Marked for Ibrahim Sinik
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 36. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market30 Aug 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Kolkheti is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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 Kolkheti this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Grigory Alyoshin 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 ratings30 Aug 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.22, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad30 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nika Arveladze, and the manager let it.
Loan watch30 Aug 2027
“I watch every Kolkheti game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Zugdidi runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Match28 Aug 2027
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad30 Aug 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market16 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.
Market16 Aug 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Bachana Ananidze 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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Grigory Alyoshin 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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Ibrahim Sinik has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Kolkheti 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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Goga Kobiashvili trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match14 Aug 2027
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Zugdidi came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
Chances created: 6. Somebody has to open a door before anybody can walk through it, and he spent the afternoon opening doors.
From our football correspondent
Steady
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.
Squad9 Aug 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.
Market9 Aug 2027
The bid was some way short and Kolkheti did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad9 Aug 2027
The medical room confirms 20 days on the sidelines for Bachana Ananidze, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Market9 Aug 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Dato Lobjanidze will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Kolkheti the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad9 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 Kolkheti this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom9 Aug 2027
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Giorgi Gvasalia has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Kolkheti have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Kolkheti training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Grigory Alyoshin 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.
The terraces9 Aug 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Ibrahim Sinik has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad2 Aug 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Bachana Ananidze 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.
Boardroom2 Aug 2027
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Squad2 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Ibrahim Sinik
“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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
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 ratings2 Aug 2027
Goga Kobiashvili did the work nobody counts — 6.65
9 combined actions and 6.65. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Loan watch2 Aug 2027
“I did not go to Zugdidi to sit and watch. I want to come back to Kolkheti and fight for my place.” 3 appearances in 26 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 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.
Market19 Jul 2027
Shota Kashia 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 Kolkheti can pretend not to have heard.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Bachana Ananidze 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 Jul 2027
Grigory Alyoshin 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.
The terraces19 Jul 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Avtandil Tsitaishvili has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Match17 Jul 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Aleksandre Kiteishvili. 2‑0 against Tskhinvali, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Match17 Jul 2027
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Tskhinvali tried to reorganise, Kolkheti did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
Marked 8.12. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Kolkheti.
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. 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
Crisis
Market12 Jul 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 Kolkheti can pretend not to have heard.
Match10 Jul 2027
8 matches without a win for Kolkheti
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Kolkheti are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings12 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad12 Jul 2027
49 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Market12 Jul 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market12 Jul 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Kolkheti they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad12 Jul 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ibrahim Sinik and Kolkheti agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad12 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 Kolkheti this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match10 Jul 2027
0‑1 to Lokomotivi, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
In brief
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Squad
Words at Kolkheti training over how hard people work
-
Market
No place for Paolo Peretti in the plan
-
Boardroom
The Kolkheti board choose calm
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match3 Jul 2027
No end in sight to Kolkheti's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Kolkheti has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Bachana Ananidze 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.
Match3 Jul 2027
A bad afternoon for Kolkheti against Sioni
1‑3 to Sioni, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Grigory Alyoshin 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ibrahim Sinik, and the manager let it.
Squad5 Jul 2027
11 goals and a season average of 7.23. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Market5 Jul 2027
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Kolkheti has been clear about where Aleksandre Kiteishvili stands, which is more than many ever get.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
Kolkheti release $1.6M for the manager
The board have put money on the table rather than an encouraging word. What happens to it now is somebody else's problem, and somebody else's job.
Loan watch5 Jul 2027
“I watch every Kolkheti game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Zugdidi runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match23 Jun 2027
Kolkheti bow out of the cup
Dinamo Tbilisi go through and Kolkheti go home, 1‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
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 Kolkheti, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad28 Jun 2027
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Ibrahim Sinik: 1 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Market28 Jun 2027
Lokomotivi come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Kolkheti did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Match26 Jun 2027
The wait goes on for Kolkheti
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Player ratings28 Jun 2027
Two of the goals had his name somewhere on them, which is the afternoon a manager wants from anybody asked to both create and finish. 7.65, and 2 involvements.
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 Kolkheti this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings28 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at Kolkheti training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Grigory Alyoshin 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
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 Kolkheti 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Ibrahim Sinik 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Kolkheti training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Grigory Alyoshin 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.
Match12 Jun 2027
Torpedo Kutaisi left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad14 Jun 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vakhtang Kvaratskhelia, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad7 Jun 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.
Market7 Jun 2027
Merani come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Kolkheti did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
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 Kolkheti this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match5 Jun 2027
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Grigory Alyoshin 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.
The terraces7 Jun 2027
At 22 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.
