Marked for Davit Okriashvili
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match30 Jun 2040
Zugdidi make home a hard place to visit
22 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Match30 Jun 2040
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 5‑2 against Saburtalo, and it could have been more.
Market2 Jul 2040
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Player ratings2 Jul 2040
A brace, and Davit Okriashvili takes the afternoon — 8.47
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Davit Okriashvili provided it, and the 8.47 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market2 Jul 2040
“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.
Squad2 Jul 2040
327 appearances across 14 seasons in these colours. Careers like that are not built any more, and Zugdidi know what they have.
Match30 Jun 2040
Zugdidi make it 4 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Zugdidi have 4 straight wins of it.
Player ratings2 Jul 2040
Jakub Darida has a hand in both — 7.96
One scored and one made, which is a different afternoon from scoring twice and an easier one to overlook. Marked 7.96, and involved in 2 of his side's goals.
Squad2 Jul 2040
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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match26 May 2040
33 unbeaten for Zugdidi
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 33 matches without defeat is a foundation Zugdidi did not have in the autumn.
Match28 May 2040
Zugdidi up to position 1
37 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Player ratings28 May 2040
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 24 actions, 7.46, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Squad28 May 2040
Dinko Utrobičić: 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.” Zugdidi have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market28 May 2040
“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 ratings28 May 2040
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.85 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad28 May 2040
Luka Khelashvili 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 May 2040
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 May 2040
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Domen Gril, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match12 May 2040
Nobody wants to play Zugdidi right now
17 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.
Match12 May 2040
Zugdidi make home a hard place to visit
18 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Squad14 May 2040
“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.
Market14 May 2040
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.
Squad14 May 2040
Dajan Durmiši 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 May 2040
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.
Squad14 May 2040
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Aleksandre Mchedlidze, and the manager let it.
Match12 May 2040
Three points for Zugdidi, 1‑0 the final word against Torpedo Kutaisi in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings14 May 2040
Marked 7.98. 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
Triumph
Match14 Apr 2040
Zugdidi cannot stop winning
13 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Match14 Apr 2040
Nobody wins at Zugdidi
16 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Player ratings16 Apr 2040
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.39 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Market16 Apr 2040
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zugdidi is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad16 Apr 2040
Luka Khelashvili 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 Apr 2040
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.
Match14 Apr 2040
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Davit Okriashvili. 2‑0 against Guria, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad16 Apr 2040
“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.
Squad16 Apr 2040
“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.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match31 Mar 2040
Zugdidi make it 10 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Zugdidi have 10 straight wins of it.
Market2 Apr 2040
“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 ratings2 Apr 2040
Two goals and a mark of 8.59 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad2 Apr 2040
83 appearances across 14 seasons in these colours. Careers like that are not built any more, and Zugdidi know what they have.
Player ratings2 Apr 2040
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.10 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad2 Apr 2040
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Domen Gril and Zugdidi agree another 2 years.
Squad2 Apr 2040
“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.
Squad2 Apr 2040
Dajan Durmiši 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.
Match31 Mar 2040
Another one collected away from home
4 on the bounce on the road for Zugdidi. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match24 Mar 2040
Zugdidi cannot stop winning
9 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Match24 Mar 2040
6‑1, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Market26 Mar 2040
“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 ratings26 Mar 2040
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.51, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Match24 Mar 2040
Nobody wins at Zugdidi
14 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Player ratings26 Mar 2040
No sign of nerves from Henry Edwards at 21 — 7.88
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Henry Edwards did not need any: 7.88, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Player ratings26 Mar 2040
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.21 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Market26 Mar 2040
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zugdidi is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad26 Mar 2040
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
Triumph
Match10 Mar 2040
Dinamo Tbilisi will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Zugdidi were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Match10 Mar 2040
Nobody wants to play Zugdidi right now
7 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.
Player ratings12 Mar 2040
A brace, and Luka Stanisic takes the afternoon — 8.86
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Luka Stanisic provided it, and the 8.86 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Match10 Mar 2040
The run at home goes on for Zugdidi
13 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Squad12 Mar 2040
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.
