Marked for Zurab Qazaishvili
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Oct 2027
Goga Qazaishvili damages knee ligaments — 37 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 37 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.
Market18 Oct 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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Andrés Dieppa 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. Giorgi 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.
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.
Market18 Oct 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Zurab Qazaishvili’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market11 Oct 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 The request is on a desk at Zugdidi, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market11 Oct 2027
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.
Squad11 Oct 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
Uneasy
The terraces27 Sep 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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
21 goals and a season average of 7.28. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.03 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad27 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.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
20 goals and a season average of 7.27. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Andrés Dieppa 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.
Match18 Sep 2027
Sioni left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giorgi 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
Uneasy
Market13 Sep 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.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.98 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad13 Sep 2027
19 goals and a season average of 7.26. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Market13 Sep 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Giorgi Kvilitaia will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zugdidi the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad13 Sep 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.
Squad13 Sep 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
Upbeat
Match4 Sep 2027
3‑0, and Sandro Kvaratskhelia took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Zugdidi tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Market6 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.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.83, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market6 Sep 2027
The deal that would have taken Zurab Qazaishvili to Shukura has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Zugdidi with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad6 Sep 2027
A season average of 7.24 with 18 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Andrés Dieppa 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Kakha Okriashvili commits to Zugdidi for another 2 years.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
Marked 8.08 — 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match28 Aug 2027
Beaten 1‑5 by Torpedo Kutaisi, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
The terraces30 Aug 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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
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.
Squad30 Aug 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.
Match28 Aug 2027
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Zugdidi and Torpedo Kutaisi in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad30 Aug 2027
16 goals and a season average of 7.20 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Giorgi 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.
Boardroom30 Aug 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.
Market30 Aug 2027
He is 17, 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad23 Aug 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Zugdidi may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Andrés Dieppa 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
“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.
Squad23 Aug 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.
Market23 Aug 2027
The name of Sandro Kvaratskhelia keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Zugdidi say nothing, which says plenty.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 11. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
He was not in the side at half past three and he had settled it before five. Half an hour, and Zugdidi had a different afternoon.
Market23 Aug 2027
Zugdidi have let the market know Beka Zivzivadze can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match14 Aug 2027
At 2 goals adrift this was a formality, and the formality lasted right up until it did not. Zugdidi found something the first half had given no notice of, and Kolkheti could not hold what they had.
Squad16 Aug 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.
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Sandro Kvaratskhelia provided it, and the 9.03 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad16 Aug 2027
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Match14 Aug 2027
Nobody wants to play Zugdidi right now
4 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.
Market16 Aug 2027
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.
Match14 Aug 2027
Kolkheti made Zugdidi work for it, but the scoreboard read 5‑4 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad16 Aug 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.
The terraces16 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market9 Aug 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.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 30. 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
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.94 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
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
Andrés Dieppa 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
Shukura 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.
Match7 Aug 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Kakha Okriashvili. 3‑1 against Shukura, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giorgi 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Beka Zivzivadze and Zugdidi agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces2 Aug 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.
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 29. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market2 Aug 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.
Squad2 Aug 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.
Match31 Jul 2027
Three points for Zugdidi, 1‑0 the final word against Guria in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.18, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad2 Aug 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Beka Zivzivadze commits to Zugdidi for another 2 years.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Kakha Shengelia named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Kakha Shengelia is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Squad2 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Revaz Zivzivadze, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings26 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 34. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match26 Jul 2027
Zugdidi are in real trouble now
Position 15, 12 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
Andrés Dieppa 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 Zugdidi can pretend not to have heard.
Market26 Jul 2027
The deal that would have taken Zurab Qazaishvili to Shukura has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Zugdidi with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Player ratings26 Jul 2027
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.86 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Andrés Dieppa 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
Chikhura made Zugdidi work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giorgi 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.
Squad26 Jul 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
The terraces5 Jul 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.
