Marked for Levan Isiani
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market20 Dec 2027
“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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Levan Isiani 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 Guria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Nodar Iashvili has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad6 Dec 2027
Levan Isiani 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 Guria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Dec 2027
The golden glove goes to Levan Isiani
17 clean sheets across a season, and the one award on the pitch nobody else is eligible for. Most keepers get through a whole career without a year like it.
Squad6 Dec 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Nov 2027
Tempers go at Guria
Ivane Okropiridze 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 Nov 2027
“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.
Market29 Nov 2027
The Levan Isiani story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Levan Isiani signs something — a contract at Guria or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Nov 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Guria may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad1 Nov 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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Temur Gvelesiani commits to Guria for another 1 years.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market4 Oct 2027
“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 Guria, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Nodar Iashvili commits to Guria for another 2 years.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Tempers go at Guria
Tsotne Chotalishvili 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
Squad6 Sep 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
The medical room confirms 35 days on the sidelines for Temur Gvelesiani, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad6 Sep 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Temur Gvelesiani and Guria agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Match4 Sep 2027
It finished 2‑1, and it was Tornike Mumladze’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Guria.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Levan Isiani 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 ratings6 Sep 2027
Marked 8.46 — 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.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.27, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
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.
Market6 Sep 2027
The Levan Isiani story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Levan Isiani signs something — a contract at Guria or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match9 Aug 2027
Guria are in real trouble now
Position 14, 21 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.
Match7 Aug 2027
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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Tempers go at Guria
Ivane Okropiridze 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Irakli Khvedelidze and Guria agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
A mark of 7.71, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Defensive actions: 14, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 12. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match7 Aug 2027
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Chikhura defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Aug 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.
Market2 Aug 2027
Zugdidi pay $34.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Squad2 Aug 2027
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Levan Isiani knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match31 Jul 2027
A 1‑1 draw with Zugdidi leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Squad2 Aug 2027
“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
Upbeat
Squad12 Jul 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad12 Jul 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.
Squad12 Jul 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.
Match10 Jul 2027
6 unbeaten for Guria
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Guria did not have in the autumn.
Match10 Jul 2027
A 1‑0 win over Dinamo Tbilisi, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings12 Jul 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.12, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad12 Jul 2027
The manager makes an example of Nika Nozadze
“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 Jul 2027
Defensive actions: 14. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings12 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 12. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
In brief
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Market
The Levan Isiani story refuses to die
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Boardroom
Guria were not finished after all
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Jun 2027
Luka Makharadze: 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.” Guria have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad21 Jun 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Levan Isiani 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 ratings21 Jun 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.50, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad21 Jun 2027
39 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Market21 Jun 2027
The Beka Kakhidze conversation is coming
Everyone has stopped pretending: Merani will make the call about Beka Kakhidze this week. Guria have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Jun 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Guria can pretend not to have heard.
Squad14 Jun 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.
Match12 Jun 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Tornike Mumladze. 1‑0 against Samtredia, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings14 Jun 2027
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 17 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings14 Jun 2027
Marked 7.85 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Guria had the best player on the pitch.
Squad14 Jun 2027
The manager makes an example of Malisela Morudu
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match22 May 2027
The wait goes on for Guria
16 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.
Market24 May 2027
“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.
Squad24 May 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.
Squad24 May 2027
Levan Isiani 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.
Match22 May 2027
0‑1 to Dinamo Batumi, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings24 May 2027
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.
Player ratings24 May 2027
5.40 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
Player ratings24 May 2027
5.60 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
Player ratings24 May 2027
Marked 5.71, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match15 May 2027
No end in sight to Guria's wait for a win
15 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Guria has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad17 May 2027
Tempers go at Guria
Ivane Okropiridze 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.
Match15 May 2027
Kolkheti left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad17 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Beka Kakhidze
“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 ratings17 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad17 May 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Guria, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match17 Apr 2027
The wait goes on for Guria
11 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.
Market19 Apr 2027
“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 Guria, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad19 Apr 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.
Squad19 Apr 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.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match17 Apr 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad19 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Sandro Bakhia
“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.
Market19 Apr 2027
The name of Levan Isiani keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Guria say nothing, which says plenty.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
A mark of 5.70 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Mar 2027
A one-man rearguard from Levan Isiani
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match20 Mar 2027
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.
Squad22 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.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Defensive actions: 22. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad22 Mar 2027
“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 ratings22 Mar 2027
Defensive actions: 13, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Match20 Mar 2027
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Tskhinvali defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Rodriguinho asks for a word with the manager
“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.
Market22 Mar 2027
The name of Levan Isiani keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Guria say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market22 Feb 2027
“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 Guria, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad22 Feb 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.
Market22 Feb 2027
The name of Levan Isiani keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Guria say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market25 Jan 2027
Lasha Kukulava has left for Sapovnela in a $34.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad25 Jan 2027
The medical room confirms 22 days on the sidelines for Davit Kikalishvili, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Guria
Davit Chankotadze 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
Steady
Squad28 Dec 2026
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.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Wages eat 150% of everything Guria earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad28 Dec 2026
39 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Nov 2026
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.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
215% of the income goes out in wages at Guria
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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
The medical room confirms 80 days on the sidelines for Davit Kikalishvili, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
215% of the income goes out in wages at Guria
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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
108 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad2 Nov 2026
53 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Oct 2026
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.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
420% of the income goes out in wages at Guria
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.
Market5 Oct 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Sep 2026
Nika Ghlonti 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 Guria can pretend not to have heard.
Match5 Sep 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Davit Maisashvili. 2‑1 against Dinamo Batumi, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Marked 8.97 — 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
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.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Wages eat 315% of everything Guria earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Market7 Sep 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.
Squad7 Sep 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Guria will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 Aug 2026
“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 Guria, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Levan Isiani 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 ratings31 Aug 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.80 on the card, and the Guria support went home talking about one name.
Match29 Aug 2026
It needed Tornike Mumladze to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Kolkheti, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Guria
Nikoloz Shapatava 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
Steady
Match12 Aug 2026
The cup run ends for Guria
0‑2 against Saburtalo, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Squad17 Aug 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.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad17 Aug 2026
“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.
Match15 Aug 2026
Guria and Dila cancel each other out
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Dila came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
A mark of 5.74 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 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.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad10 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.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Defensive actions: 17, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Market10 Aug 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
A mark of 7.55, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Market10 Aug 2026
Karlo Jikidze is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Guria has been clear about where Karlo Jikidze stands, which is more than many ever get.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Defensive actions: 13, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Match8 Aug 2026
Guria and Chikhura cancel each other out
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Chikhura came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.