15 Feb 2027
Monday
Process
28 Edition

The Dila Post

8 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A fracture rules Pedro Beda out for 30 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Dila will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Not going: Giorgi Tsetskhladze stays at Dila

“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Paralimni had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.

Market

Tray Fuller is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Dila is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Words at Dila training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Blankson Anoff 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.

Transfer targets

Boca Juniors tell Dila: Joaquín Piñeyro is not for sale

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.

Squad

Ali Abdurahmonov in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dila this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

The Mohamed Kanté conversation is coming

Everyone has stopped pretending: Bunyodkor will make the call about Mohamed Kanté this week. Dila have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.

The dugout

No hiding place for Pedro Beda

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Pedro Beda, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Zurab Museliani gets picked when it counts

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 Zurab Museliani is on it.

In brief

Back issues
27 Edition

The Dila Post

1 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Pedro Beda breaks a bone — 39 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 39 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

The terraces

Supporters organise against the Dila board

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.

Market

Only the photograph left for Giorgi Jalaghonia

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Giorgi Jalaghonia will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dila the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Boardroom

Deadline passes with 8 signed and 5 gone

That is the business done at Dila until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.

Market

Eyes on Mohamed Kanté again

The phone has started ringing about Mohamed Kanté again, and this time the name on the line is Bunyodkor. Dila are listening politely and promising nothing.

Transfer targets

No thanks: Malik Odeyinka rejects the move

Dila had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Alashkert, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.

Squad

A falling-out at Dila

Shota Shekiladze and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Transfer targets

Dinamo Batumi tell Dila: Mamuka Kobakhidze is not for sale

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.

Squad

Macarrão signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Macarrão and Dila agree another 3 years.

In brief

26 Edition

The Dila Post

25 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Pedro Beda breaks a bone — 48 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 48 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Tray Fuller agrees terms with Chikhura

The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Dila people have started saying his name in the past tense.

Transfer targets

No thanks: Angelos Neofytou rejects the move

Dila had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Omonoia, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.

Squad

Tempers go at Dila

Blankson Anoff 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.

Transfer targets

Dila rebuffed over Ilja Zhbanov

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Rostov have kept their man, and Dila go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Market

Eyes on Claude Kouakou again

The phone has started ringing about Claude Kouakou again, and this time the name on the line is Lokomotivi. Dila are listening politely and promising nothing.

Squad

A row about effort at Dila

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Badri Gogoberishvili was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Transfer targets

Dila ask about Ali Abdurahmonov

A loan enquiry to AGMK: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.

Transfer targets

Dila ask about Joaquín Piñeyro

A loan enquiry to Boca Juniors: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.

In brief

25 Edition

The Dila Post

18 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Pedro Beda breaks a bone — 57 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 57 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Terms done: Giorgi Jalaghonia is going

Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Chikhura waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Dila is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.

Market

Dila say no — this time

The offer from Torpedo Kutaisi for Shota Shekiladze was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Squad

Tempers go at Dila

Shota Shekiladze 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.

Squad

Dila count the cost of losing Giorgi Gvasalia

42 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

Squad

Blankson Anoff 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.

Transfer targets

Dila rebuffed over Jaba Mikautadze

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Zugdidi have kept their man, and Dila go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Transfer targets

Dila ask about Angelos Neofytou

A loan enquiry to Omonoia: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.

Transfer targets

Dila try to borrow Malik Odeyinka

Alashkert have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.

In brief

24 Edition

The Dila Post

11 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Pedro Beda breaks a bone — 65 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 65 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Dila say no — this time

The offer from Torpedo Kutaisi for Tedo Kikabidze was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Squad

Words exchanged at Dila

Shota Shekiladze 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.

Market

Chikhura watching Giorgi Jalaghonia

The interest is real enough to have reached print. Dila have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Squad

Blankson Anoff 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.

Transfer targets

Samtredia tell Dila: Raul Baratelia is not for sale

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.

Market

Lasha Kvaratskhelia steps up from the Dila academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Lasha Kvaratskhelia 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.

Squad

No place for Dário in the new shape

He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Dila are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.

Transfer targets

A loan move for Mamuka Kobakhidze is in the works

Dila have made the call to Dinamo Batumi. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.

In brief

23 Edition

The Dila Post

4 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A fracture rules Pedro Beda out for 72 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Dila will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Dinamo Tbilisi come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Dila did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Squad

An unwelcome headline for Zurab Museliani

He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday. The order of those three tells you everything about what a football club actually values.