Market7 Jun 2027
Add another name to the list: Sioni have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Vakhtang Kiteishvili. The answer from Kolkheti has not changed — yet.
Player ratings7 Jun 2027
Marked 8.10 — 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Lasha Patarkatsishvili and Kolkheti agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
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.
Squad31 May 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad31 May 2027
Ibrahim Sinik 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.
Match29 May 2027
Whatever happens, Kolkheti do not lose
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
The terraces31 May 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Ibrahim Sinik has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Squad31 May 2027
Revaz Kashia gets it from the manager
“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
Steady
Match22 May 2027
4‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
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.
Player ratings24 May 2027
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.91 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
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 Kolkheti this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 May 2027
Grigory Alyoshin 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 ratings24 May 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.92, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
The terraces24 May 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.
Match22 May 2027
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Bachana Arabuli in the middle of it, and Shukura unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
Player ratings24 May 2027
A performance of 8.03 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Apr 2027
Guram Janelidze damages knee ligaments — 31 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 31 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.
Match24 Apr 2027
Kolkheti throw away a 2-goal lead
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Merani the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Kolkheti will enjoy reviewing.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.93 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Market26 Apr 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 Kolkheti, and it is not being withdrawn.
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 Kolkheti this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad26 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
The medical room confirms 42 days on the sidelines for Avtandil Kakabadze, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Match24 Apr 2027
A 2‑2 draw with Merani leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Apr 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Guram Janelidze
38 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kolkheti lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match17 Apr 2027
Nowhere to hide for Kolkheti
1‑4 against Saburtalo, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
No sign of nerves from Guram Daraselia at 16 — 7.91
The hardest thing about being 16 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Guram Daraselia did not need any: 7.91, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad19 Apr 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad19 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kolkheti this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Apr 2027
The medical room confirms 15 days on the sidelines for Irakli Arveladze, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Apr 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Guram Janelidze
47 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kolkheti lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match10 Apr 2027
Nowhere to hide for Kolkheti
0‑3 against Dinamo Tbilisi, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Ibrahim Sinik 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Kolkheti training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Grigory Alyoshin 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.
Market12 Apr 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Nika Arveladze has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Kolkheti.
Squad12 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nika Kvaratskhelia, and the manager let it.
Boardroom12 Apr 2027
Nobody left the Kolkheti 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 watch12 Apr 2027
“I did not go to Zugdidi to sit and watch. I want to come back to Kolkheti and fight for my place.” 3 appearances in 10 matches say the rest.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad5 Apr 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Guram Janelidze
54 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kolkheti lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match31 Mar 2027
Kolkheti through in the cup
A 5‑1 win over Chikhura, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Match3 Apr 2027
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 4‑0 against Tskhinvali, and it could have been more.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
Two goals and a mark of 9.60 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market5 Apr 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad5 Apr 2027
3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
Kakha Mikautadze, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 8.56
A mark of 8.56 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad5 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 Kolkheti this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match31 Mar 2027
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Kolkheti and Chikhura, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad29 Mar 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Guram Janelidze
61 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kolkheti lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad29 Mar 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Kolkheti may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad29 Mar 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Mar 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Guram Janelidze
82 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kolkheti lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match6 Mar 2027
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 6‑0 against Sapovnela, and it could have been more.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Two goals and a mark of 9.79 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market8 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.
Player ratings8 Mar 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Bachana Arabuli and Kolkheti agree another 2 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Leonid Skvortsov is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad8 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 Kolkheti this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match6 Mar 2027
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Kolkheti and Sapovnela, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 Mar 2027
Guram Janelidze damages knee ligaments — 90 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 90 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
Ibrahim Sinik 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
Words at Kolkheti training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Grigory Alyoshin 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
Squad22 Feb 2027
Guram Janelidze damages knee ligaments — 97 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 97 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kolkheti this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Kolkheti training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Revaz Kashia 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
Squad15 Feb 2027
Guram Janelidze damages knee ligaments — 104 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 104 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 Feb 2027
Ibrahim Sinik 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 Feb 2027
Nika Arveladze 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
Squad18 Jan 2027
Guram Janelidze damages knee ligaments — 134 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 134 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
Lokomotivi come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Kolkheti did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Ibrahim Sinik 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
Market11 Jan 2027
Kolkheti say no — this time
The offer from Dila for Goga Kobiashvili 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A fracture rules Davit Daraselia out for 20 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kolkheti will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Ibrahim Sinik is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Jan 2027
A fracture rules Davit Daraselia out for 27 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kolkheti will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Market4 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 Kolkheti, and it is not being withdrawn.
