Marked for Saba Kobiashvili
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Mar 2027
Levan Chakvetadze 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 Mar 2027
Saba Kobiashvili 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Saba Lobjanidze and Zugdidi agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Feb 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Saba Kobiashvili 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Davit Shengelia and Zugdidi agree another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Saba Kobiashvili 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Saba Mchedlidze
“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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Bachana Zivzivadze and Zugdidi agree another 1 years.
Squad8 Feb 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.
Market8 Feb 2027
Guria are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Zugdidi will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Market8 Feb 2027
The name of Dato Kvaratskhelia keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Zugdidi say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Sep 2026
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.
Match26 Sep 2026
8 matches without a win for Zugdidi
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Zugdidi are no longer polite ones.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Levan Chakvetadze 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 Sep 2026
Michał Bierzało 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.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Marked 8.04 — 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
A 1‑1 draw with Lokomotivi leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Sep 2026
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.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Dato Kvaratskhelia, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 9.46
A mark of 9.46 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad21 Sep 2026
The match ball belongs to Dato Kvaratskhelia, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Match19 Sep 2026
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.
Squad21 Sep 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.
Match19 Sep 2026
6 goals in one match, Dato Kvaratskhelia on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Zugdidi and Sioni.
The terraces21 Sep 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Dato Kvaratskhelia 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Dato Bukia
“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.
Match19 Sep 2026
It needed Dato Kvaratskhelia to find the net to bring anything home at all: 3‑3 against Sioni, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Sep 2026
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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match12 Sep 2026
The wait goes on for Zugdidi
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.
The terraces14 Sep 2026
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 5 of the 25 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Levan Chakvetadze 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.
Match12 Sep 2026
Zugdidi 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Michał Bierzało 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.
Match12 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. 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
Squad31 Aug 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 101 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Kakha Mchedlidze 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
There were 8 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.
Market31 Aug 2026
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.
Market31 Aug 2026
“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.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match29 Aug 2026
4 matches without a win for Zugdidi
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Zugdidi are no longer polite ones.
Squad31 Aug 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.
Market31 Aug 2026
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Zugdidi will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Aug 2026
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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Kakha Mchedlidze damages knee ligaments — 28 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 28 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.
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.
Squad24 Aug 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.
Market24 Aug 2026
Chikhura pay $160.0K, 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.
Market24 Aug 2026
Chikhura paid $110.0K and Zugdidi took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michał Bierzało 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.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
A performance of 8.59 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. 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
Steady
Squad17 Aug 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 117 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Kakha Mchedlidze
36 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.
Match12 Aug 2026
The small margins put Zugdidi out
Out, 0‑0 to Torpedo Kutaisi, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Market17 Aug 2026
Sioni 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Davit Chakvetadze: 1 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Market17 Aug 2026
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Shukura moved on, Tornike Gvelesiani reports back to Zugdidi, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Levan Chakvetadze 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.
Market17 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Beka Kashia again, and this time the name on the line is Chikhura. Zugdidi are listening politely and promising nothing.
Match15 Aug 2026
1‑3 to Kolkheti, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad10 Aug 2026
Kakha Mchedlidze damages knee ligaments — 43 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 43 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Saba Kobiashvili commits to Zugdidi for another 3 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Levan Chakvetadze 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 ratings10 Aug 2026
A performance of 9.07 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad10 Aug 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.
Match8 Aug 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Otar Kashia’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Zugdidi.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 19 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market10 Aug 2026
The name of Tornike Chakvetadze has come up in conversations Zugdidi were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad3 Aug 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Vakhtang Kvilitaia and Zugdidi agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Match1 Aug 2026
Guria left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Market3 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: Shukura have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Tornike Gvelesiani. The answer from Zugdidi has not changed — yet.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Saba Mchedlidze 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 Aug 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
24 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
Market3 Aug 2026
Mehmet Gunok is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Zugdidi has been clear about where Mehmet Gunok stands, which is more than many ever get.