Marked for Tornike Qazaishvili
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad11 Sep 2028
“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.
The terraces11 Sep 2028
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 7 of the 31 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Market11 Sep 2028
Luke Campbell hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Lumezzane can pretend not to have heard.
Squad11 Sep 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lumezzane this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market11 Sep 2028
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Lumezzane heard it as anything else.
Match9 Sep 2028
Lumezzane cannot find the net
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad11 Sep 2028
“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; Lumezzane are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Match9 Sep 2028
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad11 Sep 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Stefano Filigheddu, and the manager let it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Sep 2028
There were 11 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.
Market4 Sep 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Lumezzane can pretend not to have heard.
Squad4 Sep 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Lumezzane may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Stefano Filigheddu 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.
Squad4 Sep 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Alberto Palladino and Lumezzane agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Match2 Sep 2028
0‑1 to Arzignano, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match20 May 2028
No end in sight to Zugdidi's wait for a win
13 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Zugdidi has to find a result from somewhere.
Market22 May 2028
“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 Zugdidi, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad22 May 2028
There were 6 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.
Market22 May 2028
Saba Kashia has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zugdidi they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad22 May 2028
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Arda Yılmaztürk 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.
Match20 May 2028
1‑2 to Sapovnela, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad22 May 2028
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.
Squad22 May 2028
“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.
Player ratings22 May 2028
Marked 3.84, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market17 Apr 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.
Match15 Apr 2028
No end in sight to Zugdidi's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Zugdidi has to find a result from somewhere.
Market17 Apr 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zugdidi they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad17 Apr 2028
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.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tornike Kashia 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.
Squad17 Apr 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Dato Ananidze commits to Zugdidi for another 3 years.
Squad17 Apr 2028
The manager makes an example of Rauno Teniste
“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.
Player ratings17 Apr 2028
7.92, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Zugdidi had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Match15 Apr 2028
A 1‑1 draw with Guria leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces10 Apr 2028
The mood at Zugdidi has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Match5 Apr 2028
Zugdidi out of the cup
Dila ended it 1‑2. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Match8 Apr 2028
The wait goes on for Zugdidi
7 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.
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.11 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Market10 Apr 2028
Only the photograph left for Dato Ananidze
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Dato Ananidze will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zugdidi the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Arda Yılmaztürk 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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Amer Kthupi 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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Luis Pacheco, and the manager let it.
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
A performance of 8.20 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad27 Mar 2028
Arda Yılmaztürk damages knee ligaments — 21 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 21 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.
Match25 Mar 2028
No end in sight to Zugdidi's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Zugdidi has to find a result from somewhere.
Market27 Mar 2028
Saba Kashia has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zugdidi they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Arda Yılmaztürk 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.
Player ratings27 Mar 2028
Temur Kvilitaia was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.15. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Tornike Kashia 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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
“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.
Match25 Mar 2028
A 1‑1 draw with Merani leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Player ratings27 Mar 2028
5.49 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces14 Feb 2028
The mood at Zugdidi has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Market14 Feb 2028
“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 Zugdidi, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market14 Feb 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zugdidi is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Amer Kthupi 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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Arda Yılmaztürk 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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
The table has started to be checked before the results are in, and that is always the tell. Nobody at Zugdidi says the word out loud, and everybody in the building is thinking it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match7 Feb 2028
Every point is an argument now for Zugdidi
Position 14 and 22 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market7 Feb 2028
“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.
Market7 Feb 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zugdidi is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad7 Feb 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Luis Pacheco and Zugdidi agree another 2 years.
Squad7 Feb 2028
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.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Amer Kthupi 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad10 Jan 2028
Luis Pacheco breaks a bone — 15 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 15 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match10 Jan 2028
Every point is an argument now for Zugdidi
Position 14 and 22 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market10 Jan 2028
“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 Zugdidi, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market10 Jan 2028
Saburtalo come back empty-handed
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.
Market10 Jan 2028
The name of Irakli Daraselia has come up in conversations Zugdidi were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Market10 Jan 2028
Only the photograph left for Dato Ananidze
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Dato Ananidze will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zugdidi the goodbyes have quietly begun.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad13 Dec 2027
A fracture rules Luis Pacheco out for 43 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.
Match13 Dec 2027
Every point is an argument now for Zugdidi
Position 14 and 22 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market13 Dec 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 Zugdidi, and it is not being withdrawn.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Nov 2027
A fracture rules Luis Pacheco out for 57 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.
Boardroom29 Nov 2027
Pressure builds in the Zugdidi boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market29 Nov 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.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Irakli Daraselia 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
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Arda Yılmaztürk 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.
Loan watch29 Nov 2027
“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 3 appearances in 45 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match15 Nov 2027
Zugdidi are in real trouble now
Position 14, 22 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market15 Nov 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.
Market15 Nov 2027
Only the photograph left for Dato Ananidze
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Dato Ananidze will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zugdidi the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Irakli Daraselia 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Mate Ghaghvishvili 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.
Loan watch15 Nov 2027
“I did not go to Dila to sit and watch. I want to come back to Zugdidi and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 21 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match18 Oct 2027
Zugdidi sink to position 14
22 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market18 Oct 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.
Market18 Oct 2027
Dato Ananidze has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zugdidi they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad18 Oct 2027
“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 Zugdidi know it.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Irakli Daraselia 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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Arda Yılmaztürk 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad20 Sep 2027
38 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zugdidi lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match20 Sep 2027
Zugdidi are in real trouble now
Position 15, 19 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market20 Sep 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 Zugdidi, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match18 Sep 2027
No end in sight to Zugdidi's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Zugdidi has to find a result from somewhere.