Squad12 Mar 2040
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksandre Mchedlidze 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.
Squad12 Mar 2040
The manager makes an example of Jonathan Reid
“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.
Player ratings12 Mar 2040
Marked 8.13 — 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.
Squad12 Mar 2040
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Boardroom28 Nov 2039
Silverware for Zugdidi
They will talk about this season in this town for a long time. The trophy comes home with the squad, and the route is already agreed.
Squad28 Nov 2039
Irakli Okriashvili damages knee ligaments — 80 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 80 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.
Match23 Nov 2039
Zugdidi through in the cup
A 1‑0 win over Dila, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Match23 Nov 2039
Nobody wants to play Zugdidi right now
5 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.
Squad28 Nov 2039
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Zugdidi may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings28 Nov 2039
Luis Caicedo, 38, rolls back the years — 7.88
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.88 at 38, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Match23 Nov 2039
Zugdidi make home a hard place to visit
12 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Market28 Nov 2039
Only the photograph left for Maxim Myshev
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Maxim Myshev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zugdidi the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad28 Nov 2039
“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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match19 Sep 2039
Zugdidi up to position 1
69 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Match17 Sep 2039
3‑0, and Henry Edwards took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Zugdidi tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings19 Sep 2039
No sign of nerves from Henry Edwards at 20 — 7.62
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Henry Edwards did not need any: 7.62, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Player ratings19 Sep 2039
Age has not caught Vito Gaita yet — 7.99
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.99 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Match17 Sep 2039
Zugdidi cannot stop winning
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Market19 Sep 2039
Only the photograph left for Otar Janelidze
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Otar Janelidze will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zugdidi the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad19 Sep 2039
Paul Dixon gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Paul Dixon has just signed for Zugdidi, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad19 Sep 2039
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksandre Mchedlidze 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.
Squad19 Sep 2039
12 goals and a season average of 7.22. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match3 Sep 2039
Whatever happens, Zugdidi do not lose
14 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.
Market5 Sep 2039
“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.
Market5 Sep 2039
Maxim Myshev has one foot out of the door
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.
Market5 Sep 2039
The deal that would have taken Sverrir Finnbogason to Samtredia 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.
Squad5 Sep 2039
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Davit Okriashvili and Zugdidi agree another 2 years.
Market5 Sep 2039
Everyone has stopped pretending: Sioni will make the call about Luka Khelashvili this week. Zugdidi have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Squad5 Sep 2039
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksandre Mchedlidze 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.
Squad5 Sep 2039
The manager makes an example of Raffaele Spanò
“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.
Match3 Sep 2039
The run at home goes on for Zugdidi
8 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings15 Aug 2039
Two goals and a mark of 8.12 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad15 Aug 2039
“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.
Match13 Aug 2039
Still nobody has beaten Zugdidi
The unbeaten run reaches 11. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Market15 Aug 2039
Zugdidi say no — this time
The offer from Kolkheti for Maxim Myshev 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.
Market15 Aug 2039
Otar Janelidze has one foot out of the door
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.
Squad15 Aug 2039
Luka Khelashvili 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.
Market15 Aug 2039
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Zugdidi will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad15 Aug 2039
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match13 Aug 2039
Three points for Zugdidi, 2‑0 the final word against Kolkheti in a contest settled by the finer margins.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match6 Aug 2039
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 5‑0 against Shukura, and it could have been more.
Squad8 Aug 2039
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.
Market8 Aug 2039
Shukura 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.
Player ratings8 Aug 2039
Henry Edwards, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.00
A mark of 8.00 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Match6 Aug 2039
Still nobody has beaten Zugdidi
The unbeaten run reaches 10. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Player ratings8 Aug 2039
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.45 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market8 Aug 2039
“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.
Market8 Aug 2039
Only the photograph left for Maxim Myshev
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Maxim Myshev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zugdidi the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad8 Aug 2039
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
Market1 Aug 2039
“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.
Market1 Aug 2039
Goga Janelidze has one foot out of the door
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.
