Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Samtredia know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Samtredia know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Samtredia can pretend not to have heard.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Samtredia can pretend not to have heard.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Samtredia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The shirt still fits. Levan Lobjanidze is back at Samtredia, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
The name of Raul Baratelia has come up in conversations Samtredia were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Samtredia can pretend not to have heard.
Hlib Ziniar is 20, and Samtredia have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Samtredia know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
He is 17, and nobody at Samtredia signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Samtredia know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Shifted about, taken off before the hour, asked to do somebody else's running — Tornike Jangidze has had enough of being useful and would like to be picked. Samtredia know, and have known for weeks.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Samtredia can pretend not to have heard.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Samtredia know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Asked to play a role that is not his, or taken off before the hour once too often — Víctor Guajardo has let it be known that he does not like the way Samtredia are using him. Managers hear this long before the press does.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Samtredia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Samtredia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Vladislavs Lazarevs knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Samtredia know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Samtredia, 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.” Samtredia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Shifted about, taken off before the hour, asked to do somebody else's running — Víctor Guajardo has had enough of being useful and would like to be picked. Samtredia know, and have known for weeks.
He is 20, and nobody at Samtredia signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Samtredia know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Samtredia spent the window trying to move Ruben Gauto on and nobody came. He trains with a squad that has already told him he is not part of it, and both sides now wait for the next one.
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Khvicha Kakabadze may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Samtredia know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
12 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.
A new face in his position, and Julen Cordero suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Samtredia have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Samtredia know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Samtredia, 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.” Samtredia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Samtredia know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
2 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.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Samtredia have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Samtredia know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.