Transfer targets

Dila rebuffed over Mamuka Kobakhidze

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dinamo Batumi have kept their man, and Dila go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Squad

A falling-out at Dila

Mohamed Kanté and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Market

Chikhura watching Abdulmalik Olatunji

The interest is real enough to have reached print. Dila have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Squad

Voices raised on the Dila training ground

Two players, one bad tackle and a session that had to be stopped. It was over in a minute; it was outside the gates in an hour.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Mohamed Kanté

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Transfer targets

Dila ask about Halid Doltmourziev

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.

In brief

22 Edition

The Dila Post

28 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

The knee: Tedo Kikabidze out for 20 days

20 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Dila lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Squad

Pedro Beda breaks a bone — 79 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 79 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Shota Shekiladze in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dila this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Dila training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Blankson Anoff 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.

Boardroom

Wages eat 87% of everything Dila earn

There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.

The dugout

When it matters, Davit Kereselidze plays

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

21 Edition

The Dila Post

21 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

The knee: Tedo Kikabidze out for 28 days

28 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Dila lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Squad

Pedro Beda breaks a bone — 87 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 87 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Words at Dila training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Blankson Anoff 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.

Squad

Giorgi Gvasalia in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dila this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

Giorgi Tsetskhladze has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Dila 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.

Market

The Shota Shekiladze talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Dila know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

In brief

20 Edition

The Dila Post

14 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Tedo Kikabidze

35 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Dila lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

A fracture rules Pedro Beda out for 95 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Dila will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

A falling-out at Dila

Blankson Anoff and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Market

Dila promote Khvicha Gvelesiani from within

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.

Market

Shota Gvelesiani steps up from the Dila academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Shota Gvelesiani 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.

Squad

Words at Dila training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Badri Gogoberishvili 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

19 Edition

The Dila Post

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Tedo Kikabidze damages knee ligaments — 42 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 42 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.

Squad

Pedro Beda breaks a bone — 102 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 102 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

The dugout

Giorgi Jalaghonia says Dila went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

Words at Dila training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Blankson Anoff 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.

Squad

Words exchanged at Dila

Giorgi Gvasalia 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Shota Shekiladze

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

In brief

18 Edition

The Dila Post

30 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

The knee: Tedo Kikabidze out for 50 days

50 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Dila lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Squad

A fracture rules Pedro Beda out for 109 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Dila will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

Shota Shekiladze in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dila this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Boardroom

Wages eat 98% of everything Dila earn

There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.

The dugout

No hiding place for Alioune Tall

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alioune Tall, and the manager let it.

The dugout

When it matters, Davit Kereselidze plays

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

17 Edition

The Dila Post

23 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

The knee: Tedo Kikabidze out for 58 days

58 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Dila lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Squad

117 days out for Pedro Beda after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Dila will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Squad

Tempers go at Dila

Shota Shekiladze 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.

Loan watch

Emmanuel Boansi has seen enough of Kolkheti

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Dila, and 4 appearances in 12 say he has earned the hearing.

Squad

Words at Dila training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Badri Gogoberishvili 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Badri Gogoberishvili

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

The dugout

Giorgi Tsetskhladze has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Dila 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.

Market

The Shota Shekiladze talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Dila know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

The dugout

Alioune Tall knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alioune Tall trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

16 Edition

The Dila Post

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

125 days out for Pedro Beda after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Dila will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

The dugout

Badri Gogoberishvili says Dila went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

A row about effort at Dila

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Blankson Anoff was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

Zurab Museliani gets picked when it counts

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 Zurab Museliani is on it.

The dugout

Mohamed Kanté knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Dila, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Market

The Ramaric Etou talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Dila know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

In brief

15 Edition

The Dila Post

9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A falling-out at Dila

Shota Shekiladze and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Blankson Anoff 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.

Market

Mikheil Kvaratskhelia steps up from the Dila academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Mikheil Kvaratskhelia 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.

Market

Saba Mikautadze steps up from the Dila academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Saba Mikautadze 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 dugout

No hiding place for Mohamed Kanté

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mohamed Kanté, and the manager let it.

The dugout

When it matters, Alioune Tall plays

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

14 Edition

The Dila Post

2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Tempers go at Dila

Giorgi Gvasalia 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 dugout

Giorgi Tsetskhladze gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Boardroom

Wages eat 98% of everything Dila earn

There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.

Squad

Badri Gogoberishvili falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

The dugout

When it matters, Davit Kereselidze plays

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.

Market

The Nikoloz Mali story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Nikoloz Mali signs something — a contract at Dila or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

In brief

13 Edition

The Dila Post

26 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The dugout

Giorgi Tsetskhladze keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Dila may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

A row about effort at Dila

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Blankson Anoff was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

Giorgi Gvasalia in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dila this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Too much change too quickly at Dila

15 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.

