Marked for Archil Mikautadze
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market12 Apr 2032
“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 The request is on a desk at Tskhinvali, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad12 Apr 2032
The medical room confirms 19 days on the sidelines for Mikheil Mchedlidze, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Match10 Apr 2032
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad12 Apr 2032
Words at Tskhinvali training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francesco Ceccarelli 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.
Player ratings12 Apr 2032
Ninety minutes of Dachi Abuselidze at his very best
Marked 8.76. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Tskhinvali.
Squad12 Apr 2032
“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 ratings12 Apr 2032
Marked 8.07. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Tskhinvali.
Squad12 Apr 2032
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tskhinvali this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings12 Apr 2032
Successful dribbles: 12. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces15 Mar 2032
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 8 of the 34 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Market15 Mar 2032
“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 The request is on a desk at Tskhinvali, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad15 Mar 2032
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tskhinvali this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Mar 2032
Words at Tskhinvali training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Archil Okriashvili 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.
Squad15 Mar 2032
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Sandro Kvaratskhelia commits to Tskhinvali for another 3 years.
Match13 Mar 2032
0‑2 to Chikhura, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad15 Mar 2032
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Archil Okriashvili, and the manager let it.
Player ratings15 Mar 2032
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market15 Mar 2032
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Tskhinvali know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market1 Mar 2032
“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 Tskhinvali, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad1 Mar 2032
Francesco Ceccarelli 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 Mar 2032
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tskhinvali this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market16 Feb 2032
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tskhinvali can pretend not to have heard.
Squad16 Feb 2032
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tskhinvali this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Feb 2032
Words at Tskhinvali training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Archil Okriashvili is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Jan 2032
Semyon Musaev 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 Tskhinvali can pretend not to have heard.
Squad26 Jan 2032
Aleksandre Kakabadze 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.
Squad26 Jan 2032
Archil Okriashvili 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.
Squad26 Jan 2032
Nobody at Tskhinvali 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.
Market26 Jan 2032
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Tskhinvali know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad26 Jan 2032
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Jan 2032
“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 Tskhinvali, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market19 Jan 2032
The name of Mikheil Mchedlidze has come up in conversations Tskhinvali were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad19 Jan 2032
Francesco Ceccarelli 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.
Squad19 Jan 2032
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tskhinvali this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Jan 2032
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.
Squad19 Jan 2032
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mikheil Mikautadze, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market22 Dec 2031
“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.
Squad22 Dec 2031
Words at Tskhinvali training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Archil Okriashvili 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.
Squad22 Dec 2031
Khvicha Daraselia 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
Uneasy
Market24 Nov 2031
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tskhinvali can pretend not to have heard.
Squad24 Nov 2031
Words at Tskhinvali training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Archil Okriashvili 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.
Squad24 Nov 2031
Khvicha Daraselia 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
Uneasy
Market17 Nov 2031
“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 Tskhinvali, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad17 Nov 2031
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Tskhinvali have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad17 Nov 2031
The medical room confirms 16 days on the sidelines for Francesco Ceccarelli, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad17 Nov 2031
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Archil Mikautadze and Tskhinvali agree another 3 years.
Squad17 Nov 2031
Roman Osin in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tskhinvali this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market17 Nov 2031
The name of Dato Mikautadze keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Tskhinvali say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Sep 2031
Words at Tskhinvali training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Archil Okriashvili 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.
Squad29 Sep 2031
Kirill Bazhukhin 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.
Squad29 Sep 2031
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
Steady
Market14 Jul 2031
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tskhinvali can pretend not to have heard.
Squad14 Jul 2031
“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 Jul 2031
Only the photograph left for Davit Khelaia
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Davit Khelaia will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Tskhinvali the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Player ratings14 Jul 2031
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad14 Jul 2031
Aleksandre Kakabadze was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match12 Jul 2031
A 2‑1 win over Kolkheti, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Match12 Jul 2031
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Vakhtang Kakabadze had Tskhinvali level again within 2 minutes, and Kolkheti never got to play with a lead at all.
Squad14 Jul 2031
Davit Khelaia 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.
Squad14 Jul 2031
Nobody at Tskhinvali will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings16 Jun 2031
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.66 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market16 Jun 2031
“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 Tskhinvali, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market16 Jun 2031
Only the photograph left for Davit Khelaia
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Davit Khelaia will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Tskhinvali the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad16 Jun 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tskhinvali this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market16 Jun 2031
Samtredia are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Tskhinvali will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Squad16 Jun 2031
Francesco Ceccarelli 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 ratings16 Jun 2031
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match14 Jun 2031
A 2‑2 draw with Zugdidi leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Squad16 Jun 2031
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
Uneasy
Market21 Apr 2031
“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.
Market21 Apr 2031
Davit Khelaia has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Tskhinvali they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match19 Apr 2031
4 matches without a win for Tskhinvali
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Tskhinvali are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings21 Apr 2031
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 22 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings21 Apr 2031
Dato Mikautadze was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.10. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad21 Apr 2031
Khvicha Daraselia was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad21 Apr 2031
Words at Tskhinvali training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Davit Khelaia 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.
Player ratings21 Apr 2031
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.
Squad21 Apr 2031
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
Steady
Market31 Mar 2031
“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 Mar 2031
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad31 Mar 2031
Archil Okriashvili 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.
Squad31 Mar 2031
Sandro Kvaratskhelia was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings31 Mar 2031
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 20 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Match29 Mar 2031
Three points for Tskhinvali, 1‑0 the final word against Kolkheti in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings31 Mar 2031
Marked 8.21 — 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.
Squad31 Mar 2031
“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.
Market31 Mar 2031
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Irakli Zivzivadze’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Nov 2030
Mikheil Sajaia breaks a bone — 138 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 138 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match11 Nov 2030
Tskhinvali are in real trouble now
Position 16, 19 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market11 Nov 2030
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tskhinvali can pretend not to have heard.
Squad11 Nov 2030
Aleksandre Kakabadze 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.
Squad11 Nov 2030
Words at Tskhinvali training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francesco Ceccarelli 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 Nov 2030
“The easiest signature of my career.” Archil Mikautadze and Tskhinvali agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.