have kept their man, and Zugdidi go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
Mikheil Kvaratskhelia 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.
Add another name to the list: Kolkheti have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Mamuka Chakvetadze. The answer from Zugdidi has not changed — yet.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giorgi Qazaishvili 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Tornike Kakabadze on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Jaba Kashia has his answer from Zugdidi; what he does with it is the next window’s story.