Market5 Jul 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 Jul 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Zugdidi may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match3 Jul 2027
The wait goes on for Zugdidi
5 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.
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
Everyone has stopped pretending: Shukura will make the call about Zurab Qazaishvili this week. Zugdidi have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Match3 Jul 2027
Saburtalo left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad5 Jul 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Giorgi Daraselia and Zugdidi agree another 3 years.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Giorgi 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Jun 2027
There were 12 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.
Match28 Jun 2027
Zugdidi are in real trouble now
Position 15, 9 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.
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
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Zurab Qazaishvili will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zugdidi the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match26 Jun 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.
Squad28 Jun 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Andrés Dieppa 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. Giorgi 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.
Match26 Jun 2027
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Dinamo Tbilisi came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Jun 2027
Nowhere to hide for Zugdidi
0‑5 against Tskhinvali, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad21 Jun 2027
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.
Market21 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.
Squad21 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.
Market21 Jun 2027
Irakli Shengelia has left for Sioni in a $14.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Boardroom21 Jun 2027
Doors closed at Zugdidi
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Player ratings21 Jun 2027
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.
Loan watch21 Jun 2027
“I watch every Zugdidi game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Saburtalo runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad21 Jun 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
Squad14 Jun 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.
Market14 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.
Market14 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.
Player ratings14 Jun 2027
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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Andrés Dieppa 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 Jun 2027
Lokomotivi left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giorgi 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 Jun 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.
Loan watch14 Jun 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
Player ratings7 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 34. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was 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
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Player ratings7 Jun 2027
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.93 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
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
Giorgi 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.
Squad7 Jun 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.
Loan watch7 Jun 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 14 appearances in 19 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match31 May 2027
Zugdidi are in real trouble now
Position 14, 7 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.
Market31 May 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.
Player ratings31 May 2027
No sign of nerves from Kakha Shengelia at 21 — 7.65
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Kakha Shengelia did not need any: 7.65, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad31 May 2027
Andrés Dieppa 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 ratings31 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The terraces31 May 2027
At 21 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.
Match29 May 2027
Samtredia made Zugdidi work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings31 May 2027
A performance of 8.12 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad31 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Maksym Czekała
“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
Player ratings24 May 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.08, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market24 May 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.
Match22 May 2027
5 matches without a win for Zugdidi
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Zugdidi are no longer polite ones.
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
2‑3 to Sapovnela, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad24 May 2027
Giorgi 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.
Squad24 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.
Loan watch24 May 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 1 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.
Player ratings24 May 2027
1 error, one goal, and a night in front of the same three seconds. He will see it tonight, tomorrow and probably in February, and everybody who has played knows exactly which frame he keeps stopping on.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match15 May 2027
Beaten 1‑4 by Torpedo Kutaisi, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market17 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.
Player ratings17 May 2027
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.83 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Match15 May 2027
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.
Squad17 May 2027
Andrés Dieppa 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.
Squad17 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.
Squad17 May 2027
Temur Shengelia 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.
Boardroom17 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 watch17 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
Crisis
Match8 May 2027
Nowhere to hide for Zugdidi
0‑3 against Dinamo Batumi, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market10 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.
Squad10 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.
Squad10 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.
Squad10 May 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.
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad26 Apr 2027
Guram Kvilitaia damages knee ligaments — 22 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 22 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.
Market26 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.
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.
Match24 Apr 2027
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Giorgi 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Apr 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Guram Kvilitaia
29 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
A fracture rules Irakli Janelidze out for 14 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.
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.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
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.
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
Three points for Zugdidi, 2‑1 the final word against Guria in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.38, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad19 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Maksym Czekała
“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 watch19 Apr 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 4 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Apr 2027
Guram Kvilitaia damages knee ligaments — 37 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 37 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
A fracture rules Irakli Janelidze out for 21 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
No end in sight to Zugdidi's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Zugdidi has to find a result from somewhere.
