Marked for Levan Isiani
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match27 Mar 2027
The wait goes on for Guria
14 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 11 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad29 Mar 2027
56 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Guria lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match27 Mar 2027
Guria taken apart
0‑7 to Dinamo Tbilisi, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Match27 Mar 2027
8 matches without a goal for Guria
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 8 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Guria have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad29 Mar 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 Guria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match27 Mar 2027
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Guria and Dinamo Tbilisi, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Boardroom29 Mar 2027
Doors closed at Guria
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Feb 2027
98 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Guria lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Guria will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match15 Feb 2027
Guria are in real trouble now
Position 14, 4 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Tempers go at Guria
Davit Maisashvili 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Guria
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tornike Grigalashvili was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market15 Feb 2027
The Levan Isiani talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Guria know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Jan 2027
128 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Guria lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Guria will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match18 Jan 2027
Guria are in real trouble now
Position 14, 4 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.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
“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.
Market18 Jan 2027
The name of Tsotne Chotalishvili has come up in conversations Guria were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
Guria asked and Dinamo Tbilisi said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Guria training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gegi Geguchadze 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 dugout18 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Gegi Geguchadze
“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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Guria
Khvicha Kvilitaia and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Dec 2026
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Guria will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad21 Dec 2026
45 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Guria lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match21 Dec 2026
Every point is an argument now for Guria
Position 14 and 4 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Guria
Gegi Geguchadze and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Irakli Shengelia, and the manager let it.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Guria
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tsotne Chotalishvili was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Beka Kakhidze out for 90 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Guria will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match23 Nov 2026
Every point is an argument now for Guria
Position 14 and 4 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Guria
Davit Maisashvili 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
A muscle injury sidelines Levan Kakubava for 20 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Guria will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad23 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Guria
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivane Okropiridze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market23 Nov 2026
The Levan Isiani talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Guria know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Oct 2026
Nika Ghlonti breaks a bone — 34 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 34 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match26 Oct 2026
Guria sink to position 14
4 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Guria
Gegi Geguchadze and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad26 Oct 2026
12 new faces, and Guria are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Tsotne Chotalishvili 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.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dimitri Virubovi, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match29 Aug 2026
Chastening afternoon for Guria
A 1‑4 beating by Kolkheti was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad31 Aug 2026
7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match29 Aug 2026
The wait goes on for Guria
6 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.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Guria
Gegi Geguchadze and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Market31 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Guria have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Guria training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Levan Kakubava 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 dugout31 Aug 2026
“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.
Boardroom31 Aug 2026
Inquest at Guria
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
In brief
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Squad
Too much change too quickly at Guria
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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Looking ahead
Tornike Kapanadze faces his old club
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match15 Aug 2026
Chastening afternoon for Guria
A 0‑4 beating by Dila was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad17 Aug 2026
9 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match12 Aug 2026
Guria bow out of the cup
Saburtalo go through and Guria go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Market17 Aug 2026
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Guria people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Match15 Aug 2026
4 matches without a win for Guria
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Guria are no longer polite ones.
Match15 Aug 2026
4 matches without a goal for Guria
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Guria
Davit Maisashvili and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Gegi Geguchadze 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.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
Nobody left the Guria 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.
In brief
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The dugout
The manager’s verdict
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Player ratings
Beka Kakhidze runs at them all day
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The dugout
The manager makes an example of Kichi Meliava