Match30 Jul 2039
Still nobody has beaten Zugdidi
The unbeaten run reaches 9. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Market1 Aug 2039
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market1 Aug 2039
Add another name to the list: Merani have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Luka Khelashvili. The answer from Zugdidi has not changed — yet.
Squad1 Aug 2039
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.
Squad1 Aug 2039
Luis Caicedo 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.
Squad1 Aug 2039
“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.
Squad1 Aug 2039
“The easiest signature of my career.” Dato Chakvetadze and Zugdidi agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match25 Jul 2039
Zugdidi up to position 1
51 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Market25 Jul 2039
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zugdidi is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad25 Jul 2039
Nika 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.” Zugdidi have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings25 Jul 2039
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.20 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Market25 Jul 2039
Zugdidi say no — this time
The offer from Guria for Marco Ruggiero 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.
Match23 Jul 2039
Still nobody has beaten Zugdidi
The unbeaten run reaches 8. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad25 Jul 2039
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.
Market25 Jul 2039
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Zugdidi will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad25 Jul 2039
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aleksandre Mchedlidze 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
Upbeat
Market18 Jul 2039
Zugdidi say no — this time
The offer from Sioni for Luka Khelashvili 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.
Market18 Jul 2039
“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 Jul 2039
Maxim Myshev: 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.” Zugdidi have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match16 Jul 2039
Still nobody has beaten Zugdidi
The unbeaten run reaches 7. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Market18 Jul 2039
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.
Squad18 Jul 2039
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.
Market18 Jul 2039
The name of Marco Ruggiero has come up in conversations Zugdidi were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad18 Jul 2039
22 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad18 Jul 2039
Giorgos Jokić Skafi 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
Triumph
Match9 Jul 2039
4‑1, and Davit Okriashvili took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Zugdidi tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Market11 Jul 2039
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Player ratings11 Jul 2039
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.17 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market11 Jul 2039
“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 Jul 2039
Maxim Myshev has one foot out of the door
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 Jul 2039
Aleksandre Mchedlidze 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.
Match9 Jul 2039
6 unbeaten for Zugdidi
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Zugdidi did not have in the autumn.
Squad11 Jul 2039
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vito Gaita 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.
Squad11 Jul 2039
52 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match22 Jun 2039
Cup progress for Zugdidi
A 4‑0 win over Guria, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Match27 Jun 2039
Zugdidi are in among the leaders
Position 1 and 41 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Player ratings27 Jun 2039
Two goals and a mark of 8.98 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market27 Jun 2039
Goga Janelidze has one foot out of the door
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.
Market27 Jun 2039
“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 ratings27 Jun 2039
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.37, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market27 Jun 2039
Kolkheti 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.
Player ratings27 Jun 2039
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.21 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market27 Jun 2039
The name of Luka Khelashvili has come up in conversations Zugdidi were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Market20 Jun 2039
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad20 Jun 2039
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.
Market20 Jun 2039
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.
Squad20 Jun 2039
Vito Gaita 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 ratings20 Jun 2039
Marked 6.82 on 12 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Match18 Jun 2039
It finished 1‑0, and it was Raffaele Spanò’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Zugdidi.
Market20 Jun 2039
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Zugdidi have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad20 Jun 2039
Luis Caicedo 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.
Player ratings20 Jun 2039
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad13 Jun 2039
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 15 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market13 Jun 2039
Zugdidi say no — this time
The offer from Sapovnela for Goga Janelidze 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.
Player ratings13 Jun 2039
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.49, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market13 Jun 2039
Add another name to the list: Samtredia have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Gatis Gabovs. The answer from Zugdidi has not changed — yet.
Squad13 Jun 2039
Aleksandre Mchedlidze 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.
Market13 Jun 2039
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Guram Shengelia will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zugdidi the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Player ratings13 Jun 2039
The game went through Luis Caicedo — 7.62
Marked 7.62 on 14 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Squad13 Jun 2039
Mikhail Alexandrov 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.