Market12 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.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
7.27, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Andrés Dieppa 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
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Levan Tsitaishvili has his answer from Zugdidi; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giorgi 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
Crisis
Squad22 Mar 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Guram Kvilitaia
59 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 43 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market22 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.
Match20 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.
Squad22 Mar 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.
Match20 Mar 2027
No clean sheets in sight for Zugdidi
4 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 ratings22 Mar 2027
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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Giorgi 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad15 Mar 2027
Zurab Qazaishvili damages knee ligaments — 18 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 18 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 50 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match13 Mar 2027
Beaten 1‑4 by Dinamo Tbilisi, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market15 Mar 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.
Match13 Mar 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Andrés Dieppa 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
“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.
Boardroom15 Mar 2027
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
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 2 appearances in 7 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad8 Mar 2027
Zurab Qazaishvili damages knee ligaments — 25 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 25 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.
Match6 Mar 2027
Chastening afternoon for Zugdidi
A 1‑7 beating by Tskhinvali was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 57 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market8 Mar 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Sandro Kvaratskhelia commits to Zugdidi for another 2 years.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match6 Mar 2027
8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Zugdidi and Tskhinvali in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
Graduation day at Zugdidi
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 Mar 2027
Zurab Qazaishvili damages knee ligaments — 32 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 32 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 64 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market1 Mar 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Andrés Dieppa 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
The medical room confirms 16 days on the sidelines for Revaz Janelidze, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Loan watch1 Mar 2027
“I did not go to Saburtalo to sit and watch. I want to come back to Zugdidi and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Feb 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Zurab Qazaishvili
40 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 71 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market22 Feb 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Feb 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Zurab Qazaishvili
47 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 80 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market15 Feb 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Feb 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Zurab Qazaishvili
54 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 87 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market8 Feb 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
Steady
Squad25 Jan 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Guram Kvilitaia
117 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
A fracture rules Irakli Janelidze out for 102 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.
Market25 Jan 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.
Squad25 Jan 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Temur 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.
Market25 Jan 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Zurab Qazaishvili signs something — a contract at Zugdidi or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Jan 2027
A fracture rules Irakli Janelidze out for 109 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Jaba Daraselia damages knee ligaments — 25 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 25 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.
Market18 Jan 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Andrés Dieppa 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.
Market18 Jan 2027
Everyone has stopped pretending: Dila will make the call about Kakha Shengelia this week. Zugdidi have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Market18 Jan 2027
The name of Bachana Mchedlidze has come up in conversations Zugdidi were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Dec 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zurab Qazaishvili 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 Dec 2026
Kakha Okriashvili has become a man the manager trusts
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market21 Dec 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Andrés Dieppa 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Zurab Qazaishvili 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
Steady
Squad7 Dec 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Levan Mchedlidze
24 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.
Market7 Dec 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Andrés Dieppa 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 Dec 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Revaz Zivzivadze commits to Zugdidi for another 2 years.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Zurab Qazaishvili 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.
Market7 Dec 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Zugdidi know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Nov 2026
Levan Tsitaishvili damages knee ligaments — 17 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 17 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.
Squad30 Nov 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zurab Qazaishvili 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
Squad23 Nov 2026
Levan Tsitaishvili damages knee ligaments — 24 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 24 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.
Market23 Nov 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Andrés Dieppa 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
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
32 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Zugdidi have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad16 Nov 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Nov 2026
39 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.
Market9 Nov 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Andrés Dieppa 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Zurab Qazaishvili 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 watch9 Nov 2026
“I did not go to Kolkheti to sit and watch. I want to come back to Zugdidi and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 13 matches say the rest.
Squad9 Nov 2026
5 new faces, and Zugdidi are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Nov 2026
46 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.
Market2 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 Zugdidi, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad2 Nov 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Temur 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 watch2 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 Zugdidi, and 4 appearances in 12 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad2 Nov 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Oct 2026
Levan Tsitaishvili damages knee ligaments — 54 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 54 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.
