Marked for Goga Mchedlidze
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market30 Nov 2026
“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 The request is on a desk at Tskhinvali, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Tskhinvali training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Avtandil Shengelia 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Levan Mikautadze and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Achille Milani has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Tskhinvali will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Market30 Nov 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Nika Kiteishvili’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Avtandil Kakabadze trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Nov 2026
Nika Zivzivadze 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.
Loan watch23 Nov 2026
“I did not go to Shukura to sit and watch. I want to come back to Tskhinvali and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 15 matches say the rest.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
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 Bachana Tsitaishvili is on it.
The dugout23 Nov 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.
Market23 Nov 2026
The name of Goga Mchedlidze keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Tskhinvali say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Avtandil Kakabadze trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Nika Zivzivadze 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Tskhinvali training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Avtandil Shengelia 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 watch16 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 Tskhinvali, and 3 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
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 Goga Mchedlidze is on it.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Levan Arveladze, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Oct 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nika Zivzivadze and Tskhinvali agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad26 Oct 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 Tskhinvali this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Tskhinvali
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Avtandil Shengelia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Loan watch26 Oct 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 Tskhinvali, and 0 appearances in 11 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Nobody at Tskhinvali will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout26 Oct 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.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Tskhinvali, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market26 Oct 2026
The name of Goga Mchedlidze keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Tskhinvali say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Oct 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 Tskhinvali this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch19 Oct 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 Tskhinvali, and 3 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
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 Goga Mchedlidze is on it.
Market19 Oct 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Tskhinvali know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Levan Mikautadze 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.
Market19 Oct 2026
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Thomas Inusah leaves Tskhinvali the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Leonel Szalich is not doing himself any favours
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Avtandil Shengelia’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
No sign of nerves from Goga Mchedlidze at 21 — 8.87
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Goga Mchedlidze did not need any: 8.87, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Nobody's fault and entirely his: a goal that goes into the book with his name against it and nothing about it intended. Tskhinvali deserved better, and so did he.
Match19 Sep 2026
4 matches without a win for Tskhinvali
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Tskhinvali are no longer polite ones.
Match19 Sep 2026
8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Tskhinvali and Saburtalo in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Match19 Sep 2026
Tskhinvali 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Davit Gamsakhurdia 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 terraces21 Sep 2026
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nika Zivzivadze, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match29 Aug 2026
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 5‑1 against Lokomotivi, and it could have been more.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Marked 9.50 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Squad31 Aug 2026
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Market31 Aug 2026
“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 Tskhinvali, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market31 Aug 2026
The offer from Dinamo Batumi for Lasha Ananidze 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.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Tskhinvali had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Colegiales, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Dinamo Batumi wanted more than $31.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Match29 Aug 2026
Whatever happens, Tskhinvali do not lose
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match19 Aug 2026
Kolkheti are out and Tskhinvali go through, 4‑2 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Two goals and a mark of 9.39 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Marked 8.06 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Market24 Aug 2026
“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.
Market24 Aug 2026
Kolkheti come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Tskhinvali did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Everything agreed with Colegiales, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Match19 Aug 2026
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Tskhinvali and Kolkheti in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Market24 Aug 2026
Saburtalo pay $460.0K, 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.