Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Otar Shengelia will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Torpedo Kutaisi the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Milton Maciel 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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 18 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
“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 Torpedo Kutaisi know it.
3 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
4 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.
Felipe Pires 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Diego Deisadze trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Torpedo Kutaisi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 9.43 — 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.
Marked 8.06 — 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.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Torpedo Kutaisi pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Torpedo Kutaisi have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Felipe Pires 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Torpedo Kutaisi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Numan Kurdić and Torpedo Kutaisi agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Dinamo Tbilisi defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Felipe Pires 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Numan Kurdić and Torpedo Kutaisi agree another 4 years.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Torpedo Kutaisi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.25 — 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.
9 goals in 19 games at Lokomotivi — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Torpedo Kutaisi updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Position 3, 28 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Milton Maciel 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.
3 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.
Felipe Pires 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.
Marked 9.07 — 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.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Torpedo Kutaisi have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Erik Silye 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.
Marked 9.06 — 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.
The offer from Sioni for Matej Šimić 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Torpedo Kutaisi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Torpedo Kutaisi, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Kisley Zita has his answer from Torpedo Kutaisi; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Dinamo Tbilisi they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Giorgi Zaria 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.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
“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 Dinamo Tbilisi, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Tbilisi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Milton Delgado trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Giorgi Zaria 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Numan Kurdić will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dinamo Tbilisi the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Giorgi Zaria 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.
In brief
BoardroomWages eat 228% of everything Dinamo Tbilisi earn
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Tbilisi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Dinamo Tbilisi, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Dinamo Tbilisi have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Giorgi Zaria 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.
“I watch every Dinamo Tbilisi game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Dinamo Batumi runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Tbilisi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Numan Kurdić will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dinamo Tbilisi the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“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 Dinamo Tbilisi, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Tbilisi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Dinamo Tbilisi have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Giorgi Zaria 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.
“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 Dinamo Tbilisi, and 3 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Dinamo Tbilisi they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Giorgi Zaria 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.
In brief
BoardroomWages eat 321% of everything Dinamo Tbilisi earn
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dinamo Tbilisi can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Tbilisi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Saburtalo defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Dinamo Tbilisi, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Giorgi Zaria 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Dinamo Tbilisi, and both men came out saying it was fine.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Dinamo Tbilisi has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
The best deals are the ones the accountants never notice. Juan Pablo Ramírez arrives at Dinamo Tbilisi with his wages the only cost and something to prove the only clause.
In brief
MarketThe clock does Numan Kurdić’s negotiating for him
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Numan Kurdić will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dinamo Tbilisi the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Giorgi Zaria and Dinamo Tbilisi agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Giorgi Zaria 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.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
The name of Irakli Siradze has come up in conversations Dinamo Tbilisi were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Giorgi Zaria will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dinamo Tbilisi the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dinamo Tbilisi can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Tbilisi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Numan Kurdić will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dinamo Tbilisi the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Tbilisi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Add another name to the list: Samtredia have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Rui Monteiro. The answer from Dinamo Tbilisi has not changed — yet.
Marked 8.47 — 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.
It needed Giorgi Zaria to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Torpedo Kutaisi, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dinamo Tbilisi can pretend not to have heard.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 25 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Giorgi Zaria 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.
49 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.