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 Kolkheti this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Grigory Alyoshin 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 Dec 2026
27 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Nov 2026
Leonid Skvortsov damages knee ligaments — 29 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 29 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 Kolkheti this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Nov 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Nov 2026
Leonid Skvortsov damages knee ligaments — 36 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 36 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Kolkheti may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Ibrahim Sinik 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
Leonid Skvortsov damages knee ligaments — 43 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 43 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Kakha Lobjanidze: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Kolkheti 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 Kolkheti this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Leonid Skvortsov
51 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kolkheti lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Ibrahim Sinik 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
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Vakhtang Qazaishvili trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
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Squad
Words at Kolkheti training over how hard people work
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Oct 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Leonid Skvortsov
67 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kolkheti lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Guram Janelidze: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Kolkheti have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad26 Oct 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ibrahim Sinik and Kolkheti agree another 4 years.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Leonid Skvortsov
81 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kolkheti lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Ibrahim Sinik 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Nika Arveladze 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
Squad5 Oct 2026
Leonid Skvortsov 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.
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 Kolkheti this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nika Arveladze, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad28 Sep 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Leonid Skvortsov
97 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kolkheti lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Ibrahim Sinik 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Sep 2026
Leonid Skvortsov damages knee ligaments — 105 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 105 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.
Match19 Sep 2026
Nowhere to hide for Kolkheti
0‑3 against Dinamo Batumi, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
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 Kolkheti this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom21 Sep 2026
Nobody left the Kolkheti 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Squad21 Sep 2026
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 Sep 2026
Leonid Skvortsov damages knee ligaments — 112 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 112 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.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
No sign of nerves from Goga Kobiashvili at 21 — 7.78
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Goga Kobiashvili did not need any: 7.78, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Market14 Sep 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 Kolkheti, and it is not being withdrawn.
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 Kolkheti this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Nika Arveladze ran the middle of the pitch — 6.74
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 14 combined actions and a mark of 6.74, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Match12 Sep 2026
Goga Kobiashvili scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Dila, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad14 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Ibrahim Sinik
“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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Nika Arveladze 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 watch14 Sep 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 Kolkheti, and 1 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market7 Sep 2026
Shota Kashia 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 Kolkheti can pretend not to have heard.
Market7 Sep 2026
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Shukura moved on, Nika Janelidze reports back to Kolkheti, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Bachana Ananidze 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.
Match5 Sep 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mamuka Tsitaishvili. 2‑1 against Shukura, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The terraces7 Sep 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Aleksandre Kiteishvili has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Marked 8.34 — 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 ratings7 Sep 2026
A performance of 8.22 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The medical room confirms 15 days on the sidelines for Levan Kvaratskhelia, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match19 Aug 2026
Dinamo Tbilisi ended it 0‑2. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Squad24 Aug 2026
There were 7 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.
Market24 Aug 2026
Kolkheti say no — this time
The offer from Torpedo Kutaisi for Vakhtang 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.
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 Kolkheti, and it is not being withdrawn.
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 Kolkheti this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match22 Aug 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Nika Arveladze. 2‑0 against Chikhura, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Goga Kobiashvili, and the manager let it.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
A performance of 8.18 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match12 Aug 2026
Kolkheti march on in the cup
Chikhura are out and Kolkheti go through, 2‑1 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Match15 Aug 2026
Aleksandre Kiteishvili had done his part in building a 3-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Zugdidi were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.13 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Two goals and a mark of 7.96 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.00 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Ibrahim Sinik 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 Aug 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 38. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match8 Aug 2026
Goga Kobiashvili had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Merani were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Squad10 Aug 2026
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
No sign of nerves from Goga Kobiashvili at 21 — 8.04
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Goga Kobiashvili did not need any: 8.04, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Nika Janelidze, 34, rolls back the years — 8.03
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.03 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ibrahim Sinik and Kolkheti agree another 4 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Ibrahim Sinik 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.
The terraces10 Aug 2026
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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
The medical room confirms 47 days on the sidelines for Levan Kvaratskhelia, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match1 Aug 2026
Bachana Ananidze wins it after the whistle should have gone
95 minutes played. Bachana Ananidze found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Saburtalo went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
A debut Goga Shengelia will not forget — 7.54
There is exactly one of these per career and it does not usually go like this. 0 on the scoresheet, 7.54 beside the name, and a crowd that had never seen him before chanting it by the end.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Two goals and a mark of 7.96 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market3 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 Kolkheti, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad3 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kolkheti this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Grigory Alyoshin 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.
Match1 Aug 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Bachana Ananidze. 2‑1 against Saburtalo, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The terraces3 Aug 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Bachana Ananidze has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Market3 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: Chikhura have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Shota Kakabadze. The answer from Kolkheti has not changed — yet.