18 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Chikhura lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giorgi Kukhianidze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Davit Gamsakhurdia 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.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Aleksandre Okriashvili is on it.
The words a physio says slowly. 25 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chikhura can pretend not to have heard.
Words at Chikhura training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giorgi Kukhianidze 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.
Aleksandre Kvilitaia 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.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chikhura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Beka Mikautadze was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
Giorgi Kukhianidze has been around long enough to know what the spring feels like when it goes wrong, and he can feel it. A dressing room that is frightened plays like one.
“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.
23 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.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 11 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giorgi Kukhianidze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chikhura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dato Ananidze, and the manager let it.
The dugout25 Sep 2028
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Revaz Kvilitaia chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giorgi Kukhianidze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
21 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.
“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 Chikhura, 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 Chikhura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dinamo Batumi have kept their man, and Chikhura go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Successful dribbles: 16. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The dugout11 Sep 2028
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑3 Revaz Kvilitaia left the room before anybody could ask which.
20 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Chikhura has to find a result from somewhere.
The terraces4 Sep 2028
The mood at Chikhura has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Chikhura can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chikhura can pretend not to have heard.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 19 arrived, 3 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
5 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Merani moved on, Pedro Romano reports back to Chikhura, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Chikhura can tell you which week it ends in.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giorgi Kukhianidze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
18 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.
The deal with Samtredia is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Giorgi Kukhianidze 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 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Chikhura can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Words at Chikhura training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pedro Romano 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Tskhinvali have kept their man, and Chikhura go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The deal with Dinamo Batumi is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Chikhura are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Nika Okriashvili is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
16 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Chikhura has to find a result from somewhere.
The terraces7 Aug 2028
The mood at Chikhura has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Pedro Romano will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Chikhura 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 Chikhura can pretend not to have heard.
Chikhura asked and Samtredia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
“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 Chikhura, and it is not being withdrawn.
Giorgi Kukhianidze 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pedro Romano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Chikhura people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
$260.0K settles it between the clubs for Otar Gagnidze
Samtredia have accepted the money. What Chikhura do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Everybody's debut is one of two stories and this was the other one. 5.71, and the only consolation available is that nobody's career has ever been decided by ninety minutes in a shirt he had just been given.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giorgi Kukhianidze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Tskhinvali have kept their man, and Chikhura go back to a list with one name crossed off 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 Chikhura, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giorgi Kukhianidze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Chikhura asked and Dila said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Dato Ananidze 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.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Chikhura they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“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 Chikhura, and it is not being withdrawn.
Everything agreed with Samtredia, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Chikhura asked and Dinamo Batumi said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Words at Chikhura training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pedro Romano 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 board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Revaz Kvilitaia has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chikhura can pretend not to have heard.
Words at Chikhura training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giorgi Kukhianidze 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.
Lasha Mchedlidze 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.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Diego Deisadze is in the works
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Chikhura have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Position 15 and 7 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.
Chikhura and Samtredia have settled on $240.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
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.
Chikhura asked and Dila said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The hardest thing about being 17 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Aleksandre Kvilitaia did not need any: 7.72, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Chikhura have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The deal with Dinamo Batumi is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chikhura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Merani will make the call about Pedro Romano this week. Chikhura have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Words at Chikhura training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pedro Romano 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.
Chikhura asked and Dila said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
6 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Chikhura can tell you which week it ends in.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Chikhura can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
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.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Words at Chikhura training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giorgi Kukhianidze 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.
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.
5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Chikhura can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Words at Chikhura training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giorgi Kukhianidze 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chikhura can pretend not to have heard.
Position 14 and 6 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.
5 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.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Chikhura can tell you which week it ends in.
Giorgi Kukhianidze 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.
Words at Chikhura training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pedro Romano 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Revaz Kvilitaia after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Pedro Romano 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.
Squad22 May 2028
Words at Chikhura training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giorgi Kukhianidze 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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Chikhura is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giorgi Kukhianidze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout15 May 2028
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑4 defeat, delivered by Revaz Kvilitaia to a room that had heard them before.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Giorgi Kukhianidze and Chikhura agree another 2 years.
Giorgi Kukhianidze 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pedro Romano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Davit Kobiashvili has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Nika Chakvetadze has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chikhura can pretend not to have heard.
The hardest thing about being 18 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Giorgi Tsitaishvili did not need any: 7.66, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Giorgi Kukhianidze 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.
