The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Bachana Ananidze has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lasha Menteshashvili will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dila the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikoloz Mali 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 Dila this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Dila can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
“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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikoloz Mali 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 Dila, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Dila has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
The table has started to be checked before the results are in, and that is always the tell. Nobody at Dila says the word out loud, and everybody in the building is thinking it.
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 Dila will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Badri Gogoberishvili 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 had been thinking. Geilson 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 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Lekso Otinashvili trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Two hours a week with a tutor, which is the least glamorous thing at Dila and the one that decides whether a foreign signing is still here in two years.
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Lucas Vieira’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 29 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikoloz Mali 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 Menteshashvili 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 watch every Dila game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at MFK Michalovce runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 37 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Nikoloz Mali 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 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.
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.
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.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Dila can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Dila can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Ibrahima Dramé is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikoloz Mali was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Avtandil Gujabidze 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 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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Dila told Prezzi something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 63 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikoloz Mali 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 Dila this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lasha Menteshashvili will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dila the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hítalo 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.
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 Nika Khorkheli is on it.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Dila 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 Dila can pretend not to have heard.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 16 arrived, 11 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
The deal that would have taken Lekso Otinashvili to Telavi has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Dila with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Nikoloz Mali 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 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Sioni waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Dila is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dila can pretend not to have heard.
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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Nikoloz Mali 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.
Tedo Kikabidze 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.
“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 Dila, 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.” Dila have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hítalo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Badri Gogoberishvili 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.
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.
Add another name to the list: Dinamo Tbilisi have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Ibrahima Dramé. The answer from Dila has not changed — yet.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lasha Menteshashvili will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dila the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikoloz Mali 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 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.
“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 Dila know it.
6 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Sioni waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Dila is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dila can pretend not to have heard.
Dila asked and Brown de Adrogué 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 mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Dila are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Dila can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
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.
0-3, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.
Claude Kouakou has left for Dinamo Tbilisi in a $380.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Nikoloz Mali 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.
Dila asked and Villa Dálmine said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Badri Gogoberishvili 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.
Add another name to the list: Sioni have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Lasha Menteshashvili. The answer from Dila has not changed — yet.
“I watch every Dila game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at MFK Michalovce runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
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.
In brief
The dugoutLéo Coltro asks for a word with the manager
“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 Dila, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikoloz Mali 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 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.
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“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; Dila are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Position 8 and 16 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.
Position 8 on 16 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Dila have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dila can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hítalo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Dila asked and Merani said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Dila have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dila can pretend not to have heard.
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.
The first defeat in 8 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Dinamo Tbilisi; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikoloz Mali was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Dila asked and Deportivo Merlo said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lasha Menteshashvili will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Dila the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikoloz Mali 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Gabriel Lima. 2‑1 against Lokomotivi, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Avtandil Gujabidze 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Sioni waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Dila is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The offer from Telavi for Lekso Otinashvili 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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Dila have done the hard part with Tristán Suárez, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hítalo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Dila asked and Vojvodina 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 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Sioni waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Dila is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Dila have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“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 Dila, and it is not being withdrawn.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Dila have done the hard part with Talleres, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikoloz Mali was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Telavi waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Dila is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dila can pretend not to have heard.
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.
Player ratings7 Jun 2027
Alioune Tall, 20, 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 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
7.84, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Kauã Barbosa has just signed for Dila, and for once the answer mattered.
In brief
SquadWords at Dila training over how hard people work
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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 12 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Nikoloz Mali 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 had been thinking. Hítalo 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.
25 games, 2 goals, and a squad option that has arrived without a fee attached. The interesting question at Dila now is not whether he plays but who he displaces.
“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 0 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.
It needed Gabriel Lima to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Gareji Sagarejo, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Dila now.
The dugout31 May 2027
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.” Bachana Ananidze chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikoloz Mali 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 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.
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
“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 Dila know it.
It needed Gabriel Lima to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Torpedo Kutaisi, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Position 9 and 3 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.
Squad17 May 2027
Nikoloz Mali 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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Kolkheti-1913 Poti defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
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.
Nikoloz Mali 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 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 9, 2 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Vinício and Dila agree another 4 years.
Squad3 May 2027
Nikoloz Mali 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.
Avtandil Gujabidze 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 defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
“I 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 0 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout3 May 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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Bachana Ananidze to a room that had heard them before.
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.
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.
13 combined actions and 7.34. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikoloz Mali 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 Dila this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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.
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.
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 Dila this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Bachana Ananidze after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Lokomotivi in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Otar Parulava signs something — a contract at Dila or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
0‑3 against Samgurali Tskaltubo, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Léo Coltro and Dila agree another 4 years.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Nikoloz Mali 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.
Tedo Kikabidze 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 midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 9 actions, 6.70, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikoloz Mali was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Tedo Kikabidze 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.
“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; Dila are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“I watch every Dila game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at MFK Michalovce runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hítalo 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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Gagra in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Nobody sells a season ticket on a signing like this. Every manager who has been through a bad October wants one anyway, and Dila have gone and got theirs early.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Dila has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
In brief
The dugoutAlioune Tall asks for a word with the manager
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikoloz Mali 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 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.