Market20 Sep 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zugdidi is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match18 Sep 2027
The goals have deserted Zugdidi
5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Zugdidi can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Luka Avaliani is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Amer Kthupi 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Arda Yılmaztürk 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Aug 2027
68 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zugdidi lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match23 Aug 2027
Zugdidi sink to position 15
17 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market23 Aug 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Arda Yılmaztürk 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Amer Kthupi 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.
Squad23 Aug 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.
Loan watch23 Aug 2027
“I watch every Zugdidi game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Dila runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Market23 Aug 2027
He is 19, and nobody at Zugdidi signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Match21 Aug 2027
Point won or two lost for Zugdidi?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Dinamo Batumi? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Aug 2027
The words a physio says slowly. 83 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.
Market9 Aug 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Irakli Daraselia 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.
Market9 Aug 2027
Everyone has stopped pretending: Samtredia will make the call about Nika Gvelesiani this week. Zugdidi have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Match7 Aug 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Irakli Daraselia. 2‑1 against Shukura, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The terraces9 Aug 2027
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Squad9 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Nika Gvelesiani
“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.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Marked 8.26. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Zugdidi.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Tornike Kashia 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad26 Jul 2027
The words a physio says slowly. 97 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.
Match26 Jul 2027
Zugdidi are in real trouble now
Position 15, 13 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market26 Jul 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.
The terraces26 Jul 2027
Supporters turn on the $200.0K sale of Vakhtang Gvelesiani
He is going to Kolkheti, the club has $200.0K it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
Market26 Jul 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Zugdidi have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Irakli Daraselia 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.
Market26 Jul 2027
Vakhtang Gvelesiani has left for Kolkheti in a $200.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Match24 Jul 2027
1‑3 to Chikhura, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Loan watch26 Jul 2027
“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 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Jun 2027
The words a physio says slowly. 127 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.
Match28 Jun 2027
Every point is an argument now for Zugdidi
Position 16 and 10 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market28 Jun 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 Zugdidi, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market28 Jun 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Irakli Daraselia 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 Jun 2027
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Arda Yılmaztürk 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.
Squad28 Jun 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.
Match26 Jun 2027
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Player ratings28 Jun 2027
A mark of 5.44 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market14 Jun 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 Zugdidi, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market14 Jun 2027
Zugdidi say no — this time
The offer from Tskhinvali for Saba Mchedlidze 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 terraces14 Jun 2027
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 8 of the 31 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Nika Gvelesiani 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.
Market14 Jun 2027
Shukura pay $24.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Market14 Jun 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Zugdidi have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Match12 Jun 2027
1‑2 to Lokomotivi, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Luis Pacheco 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Vakhtang Gvelesiani 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market7 Jun 2027
$370.0K is a serious amount of money and it does not play centre-forward. Everybody in the dressing room knows who used to be looked at when it went wrong.
Market7 Jun 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.
Market7 Jun 2027
Tskhinvali come back empty-handed
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.
The terraces7 Jun 2027
Zugdidi sell a favourite for $370.0K
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Zurab Tsitaishvili was one of the reasons people came, and $370.0K does not replace that by itself.
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 Zugdidi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Arda Yılmaztürk 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.
Match5 Jun 2027
Zugdidi get the job done against Sioni
A 1‑0 win over Sioni, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad7 Jun 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nika Gvelesiani, and the manager let it.
Loan watch7 Jun 2027
“I did not go to Sapovnela to sit and watch. I want to come back to Zugdidi and fight for my place.” 2 appearances in 18 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match1 May 2027
The wait goes on for Zugdidi
13 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.
Match3 May 2027
Every point is an argument now for Zugdidi
Position 16 and 2 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market3 May 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.
Squad3 May 2027
Arda Yılmaztürk 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 May 2027
Zurab Tsitaishvili 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.
Squad3 May 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.
Match1 May 2027
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Vakhtang Gvelesiani had Zugdidi level again within 1 minutes, and Kolkheti never got to play with a lead at all.
Match1 May 2027
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad3 May 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Tornike Qazaishvili trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match17 Apr 2027
The wait goes on for Zugdidi
11 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.
Market19 Apr 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.
Squad19 Apr 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 Zugdidi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match17 Apr 2027
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Arda Yılmaztürk 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.
Squad19 Apr 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
The medical room confirms 16 days on the sidelines for Lasha Janelidze, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Loan watch19 Apr 2027
“I did not go to Merani to sit and watch. I want to come back to Zugdidi and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 13 matches say the rest.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
An afternoon Luis Pacheco will want back
Marked 5.29. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match27 Mar 2027
No end in sight to Zugdidi's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Zugdidi has to find a result from somewhere.
Market29 Mar 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.
Match27 Mar 2027
The goals have deserted Zugdidi
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Zugdidi can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Arda Yılmaztürk 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 Mar 2027
Zurab Tsitaishvili 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Luis Pacheco
“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.
Match27 Mar 2027
Merani left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Tornike Kashia dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market15 Mar 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.
Match13 Mar 2027
No end in sight to Zugdidi's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Zugdidi has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Irakli Daraselia 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Arda Yılmaztürk 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.
Match13 Mar 2027
0‑1 to Dinamo Tbilisi, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad15 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Saba Mchedlidze, and the manager let it.
Market15 Mar 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Zugdidi, another week without a signature from Luis Pacheco.
Loan watch15 Mar 2027
“I did not go to Sapovnela to sit and watch. I want to come back to Zugdidi and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 6 matches say the rest.
Squad15 Mar 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nika Shengelia and Zugdidi agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.