Marked for Kakha Daraselia
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Lasha Menteshashvili provided it, and the 8.18 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad13 Sep 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Zugdidi may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad13 Sep 2027
“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; Zugdidi are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad13 Sep 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.
Match11 Sep 2027
Three points for Zugdidi, 3‑1 the final word against Samtredia in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jaba Kiteishvili 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 watch13 Sep 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 2 appearances in 32 say he has earned the hearing.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market13 Sep 2027
11 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match7 Aug 2027
Nobody wants to play Zugdidi right now
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Jhosenffer Yllescas and Zugdidi agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market9 Aug 2027
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Shukura moved on, Aleksandre Gamsakhurdia reports back to Zugdidi, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Daniil Shishov 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.
Match7 Aug 2027
A 3‑1 win over Shukura, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Marked 8.37 — 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.
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
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giorgi Kakabadze 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
Steady
Player ratings26 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Daniil Shishov 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.
Match24 Jul 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Jaba Kiteishvili. 1‑0 against Chikhura, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kakha Daraselia 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 watch26 Jul 2027
“I watch every Zugdidi game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Torpedo Kutaisi runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Player ratings26 Jul 2027
Marked 7.72 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Zugdidi had the best player on the pitch.
Squad26 Jul 2027
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Zugdidi told Beka Ananidze something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Squad26 Jul 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings5 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 40. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match3 Jul 2027
0‑8 to Saburtalo, 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.
Squad5 Jul 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.
Match3 Jul 2027
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.
Squad5 Jul 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.
Market5 Jul 2027
The fee is $45.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Tskhinvali drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Match3 Jul 2027
Nobody could stop scoring
8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Zugdidi and Saburtalo in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Market5 Jul 2027
The name of Aleksandre Gamsakhurdia has come up in conversations Zugdidi were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Kakha Daraselia 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.
In brief
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Squad
No hiding place for Beka Ananidze
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Boardroom
Nobody left the Zugdidi dressing room in a hurry
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Boardroom
Intake day at the Zugdidi academy
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad28 Jun 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.
Market28 Jun 2027
Zugdidi say no — this time
The offer from Merani for Romano Colombo 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.
Match26 Jun 2027
Dinamo Tbilisi left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Abdallah Aberkane 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.
Squad28 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
The manager makes an example of Kakha Daraselia
“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.
Loan watch28 Jun 2027
“I watch every Zugdidi game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Torpedo Kutaisi runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Market28 Jun 2027
Sioni 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.
Player ratings28 Jun 2027
The substitution nobody applauded turned out to be the whole story. Zugdidi were going nowhere until he came on.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Jun 2027
Dinamo Batumi arrived with $2.0M and left with the best player in the building. The board will call it business; the queue at the ticket office will use other words.
The terraces14 Jun 2027
Zugdidi sell a favourite for $2.0M
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Levan Gvelesiani was one of the reasons people came, and $2.0M does not replace that by itself.
Player ratings14 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
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 Sioni for Aleksandre Gamsakhurdia 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Khvicha Zivzivadze and Zugdidi agree another 3 years.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Daniil Shishov 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
The name of Romano Colombo has come up in conversations Zugdidi were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kakha Daraselia 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
Steady
Squad24 May 2027
Levan 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.
Squad24 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Abdallah Aberkane, and the manager let it.
Squad24 May 2027
12 goals and a season average of 7.20. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Player ratings24 May 2027
A performance of 8.27 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad24 May 2027
Kakha Daraselia 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 watch24 May 2027
“I did not go to Torpedo Kutaisi to sit and watch. I want to come back to Zugdidi and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 15 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match17 Apr 2027
3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdallah Aberkane 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 ratings19 Apr 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.27, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
A performance of 8.05 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad15 Mar 2027
“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; Zugdidi are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Daniil Shishov 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
Abdallah Aberkane 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.
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 Kakha Daraselia, and the manager let it.
Loan watch15 Mar 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 6 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Boardroom28 Sep 2026
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Mamuka Gamsakhurdia has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad28 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Guram Mchedlidze. 2‑1 against Lokomotivi, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Marked 8.15 — 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.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.12, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Loan watch28 Sep 2026
“I watch every Zugdidi game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Dinamo Batumi runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 44. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match12 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kakha Daraselia 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 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.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
There was one mistake and it ended in the net. Defenders are judged on the worst thing they did rather than on the eighty-nine minutes either side of it, which is unfair and is also the job.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.44, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market7 Sep 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 ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match5 Sep 2026
A 3‑1 win over Sapovnela, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Kakha Daraselia 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 ratings7 Sep 2026
A performance of 8.00 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Jaba Shengelia 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.
Squad7 Sep 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market24 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 Zugdidi, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Levan 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Kakha Daraselia 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.
Market24 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: Sapovnela have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Nika Mchedlidze. The answer from Zugdidi has not changed — yet.
Match22 Aug 2026
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Nobody at Zugdidi 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vakhtang Daraselia, and the manager let it.