Marked for Filip Malbašić
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 Aug 2026
Numan Kurdić 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 Dinamo Tbilisi can pretend not to have heard.
Squad31 Aug 2026
The match ball belongs to Tiago Caballero, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Thomas Lam 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 Aug 2026
A performance of 9.33 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match29 Aug 2026
Three points for Dinamo Tbilisi, 3‑1 the final word against Sioni in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad31 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Jaba Kankava
“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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Dinamo Tbilisi know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
Market31 Aug 2026
The clock does Numan Kurdić’s negotiating for him
4 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Dinamo Tbilisi could ask drops and the wages Numan Kurdić can ask rise.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match15 Aug 2026
Sapovnela go through and Dinamo Tbilisi go home, 1‑1 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 offer from Merani for Numan Kurdić 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.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 5 of the 25 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Match15 Aug 2026
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Dinamo Tbilisi are no longer polite ones.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Thomas Lam 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
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.01, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad17 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Thomas Lam
“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 Aug 2026
The cruellest goal, and it is Rodrigo Ramos's
A touch he did not want, a bounce he could not have read, and his name in the wrong column. There is no consoling a man after one of these, and Dinamo Tbilisi will not try tonight.
Squad17 Aug 2026
This league is too small for Thomas Lam
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Dinamo Tbilisi will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market10 Aug 2026
Only the photograph left for Numan Kurdić
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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The offer from Shukura for Léo Santos 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Giorgi Zaria 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 Dinamo Tbilisi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match8 Aug 2026
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad10 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Filip Malbašić
“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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The clock runs on Giorgi Zaria's contract
48 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.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
Squad10 Aug 2026
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Dinamo Tbilisi know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market3 Aug 2026
Numan Kurdić 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 Dinamo Tbilisi can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“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.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Defensive actions: 23, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad3 Aug 2026
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.
Market3 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Rui Monteiro again, and this time the name on the line is Tskhinvali. Dinamo Tbilisi are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Iyed Haj Khalifa, and the manager let it.
Market3 Aug 2026
The clock runs on Nikoloz Ninua's contract
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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
This league is too small for Filip Malbašić
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Dinamo Tbilisi will not keep him by pretending otherwise.