Marked for Lasha Kvaratskhelia
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Andijon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
Nobody at Andijon 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Andijon
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abdulloh Yo'ldoshev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Andijon will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Abdulla Shomurodov, and the manager let it.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Andijon would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Feb 2027
Ramiro Di Luciano 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Andijon
Humoyunmirzo Iminov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Too much change too quickly at Andijon
6 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Lasha Kvaratskhelia and Andijon agree another 1 years.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Ibrohim Yo'ldoshev is on it.
The dugout8 Feb 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.
Market8 Feb 2027
At 34, he has seen every situation this season can produce, twice. The legs will be managed; the head is the purchase.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 Aug 2026
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Torpedo Kutaisi waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Zugdidi is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market31 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.
Market31 Aug 2026
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Shukura had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Market31 Aug 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Zugdidi, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Zugdidi
Goga Shengelia and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Torpedo Kutaisi have kept their man, and Zugdidi go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match29 Aug 2026
0‑1 to Dinamo Batumi, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
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.
Market24 Aug 2026
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Zugdidi people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad24 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zugdidi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Zugdidi
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Guram Zivzivadze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market24 Aug 2026
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Zugdidi will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Market24 Aug 2026
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Lasha Kvaratskhelia has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Zugdidi.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
Beka Kakabadze 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.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Temur Okriashvili after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.