8 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
0‑3 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 17 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikoloz Mali 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.
Avtandil Gujabidze 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.
“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; Dila are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
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 dugout15 Mar 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 0‑3 Bachana Ananidze left the room before anybody could ask which.
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.
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.
3 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hítalo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Avtandil Gujabidze 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Guram Tsitaishvili 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. Mikheil Okriashvili 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Nika Kiteishvili 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.
“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 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 31 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Marcelo is living that version at Dila, and it tends to show in the first month.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Dila can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
In brief
SquadNikoloz Mali falls out with a teammate over standards
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.
Nikoloz Mali and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Feb 2027
9 new faces, and Dila are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
In brief
SquadWords at Dila training over how hard people work
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 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Wesley has just signed for Dila, and for once the answer mattered.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hítalo 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.
Tedo Kikabidze 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.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dila can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Coritiba keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Davit Gotsiridze and Dila agree another 4 years.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Nikoloz Mali 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.
Dila asked and DAC Dunajska Streda said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Dinamo Batumi arrived with $4.2M and left with the best player in the building. The board will call it business; the queue at the ticket office will use other words.
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 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.
Shota Shekiladze has gone, the accounts have $4.2M in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dila can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Dila close the window on a squad of their own making
5 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.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Fortaleza is saying, and nobody at Dila 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 Dila this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 offer from Bunyodkor 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.
“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 Dila, 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Mirassol have kept their man, and Dila go back to a list with one name crossed off 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 Dila this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Sport Recife 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
Transfer targetsA loan move for Rodrigo Gelado is in the works
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 74 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Add another name to the list: Dinamo Batumi have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Shota Shekiladze. The answer from Dila has not changed — yet.
Everything agreed with Samgurali Tskaltubo, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Atlético Mineiro keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Nikoloz Mali 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.
Dila 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.
Avtandil Gujabidze 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.
7 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 81 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Spaeri had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Geilson has, at Dila, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Vasco da Gama is saying, and nobody at Dila is enjoying the guessing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikoloz Mali was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Dila asked and DAC Dunajska Streda said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Zurab Museliani 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 Atlético Mineiro: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dila can pretend not to have heard.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Kayque has, at Dila, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
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.
At 18 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Dila have made the call to Dinamo Tbilisi. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Dila have made the call to Vasco da Gama. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikoloz Mali 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 105 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Nikoloz Mali 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 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.
Nikoloz Mali 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 system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
“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.
This is the season the town will measure the next twenty against. The trophy travels home with the squad, and the route through the streets was agreed days ago.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikoloz Mali was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Davit Gotsiridze is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Shota Shekiladze signs something — a contract at Dila or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The season a town measures the next twenty against. The trophy comes home with the squad, and the route through the streets was agreed days ago.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Nikoloz Mali 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 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.
André Santos 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.
38 days left on the agreement, 0 appearances behind him, and two clubs who have both been putting off the same conversation.
16Edition
The Dila Post
16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondentUneasy
Squad16 Nov 2026
Nikoloz Mali 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.
André Santos 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.
Nikoloz Mali 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 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.
“I watch every Dila game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Gareji Sagarejo runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
A programme of his own, away from the group, aimed at one thing the staff think is holding him back. Most improvement happens like this and none of it makes the paper.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikoloz Mali 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.
André Santos 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Avtandil Gujabidze 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 watch every Dila game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Astana runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Dila can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad12 Oct 2026
15 new faces, and Dila are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Emmanuel Fobi is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikoloz Mali 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 a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikoloz Mali was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Zurab Museliani 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.
Tedo Kikabidze 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 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 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
Nikoloz Mali 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.
Dila ran out of time with Dinamo Batumi. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 15 arrived, 4 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Dila will try again when the window opens; Samgurali Tskaltubo may not be selling by then.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Nikoloz Mali 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Shakhtar have kept their man, and Dila go back to a list with one name crossed off 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 Dila this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
15 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dila can pretend not to have heard.
The offer went to Samgurali Tskaltubo this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $2.1M — a club that wants Gean Rodrigues enough to be asked twice.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Sport Recife is saying, and nobody at Dila is enjoying the guessing.
Dila have gone to Dinamo Batumi 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.
Avtandil Gujabidze 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.
22 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.
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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Hítalo is living that version at Dila, and it tends to show in the first month.
Dila had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Coritiba, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikoloz Mali was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Dila asked and Shakhtar said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
29 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikoloz Mali 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.
Dila asked and Dynamo Kyiv 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 system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Sport Recife 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Shota Shekiladze signs something — a contract at Dila or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The offer from AGMK 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Avtandil Gujabidze has, at Dila, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Zurab Museliani 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Shakhtar have kept their man, and Dila go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Temur 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Giorgi Gamsakhurdia is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Jaba Shengelia 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.
14 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Gabriel Lima is living that version at Dila, and it tends to show in the first month.
$170.0K on the table at Torpedo Kutaisi. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Nikoloz Mali 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.
Dila asked and Brasil de Pelotas 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 name of Lasha-Giorgi Titvinidze has come up in conversations Dila were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Still no offer on the table, and Shota Shekiladze’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.