Words at Chikhura training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pedro Romano 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Davit Qazaishvili is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 15-year-old it feels ownership of. Lasha Mchedlidze has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Dato Ananidze 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 dugout24 Apr 2028
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Revaz Kvilitaia, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Chikhura, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Guram Lobjanidze is 17, and for one weekend he was the best of everybody his age in the division. Nobody should build a career on it and everybody quietly does.
Nobody at Chikhura will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The mood at Chikhura has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Chikhura they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Words at Chikhura training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pedro Romano 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
0‑10 to Zugdidi, 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.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 96th minute. Kolkheti will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Marked 7.98 at 16, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Match8 Apr 2028
Nobody could stop scoring
10 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Chikhura and Zugdidi in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
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.
He is 17 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
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.
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.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Davit Gamsakhurdia 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.
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.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑3 Revaz Kvilitaia left the room before anybody could ask which.
0‑3 to Saburtalo, 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chikhura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pedro Romano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Revaz Kvilitaia to a room that had heard them before.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Pedro Romano will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Chikhura the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
Words at Chikhura training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giorgi Kukhianidze 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.
Aleksandre Kvilitaia 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 have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chikhura can pretend not to have heard.
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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Khvicha Gvelesiani has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑5 Revaz Kvilitaia left the room before anybody could ask which.
Beaten 5 times, with 4 saves for company. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines on their record whoever actually caused them, which is the quiet injustice of the job.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chikhura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chikhura can pretend not to have heard.
A mark of 8.12 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 16-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Giorgi Kukhianidze 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.
1 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Words at Chikhura training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pedro Romano 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 easiest signature of my career.” Khvicha Gamsakhurdia and Chikhura agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
“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.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Words at Chikhura training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giorgi Kukhianidze 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.
Giorgi Tsitaishvili 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.
The mood at Chikhura has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chikhura can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Pedro Romano will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Chikhura the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giorgi Kukhianidze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Chikhura, and both men came out saying it was fine.
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Pedro Romano
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chikhura can pretend not to have heard.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Chikhura are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Giorgi Kukhianidze 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pedro Romano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Temur Lobjanidze has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Kakha Gamsakhurdia has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Position 16 and 9 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.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Chikhura can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
“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 Chikhura, and it is not being withdrawn.
The whole football department in one room on a weekday morning. Nothing was announced afterwards, which is what a board announces when it has run out of patience.
The bid was some way short and Chikhura did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Chikhura close the window on a squad of their own making
1 in and 2 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Chikhura are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Words at Chikhura training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giorgi Kukhianidze 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Samtredia have kept their man, and Chikhura go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The deal with Dinamo Tbilisi is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Chikhura asked and Dinamo Batumi said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
Aleksandre 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.
Nobody at Chikhura will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Davit Gamsakhurdia trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
The mood at Chikhura has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Merani waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Chikhura is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Chikhura have done the hard part with Independiente, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Giorgi Kukhianidze and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Pedro Romano 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.
“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 Chikhura, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deal with Dila is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giorgi Kukhianidze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chikhura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Position 16 and 9 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.
“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 Chikhura, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Words at Chikhura training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giorgi Kukhianidze 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Nacional have kept their man, and Chikhura go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Mikheil Qazaishvili is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Chikhura have made the call to Defensores. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Chikhura can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
Giorgi Kukhianidze 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.
Squad3 Jan 2028
Pedro Romano 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.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
In brief
BoardroomOpen for business: Chikhura enter the window
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
“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 Chikhura, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
Davit Gamsakhurdia 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.
21 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Chikhura lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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 words a physio says slowly. 30 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“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 Chikhura, and it is not being withdrawn.
“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 Chikhura know it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chikhura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Words at Chikhura training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pedro Romano 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Avtandil Kobiashvili has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Mikheil Chakvetadze has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
39 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Chikhura lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Revaz Kvilitaia has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chikhura can pretend not to have heard.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Chikhura can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giorgi Kukhianidze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Avto Chakhmashvili was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
In brief
The dugoutIlia Buzaladze has become a man the manager trusts
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
46 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Chikhura lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chikhura can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giorgi Kukhianidze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Aizak Babe trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Giorgi Kukhianidze and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Pedro Romano 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.