Squad13 Jun 2039
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ivan Savitski and Zugdidi agree another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad30 May 2039
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 29 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match30 May 2039
Zugdidi up to position 1
34 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Market30 May 2039
Goga Janelidze has one foot out of the door
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.
Player ratings30 May 2039
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.96 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Match28 May 2039
Zugdidi make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Zugdidi have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad30 May 2039
Aleksandre Mchedlidze 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.
Match28 May 2039
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Raffaele Spanò. 3‑1 against Samtredia, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad30 May 2039
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Irakli Chakvetadze 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 terraces30 May 2039
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Henry Edwards 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
Triumph
Squad23 May 2039
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 36 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market23 May 2039
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zugdidi is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match21 May 2039
10 unbeaten for Zugdidi
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 10 matches without defeat is a foundation Zugdidi did not have in the autumn.
Squad23 May 2039
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.
Squad23 May 2039
Irakli Chakvetadze 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.
Match21 May 2039
A 1‑0 win over Sapovnela, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad23 May 2039
The medical room confirms 23 days on the sidelines for Kristóf Laveczky, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Player ratings23 May 2039
7.79, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Zugdidi had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Market23 May 2039
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
Triumph
Squad16 May 2039
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.
Player ratings16 May 2039
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.01 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Match14 May 2039
9 unbeaten for Zugdidi
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 9 matches without defeat is a foundation Zugdidi did not have in the autumn.
Market16 May 2039
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zugdidi is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad16 May 2039
Aleksandre Mchedlidze 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 May 2039
“The easiest signature of my career.” Tamas Fiola and Zugdidi agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad16 May 2039
Words at Zugdidi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dinko Utrobičić 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.
Match14 May 2039
Three points for Zugdidi, 1‑0 the final word against Torpedo Kutaisi in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings16 May 2039
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad25 Apr 2039
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.
Match23 Apr 2039
Zugdidi make it 6 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Zugdidi have 6 straight wins of it.
Market25 Apr 2039
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zugdidi is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad25 Apr 2039
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 Apr 2039
Dinko Utrobičić 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.
Match23 Apr 2039
Three points for Zugdidi, 2‑0 the final word against Shukura in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Match23 Apr 2039
Another one collected away from home
3 on the bounce on the road for Zugdidi. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Squad25 Apr 2039
“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.
Player ratings25 Apr 2039
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
Upbeat
Squad4 Apr 2039
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 85 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market4 Apr 2039
Goga Janelidze has one foot out of the door
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.
Squad4 Apr 2039
183 appearances across 12 seasons in these colours. Careers like that are not built any more, and Zugdidi know what they have.
Player ratings4 Apr 2039
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.15 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad4 Apr 2039
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Zugdidi may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market4 Apr 2039
“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.
Squad4 Apr 2039
Aleksandre Mchedlidze 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.
Match2 Apr 2039
Zugdidi get the job done against Dila
A 2‑0 win over Dila, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Market4 Apr 2039
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Sverrir Finnbogason has his answer from Zugdidi; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad21 Mar 2039
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.
Market21 Mar 2039
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zugdidi is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad21 Mar 2039
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.
Squad21 Mar 2039
Irakli Chakvetadze 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.
Match19 Mar 2039
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad21 Mar 2039
“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
Triumph
Squad7 Mar 2039
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.
Player ratings7 Mar 2039
Henry Edwards could not have asked for more on his first appearance — 8.09
Debuts are survived rather than enjoyed. This one was enjoyed: 8.09, 1 goals, and a manager already being asked whether he starts again next week.
Match5 Mar 2039
Zugdidi are at home on the road
9 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
Market7 Mar 2039
Only the photograph left for Goga Janelidze
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Goga Janelidze will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zugdidi the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Player ratings7 Mar 2039
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.45, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad7 Mar 2039
80 appearances across 13 seasons in these colours. Careers like that are not built any more, and Zugdidi know what they have.
Market7 Mar 2039
“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.
Squad7 Mar 2039
“The easiest signature of my career.” Aleksandre Mchedlidze and Zugdidi agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad7 Mar 2039
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.