Market26 Oct 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Andrés Dieppa 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
Steady
Squad19 Oct 2026
Levan Tsitaishvili damages knee ligaments — 61 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 61 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Levan Tsitaishvili 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zurab Qazaishvili 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
Squad5 Oct 2026
Levan Tsitaishvili damages knee ligaments — 75 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 75 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.
Market5 Oct 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.
Squad5 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 Zugdidi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Revaz Zivzivadze and Zugdidi agree another 1 years.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zurab Qazaishvili 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 watch5 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 Zugdidi, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad28 Sep 2026
Levan Tsitaishvili damages knee ligaments — 82 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 82 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.
Market28 Sep 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Andrés Dieppa 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 ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match26 Sep 2026
Lokomotivi left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Sep 2026
Levan Tsitaishvili damages knee ligaments — 89 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 89 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.
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
A bad afternoon for Zugdidi against Sioni
0‑1 to Sioni, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Temur 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.
Squad21 Sep 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.
Loan watch21 Sep 2026
“I watch every Zugdidi game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Lokomotivi runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Player ratings21 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.
Market21 Sep 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Sandro Kvaratskhelia signs something — a contract at Zugdidi or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The terraces21 Sep 2026
The stands have heard the Zurab Qazaishvili talk too
What was a back-page story is now a matter for the terraces, and the terraces do not do nuance. Zugdidi would like it dealt with before it becomes the only question anybody asks.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Sep 2026
Levan Tsitaishvili damages knee ligaments — 103 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 103 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.
Match5 Sep 2026
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Zugdidi scored in the 97th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Two goals and a mark of 9.05 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.42, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
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.
Match5 Sep 2026
Zugdidi are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Squad7 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.
Match5 Sep 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Zurab Qazaishvili. 4‑3 against Sapovnela, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad31 Aug 2026
Levan Tsitaishvili damages knee ligaments — 110 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 110 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
1‑5 to Torpedo Kutaisi, 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
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.
Match29 Aug 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Zugdidi and Torpedo Kutaisi, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Zurab Qazaishvili 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
Zugdidi 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.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. 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
Match12 Aug 2026
The small margins put Zugdidi out
Out, 2‑4 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
3 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Sandro Kvaratskhelia will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Zugdidi escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
Market17 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
The match ball belongs to Sandro Kvaratskhelia, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 7 of the 32 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Squad17 Aug 2026
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.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
A first appearance Temur Mikautadze will want to forget — 5.73
Everybody's debut is one of two stories and this was the other one. 5.73, and the only consolation available is that nobody's career has ever been decided by ninety minutes in a shirt he had just been given.
Squad17 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match8 Aug 2026
Zugdidi strike at the death to beat Shukura
There were 89 minutes on the clock and Shukura had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Zugdidi did not stop to explain themselves.
Market10 Aug 2026
Zugdidi say no — this time
The offer from Torpedo Kutaisi for Sandro Kvaratskhelia 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.
Market10 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The name of Revaz Zivzivadze has come up in conversations Zugdidi were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Zurab Qazaishvili commits to Zugdidi for another 4 years.
Squad10 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.
Match8 Aug 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Zurab Qazaishvili. 1‑0 against Shukura, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Temur Shengelia 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 ratings10 Aug 2026
Marked 7.97. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
A debut Nika Arveladze will not forget — 7.31
There is exactly one of these per career and it does not usually go like this. 0 on the scoresheet, 7.31 beside the name, and a crowd that had never seen him before chanting it by the end.
Market3 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Levan Tsitaishvili 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 Aug 2026
Giorgi 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Kakha Mchedlidze again, and this time the name on the line is Kolkheti. Zugdidi are listening politely and promising nothing.
Player ratings3 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Beka Zivzivadze and Zugdidi agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Marked 7.98 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Zugdidi had the best player on the pitch.
Match1 Aug 2026
Zugdidi and Guria take a point apiece
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.