Position 16 and 9 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chikhura can pretend not to have heard.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chikhura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
“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 Chikhura, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Chikhura have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Guram Mikautadze has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Davit Gamsakhurdia 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 manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Ilia Buzaladze is on it.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Chikhura has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
The mood at Chikhura has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Giorgi Kukhianidze 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.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Pedro Romano 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.
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Guram Lobjanidze was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Chikhura have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Words at Chikhura training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giorgi Kukhianidze 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.
Aleksandre Kvilitaia 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.
Position 16 and 9 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chikhura can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Chikhura have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words at Chikhura training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giorgi Kukhianidze 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.
Gaga Papiashvili 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chikhura can pretend not to have heard.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Chikhura are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Giorgi Kukhianidze 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 never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Avto Chakhmashvili commits to Chikhura for another 3 years.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words at Chikhura training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pedro Romano 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Mamuka Daraselia is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The mood at Chikhura has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Chikhura can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
“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 Chikhura, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Giorgi Kukhianidze and Chikhura agree another 2 years.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Chikhura are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
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 last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 9 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Words at Chikhura training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giorgi Kukhianidze 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
12 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chikhura 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 Chikhura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Words at Chikhura training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pedro Romano 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.
“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 Chikhura, and it is not being withdrawn.
The hardest thing about being 18 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Giorgi Tsitaishvili did not need any: 7.78, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
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.
Chikhura asked and Chacarita Juniors said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
He is 18 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Davit Gamsakhurdia 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.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
0‑7 against Torpedo Kutaisi, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Chikhura can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 7 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Chikhura close the window on a squad of their own making
12 in and 2 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 6 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dinamo Batumi have kept their man, and Chikhura go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pedro Romano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Position 16 and 8 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.
8 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Aleksandre Kvilitaia provided it, and the 8.46 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Everything agreed with Olympiacos, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at AZAL is saying, and nobody at Chikhura is enjoying the guessing.
Words at Chikhura training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giorgi Kukhianidze 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.
82 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Chikhura lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chikhura can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Chikhura have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Shakhtar have kept their man, and Chikhura go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Transfer targetsA loan move for Marcos Pedro is in the works
54Edition
The Chikhura Sentinel
9 Aug 2027
From our football correspondentCrisis
The terraces9 Aug 2027
The mood at Chikhura has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
89 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Chikhura lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Guria the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Chikhura will enjoy reviewing.
Two goals and a mark of 8.54 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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.
The deal with Dynamo Kyiv is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Chikhura can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
96 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Chikhura lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Chikhura can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chikhura can pretend not to have heard.
“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 Chikhura know it.
Chikhura asked and Dinamo Batumi said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 14 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
103 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Chikhura lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Urartu is saying, and nobody at Chikhura is enjoying the guessing.
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.
Match24 Jul 2027
Nobody could stop scoring
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Chikhura and Zugdidi in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
112 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Chikhura lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chikhura can pretend not to have heard.
Giorgi Kukhianidze 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at Chikhura training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pedro Romano 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.
Chikhura asked and Morón said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
120 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Chikhura lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Chikhura had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Valledupar, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words at Chikhura training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giorgi Kukhianidze 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Aleksandre Kvilitaia has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Bachana Kakabadze has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
127 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Chikhura lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Everything agreed with Valledupar, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Chikhura asked and Dinamo Batumi said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
Position 16 and 6 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.51 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Chikhura have done the hard part with Tskhinvali, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at San Miguel is saying, and nobody at Chikhura is enjoying the guessing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chikhura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Pedro Romano 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The deal with San Miguel is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Chikhura had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Zugdidi, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
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.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.35 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 7 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Quilmes is saying, and nobody at Chikhura is enjoying the guessing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Giorgi Kukhianidze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Tornike Lobjanidze is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
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.
“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 Chikhura, and it is not being withdrawn.
“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 Chikhura know it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pedro Romano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Chikhura asked and Boca Juniors said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
13 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.
“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 Chikhura know it.
Words at Chikhura training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giorgi Kukhianidze 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.
Gaga Papiashvili 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.
0‑6 to Torpedo Kutaisi, 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.
Match22 May 2027
Nobody could stop scoring
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Chikhura and Torpedo Kutaisi in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Chikhura training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giorgi Kukhianidze 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.
Beaten 6 times, 1 saves, and an afternoon that will go on his record whether it was his fault or the defence’s. It is the quiet unfairness of the position.
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.
The dugout24 May 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑6 Revaz Kvilitaia left the room before anybody could ask which.
