The Zugdidi Chronicle
Squad8 Mar 2027
The knee: Vakhtang Daraselia out for 41 days
41 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Zugdidi lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market8 Mar 2027
Vakhtang Mikautadze puts it in writing
“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 The request is on a desk at Zugdidi, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match6 Mar 2027
The wait goes on for Zugdidi
5 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.
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
Avtandil Lobjanidze signs on for the long haul
Zugdidi moved before anybody else could: a new deal for Avtandil Lobjanidze, agreed quietly and announced loudly. Boards extend managers for many reasons; the good one is the one this looks like.
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
5 academy graduates step up at Zugdidi
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Squad8 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Zugdidi
Bachana Kakabadze and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market8 Mar 2027
One of our own: Aleksandre Kobiashvili joins the Zugdidi first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Aleksandre Kobiashvili is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market8 Mar 2027
One of our own: Saba Kashia joins the Zugdidi first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Saba Kashia is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market8 Mar 2027
Kakha Shengelia steps up from the Zugdidi academy
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Kakha Shengelia has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
In brief
- Squad Dato Gvelesiani falls out with a teammate over standards
- Boardroom The ground is getting bigger
- Loan watch Avtandil Kobiashvili has seen enough of Sioni