Marked for Jaba Ananidze
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Jan 2027
Jaba Ananidze breaks a bone — 55 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 55 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market11 Jan 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 Zugdidi can pretend not to have heard.
Market11 Jan 2027
The bid was some way short and Zugdidi did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Zugdidi have done the hard part with Dinamo Tbilisi, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets11 Jan 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Zugdidi
Guram Tsitaishvili and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market11 Jan 2027
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Zugdidi will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Zugdidi
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Temur Lomadze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Zugdidi have made the call to Lokomotivi. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad4 Jan 2027
A fracture rules Jaba Ananidze out for 64 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Zugdidi will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market4 Jan 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 Zugdidi can pretend not to have heard.
Market4 Jan 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Zugdidi
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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Shota Qazaishvili 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 targets4 Jan 2027
A loan move for Giorgi Todua is in the works
Zugdidi have made the call to Lokomotivi. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
Zugdidi have made the call to Dinamo Tbilisi. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Market4 Jan 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Mikheil Kvaratskhelia has his answer from Zugdidi; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout4 Jan 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Dec 2026
A fracture rules Jaba Ananidze out for 71 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Zugdidi will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad28 Dec 2026
57 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Zugdidi
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Dec 2026
A fracture rules Jaba Ananidze out for 78 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Zugdidi will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Temur Lomadze 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Davit Kvilitaia and Zugdidi agree another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Dec 2026
85 days out for Jaba Ananidze after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Zugdidi will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about 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 Zugdidi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Dec 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.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“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.
Market14 Dec 2026
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Stanislav Dmitriev may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Jacopo Piras 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 Zugdidi, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Dec 2026
16 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Zugdidi lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad7 Dec 2026
92 days out for Jaba Ananidze after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Zugdidi will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Temur Lomadze and Zugdidi agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad7 Dec 2026
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.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“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.
Market7 Dec 2026
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Jaba Ananidze may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Nov 2026
Levan Kobiashvili damages knee ligaments — 25 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 25 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Jaba Ananidze breaks a bone — 99 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 99 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad30 Nov 2026
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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Goga Chakvetadze and Zugdidi agree another 1 years.
Market30 Nov 2026
At 33, he has seen every situation this season can produce, twice. The legs will be managed; the head is the purchase.
Market30 Nov 2026
The name of Mohamed Cherif keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Zugdidi say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Loan watch2 Nov 2026
“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 7 appearances in 11 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad2 Nov 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 Zugdidi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Zugdidi
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.
Market2 Nov 2026
The name of Mohamed Cherif keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Zugdidi say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Temur Lomadze is put on a programme of his own
Individual work, away from the group, aimed at one specific thing the coaches think is holding him back. It rarely makes the news and it is how most improvement actually happens.
Squad2 Nov 2026
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Chikhura asked and Torpedo Kutaisi said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match8 Aug 2026
A bad afternoon for Chikhura against Dila
0‑2 to Dila, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Beka Chakvetadze 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Avtandil Shengelia 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Otar Arveladze 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Dato Lobjanidze 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 dugout10 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Benjamin Twum
“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 dugout10 Aug 2026
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 Irakli Kvaratskhelia left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Chikhura
Gugua Iakobashvili 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.