The dugout

Giorgi Tsetskhladze gets picked when it counts

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 Giorgi Tsetskhladze is on it.

Market

The Shota Shekiladze talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Dila know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

In brief

12 Edition

The Dila Post

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A falling-out at Dila

Blankson Anoff and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The dugout

No hiding place for Shota Shekiladze

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Shota Shekiladze, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Zurab Museliani has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Dila 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.

Market

The Zurab Museliani question follows Dila around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Zurab Museliani’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

The dugout

A door opens for Mohamed Kanté

He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.

The dugout

Saba Akhalkatsi knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Dila, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

11 Edition

The Dila Post

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The dugout

Shota Shekiladze says Dila went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

A falling-out at Dila

Shota Shekiladze and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Market

Dila promote Giorgi Chakvetadze from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Giorgi Chakvetadze 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.

Market

One of our own: Nika Shengelia joins the Dila first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Nika Shengelia is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Squad

Badri Gogoberishvili falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

The dugout

Alioune Tall gets picked when it counts

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 Alioune Tall is on it.

Market

The Blankson Anoff question follows Dila around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Blankson Anoff’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

Squad

International call for Davit Kereselidze

Davit Kereselidze joins up with his country. Dila lose him for the window and would like him back in one piece.

Squad

International call for Shota Shekiladze

Shota Shekiladze joins up with his country. Dila lose him for the window and would like him back in one piece.

In brief

10 Edition

The Dila Post

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The dugout

Luka Sanikidze says Dila went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

Shota Shekiladze in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dila this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Blankson Anoff 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.

Boardroom

Wages swallow 130% of the Dila income

Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.

The dugout

Alioune Tall gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

The dugout

Davit Kereselidze has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Dila 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 dugout

Pedro Beda asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

Market

The Nikoloz Mali story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Nikoloz Mali signs something — a contract at Dila or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

Squad

Alioune Tall moves up the pecking order

Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Dila than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.

In brief

9 Edition

The Dila Post

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

Tedo Kikabidze beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 34. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Match

5 matches without a win for Dila

The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Dila are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Blankson Anoff 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.

Match

Dinamo Batumi take the points off Dila

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

Too much change too quickly at Dila

15 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.

The dugout

Avtandil Gvelesiani answers for it

“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.

Squad

A falling-out at Dila

Tray Fuller and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Badri Gogoberishvili

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

The dugout

Giorgi Tsetskhladze gets picked when it counts

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 Giorgi Tsetskhladze is on it.

In brief

8 Edition

The Dila Post

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Tedo Kikabidze

Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

4 matches without a win for Dila

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Dila are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Words exchanged at Dila

Shota Shekiladze 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.

Transfer targets

Dila rebuffed over Lucas Rodríguez

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Uruguay Montevideo have kept their man, and Dila go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Shota Shekiladze

8 goals and a season average of 7.20 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Squad

Badri Gogoberishvili falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

The dugout

Zurab Museliani gets picked when it counts

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 Zurab Museliani is on it.

The dugout

Avtandil Gvelesiani on the point

“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Avtandil Gvelesiani after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.

Looking ahead

A test against the best for Dila

The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Dinamo Batumi.

In brief

7 Edition

The Dila Post

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

The small margins put Dila out

Out, 1‑1 to Dinamo Tbilisi, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.

Squad

Luka Sanikidze wins the shoot-out

1 kept out from twelve yards, and a stadium that will describe each of them for twenty years. A goalkeeper needs one night like this in a career, and this was it.

Match

Dila come up short against Kolkheti

Kolkheti left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

Blankson Anoff 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.

Transfer targets

Boca Juniors tell Dila: Miguel Ventos is not for sale

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.

Squad

Words exchanged at Dila

Giorgi Gvasalia 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.

Market

One of our own: Lasha Kakabadze joins the Dila first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Lasha Kakabadze is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Player ratings

Ramaric Etou misses from twelve yards

It was his to settle and he did not settle it. A long walk back to the halfway line, and a considerably longer week.

The dugout

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 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Avtandil Gvelesiani to a room that had heard them before.

In brief

6 Edition

The Dila Post

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Claude Kouakou was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 27. 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.

Squad

Zurab Museliani makes the wrong kind of headline

Dealt with internally, which is the phrase a club uses when it would rather nobody asked twice. He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday.

Boardroom

Window shuts: 17 in, 3 out at Dila

The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 17 arrived, 3 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.

Match

The run is over for Dila

7 matches without defeat, and then Tskhinvali. Nobody at the ground pretended it would go on forever; nobody expected it to stop here either.

