Marked for Kakha Shengelia
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match15 Apr 2028
No end in sight to Zugdidi's wait for a win
49 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Zugdidi has to find a result from somewhere.
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.
Match15 Apr 2028
Guria left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dato Chakvetadze 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.
Match15 Apr 2028
Zugdidi leaking at the back
4 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Squad17 Apr 2028
35 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match29 May 2027
No end in sight to Zugdidi's wait for a win
24 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Zugdidi has to find a result from somewhere.
Match31 May 2027
Zugdidi sink to position 16
3 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Match29 May 2027
Chastening afternoon for Zugdidi
A 0‑3 beating by Samtredia was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad31 May 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 14 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match29 May 2027
No clean sheets in sight for Zugdidi
5 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Squad31 May 2027
Giorgi Mikautadze 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match22 May 2027
The wait goes on for Zugdidi
23 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 terraces24 May 2027
Anger at Zugdidi spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Squad24 May 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 21 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad24 May 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.
Match22 May 2027
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad24 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.
Match22 May 2027
Zugdidi leaking at the back
4 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Squad24 May 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Ayanda Bophela's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Player ratings24 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 10. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match15 May 2027
No end in sight to Zugdidi's wait for a win
22 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Zugdidi has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad17 May 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 28 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad17 May 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.
Match15 May 2027
Torpedo Kutaisi left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad17 May 2027
Dato Chakvetadze 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.
Squad17 May 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match8 May 2027
The wait goes on for Zugdidi
21 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.
Squad10 May 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match8 May 2027
1‑5 to Dinamo Batumi, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Squad10 May 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 35 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad10 May 2027
Jaba Qazaishvili 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 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.
Boardroom10 May 2027
Nobody left the Zugdidi dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Loan watch10 May 2027
“I watch every Zugdidi game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Shukura runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match1 May 2027
No end in sight to Zugdidi's wait for a win
20 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Zugdidi has to find a result from somewhere.
Match3 May 2027
Zugdidi are in real trouble now
Position 15, 3 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.
Squad3 May 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 42 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad3 May 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.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zurab Tsitaishvili 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.
Squad3 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jaba Qazaishvili, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match24 Apr 2027
No end in sight to Zugdidi's wait for a win
19 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Zugdidi has to find a result from somewhere.
The terraces26 Apr 2027
Anger at Zugdidi spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 49 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad26 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dato Chakvetadze 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Temur Kiteishvili, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match17 Apr 2027
The wait goes on for Zugdidi
18 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
A fracture rules Kakha Shengelia out for 56 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.
Match17 Apr 2027
No clean sheets in sight for Zugdidi
9 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
A brace, and Davit Kvaratskhelia takes the afternoon — 8.24
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Davit Kvaratskhelia provided it, and the 8.24 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad19 Apr 2027
“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.
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match10 Apr 2027
No end in sight to Zugdidi's wait for a win
17 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Zugdidi has to find a result from somewhere.
Match10 Apr 2027
Chastening afternoon for Zugdidi
A 0‑4 beating by Chikhura was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad12 Apr 2027
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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
A fracture rules Kakha Shengelia out for 63 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.
Match10 Apr 2027
Zugdidi leaking at the back
8 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Squad12 Apr 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Giorgi Mikautadze 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.
Market12 Apr 2027
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Zugdidi has been clear about where Nika Gamsakhurdia stands, which is more than many ever get.
Boardroom12 Apr 2027
Nobody left the Zugdidi dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match3 Apr 2027
16 matches without a win for Zugdidi
The run now stands at 16, and the questions being asked around Zugdidi are no longer polite ones.
Match3 Apr 2027
Chastening afternoon for Zugdidi
A 1‑7 beating by Dila was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad5 Apr 2027
There were 9 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.
Match31 Mar 2027
The small margins put Zugdidi out
Out, 0‑3 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.
Market5 Apr 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
A fracture rules Kakha Shengelia out for 70 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.
The terraces5 Apr 2027
Zugdidi are taken apart by Torpedo Kutaisi — and the town wants answers
It finished 0-3. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.
Match3 Apr 2027
Zugdidi are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 7 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.