Marked for Leonid Skvortsov
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 Feb 2027
Guram Janelidze damages knee ligaments — 118 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 118 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 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.
Market1 Feb 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Kolkheti have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad1 Feb 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Bachana Ananidze 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.
Market1 Feb 2027
Kolkheti spent the window trying to move Leonid Skvortsov on and nobody came. He trains with a squad that has already told him he is not part of it, and both sides now wait for the next one.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Dec 2026
Leonid Skvortsov damages knee ligaments — 15 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 15 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.
Squad14 Dec 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Kolkheti training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nika Arveladze 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
Squad7 Dec 2026
Leonid Skvortsov 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
The medical room confirms 37 days on the sidelines for Bachana Arabuli, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad7 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.
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
-
Squad
Words at Kolkheti training over how hard people work
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Nov 2026
Leonid Skvortsov damages knee ligaments — 59 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 59 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.
Squad2 Nov 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Kolkheti training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nika Arveladze 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
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
Squad19 Oct 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Leonid Skvortsov
74 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.
Squad19 Oct 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 15 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Loan watch19 Oct 2026
“I watch every Kolkheti game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Sapovnela runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad19 Oct 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.
Market19 Oct 2026
5 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Kolkheti could get for him.
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
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
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.