Squad

A row about effort at Dila

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Blankson Anoff was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Transfer targets

Dila rebuffed over Sargis Metoyan

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Pyunik have kept their man, and Dila go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Squad

Mohamed Kanté in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dila this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Tskhinvali take the points off Dila

Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Transfer targets

Kichi Meliava stays at Guria as time runs out

A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Dila will try again when the window opens; Guria may not be selling by then.

In brief

5 Edition

The Dila Post

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Dila cannot stop winning

7 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.

Player ratings

A brace, and Shota Shekiladze takes the afternoon — 9.34

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Shota Shekiladze provided it, and the 9.34 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Player ratings

Tedo Kikabidze runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 30. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Market

Dila say no — this time

The offer from Ermis for Mohamed Kanté was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Transfer targets

Fee done, terms next for Kichi Meliava

Dila and Guria have settled on $37.0K. 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.

Transfer targets

Samtredia tell Dila: Giorgi Kveladze is not for sale

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.

Squad

Blankson Anoff in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dila this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Claude Kouakou

At 22 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.

Match

Shota Shekiladze the difference as Dila beat Shukura

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Shota Shekiladze. 2‑0 against Shukura, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

In brief

  • Match Dila keep winning on the road
  • Squad Badri Gogoberishvili falls out with a teammate over standards
  • Squad 14 new faces, and Dila are still learning each other
4 Edition

The Dila Post

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Giorgi Tsetskhladze sends Dila through

Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Giorgi Tsetskhladze obliged against Saburtalo. 2‑1 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Dila.

Match

Giorgi Tsetskhladze wins it after the whistle should have gone

126 minutes played. Giorgi Tsetskhladze found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Saburtalo went from a point to nothing inside one movement.

Player ratings

Zurab Museliani scores twice — 8.50

Two goals and a mark of 8.50 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Match

Dila cannot stop winning

6 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Otar Parulava

Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Market

Dila turn down Saburtalo for Emmanuel Boansi

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Market

Ermis watching Mohamed Kanté

The interest is real enough to have reached print. Dila have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Squad

Words exchanged at Dila

Shota Shekiladze 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.

Market

Business is business: Ruben Compaoré goes

Shukura paid $150.0K and Dila took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.

In brief

3 Edition

The Dila Post

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Shota Shekiladze leads the rout of Guria

5‑2, and Shota Shekiladze took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Dila tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Match

Lasha Menteshashvili sends Dila through

Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Lasha Menteshashvili obliged against Sioni. 3‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Dila.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Emmanuel Boansi

Successful dribbles: 33. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Shota Shekiladze takes the match ball home

3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.

Squad

Lasha Menteshashvili takes the match ball home

3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.

Player ratings

Lekso Otinashvili, 17, plays like he has been here for years — 7.69

A mark of 7.69 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 17-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.

Transfer targets

$20.0K settles it between the clubs for Giorgi Gvasalia

Dinamo Tbilisi have accepted the money. What Dila do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.

Match

Dila make it 4 in a row

Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Dila have 4 straight wins of it.

Market

Dila spend $610.0K to raise the standard

This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $610.0K has been paid because Giorgi Kavtaradze is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.

In brief

2 Edition

The Dila Post

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Market

Not going: Emmanuel Boansi stays at Dila

“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Shukura had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Zurab Museliani

Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Transfer targets

Dila rebuffed over Vladimer Mamuchashvili

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Torpedo Kutaisi have kept their man, and Dila go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Transfer targets

An offer of $610.0K for Giorgi Kavtaradze

Dila have gone to Shukura with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.

Transfer targets

Dila make their move for Giorgi Gvasalia

$19.0K on the table at Dinamo Tbilisi. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.

Squad

Mohamed Kanté signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Mohamed Kanté commits to Dila for another 4 years.

Boardroom

Dila agree a free transfer for Numan Kurdić

Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.

Match

Dila find a way past Sioni

Sioni made Dila work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Shota Shekiladze

Marked 8.80 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

In brief

1 Edition

The Dila Post

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Player ratings

Blankson Anoff beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 37. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Match

Shota Shekiladze leads the rout of Chikhura

4‑0, and Shota Shekiladze took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Dila tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Player ratings

A brace, and Shota Shekiladze takes the afternoon — 9.26

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Shota Shekiladze provided it, and the 9.26 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Player ratings

Tedo Kikabidze goes up and wins it — 7.96

A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.96 for the rest of it.

Transfer targets

An offer of $480.0K for Vladimer Mamuchashvili

Dila have gone to Torpedo Kutaisi with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.

Squad

Shota Shekiladze stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Shota Shekiladze and Dila agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Shota Shekiladze in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dila this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Dila training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Blankson Anoff 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.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Sargis Metoyan

Dila asked and Pyunik said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

In brief