The mood at Chikhura has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.82 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Giorgi Kukhianidze 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.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Chikhura and Dinamo Batumi in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Revaz Kvilitaia after 1‑5, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Beaten 5 times, 5 saves, and an afternoon that will go on his record whether it was his fault or the defence’s. It is the quiet unfairness of the position.
In brief
SquadWords at Chikhura training over how hard people work
10 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Chikhura can pretend not to have heard.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Aleksandre Okriashvili has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The dugout10 May 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Revaz Kvilitaia left the room before anybody could ask which.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Chikhura, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gugua Iakobashvili was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The words a physio says slowly. 21 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
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.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Chikhura can tell you which week it ends in.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chikhura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pedro Romano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
30 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Chikhura lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
8 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.
Giorgi Kukhianidze 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 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Chikhura can tell you which week it ends in.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nika Buzaladze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The mood at Chikhura has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 19 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
7 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.
Giorgi Kukhianidze 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.
Match17 Apr 2027
Nobody could stop scoring
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Chikhura and Dila in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 21 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 27 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chikhura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match10 Apr 2027
Nobody could stop scoring
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Chikhura and Zugdidi in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pedro Romano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Lasha Mchedlidze has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
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.
There is exactly one of these per career and it does not usually go like this. 1 on the scoresheet, 7.34 beside the name, and a crowd that had never seen him before chanting it by the end.
5 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.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Chikhura are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Chikhura will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“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 Chikhura know it.
Giorgi Kukhianidze 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The mood at Chikhura has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Chikhura will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Giorgi Kukhianidze 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Chikhura training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pedro Romano 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 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.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑5 defeat, delivered by Revaz Kvilitaia to a room that had heard them before.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Chikhura will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
There is exactly one of these per career and it does not usually go like this. 1 on the scoresheet, 7.58 beside the name, and a crowd that had never seen him before chanting it by the end.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chikhura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑3 Revaz Kvilitaia left the room before anybody could ask which.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Chikhura will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Giorgi Kukhianidze and Chikhura agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
At 20 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Chikhura will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Giorgi Kukhianidze 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Pedro Romano 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.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Chikhura will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
20 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Chikhura lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Chikhura will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
29 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Chikhura lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Position 15 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Chikhura will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
36 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Chikhura lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Giorgi Kukhianidze and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Chikhura training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pedro Romano 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Chikhura, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Irakli Kvaratskhelia was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
Chikhura opened the door and nobody walked through it. So Gugua Iakobashvili stays — listed, trained, and available — while both sides mark the days to January on the same calendar.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Chikhura will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The words a physio says slowly. 44 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Chikhura close the window on a squad of their own making
1 in and 0 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Chikhura can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Giorgi Kukhianidze 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.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Chikhura will try again when the window opens; Torpedo Kutaisi may not be selling by then.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dinamo Batumi have kept their man, and Chikhura go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Chikhura will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
52 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Chikhura lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Saburtalo keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Torpedo Kutaisi have kept their man, and Chikhura go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Giorgi Kukhianidze 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
SquadWords at Chikhura training over how hard people work
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Chikhura will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
60 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Chikhura lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Chikhura have done the hard part with Zugdidi, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chikhura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Chikhura training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pedro Romano 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.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Kakha Lobjanidze is in the works
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 123 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The words a physio says slowly. 67 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Chikhura and Torpedo Kutaisi have settled on $820.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Irakli Kvaratskhelia has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Chikhura will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The words a physio says slowly. 74 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Chikhura can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
“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 Chikhura, and it is not being withdrawn.
Giorgi Kukhianidze 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.
A loan enquiry to Dinamo Tbilisi: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Every squad is half players the manager chose and half players he inherited. Giorgi Kukhianidze was chosen, the man who chose him has gone, and he starts again from nothing under the next one.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Chikhura will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
81 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Chikhura lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 145 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The words a physio says slowly. 89 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Pedro Romano 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 words a physio says slowly. 97 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Shota Janelidze is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Chikhura will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Chikhura training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Avtandil Mikautadze 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.
104 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Chikhura lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Giorgi Kukhianidze 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.
In brief
SquadWords at Chikhura training over how hard people work
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
The words a physio says slowly. 113 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Chikhura training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giorgi Kukhianidze 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.
93 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Chikhura lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chikhura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadWords at Chikhura training over how hard people work