15 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Dinamo Batumi have accepted the money. What Guria do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Nika Nozadze 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.
14 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Guria can tell you which week it ends in.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The deal with Saburtalo is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Davit Chankotadze and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 13 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The deal with Dila is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dinamo Tbilisi have kept their man, and Guria go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
113 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.
12 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Guria can tell you which week it ends in.
Position 16 and 1 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sandro Qazaishvili will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Guria the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Everything agreed with Samtredia, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Saburtalo have kept their man, and Guria go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 13 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 11 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
0‑8 to Saburtalo, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2032
$300.0K settles it between the clubs for Filippo Dodde
Dinamo Batumi have accepted the money. What Guria do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Levan Isiani 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.
Match17 Jul 2032
Nobody could stop scoring
8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Guria and Saburtalo in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Guria asked and Dinamo Tbilisi 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
BoardroomNobody left the Guria dressing room in a hurry
10 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Everything agreed with Torpedo Kutaisi, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Guria and Dinamo Tbilisi, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dinamo Batumi have kept their man, and Guria go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivane Okropiridze 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.
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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 10 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 Guria can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
9 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
The whole football department in one room on a weekday morning. Nothing was announced afterwards, which is what a board announces when it has run out of patience.
Guria 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.
109 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.
8 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sandro Qazaishvili will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Guria the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
7 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Torpedo Kutaisi have accepted the money. What Guria do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Guria have done the hard part with Torpedo Kutaisi, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Samtredia have kept their man, and Guria go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
107 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.
15 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
0‑4 to Samtredia, 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Sapovnela waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Guria is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
6 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Guria can tell you which week it ends in.
The deal with Dinamo Tbilisi is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Torpedo Kutaisi have kept their man, and Guria go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivane Okropiridze 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.
106 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.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 14 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
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.
“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 Guria, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Guria can tell you which week it ends in.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Dinamo Tbilisi keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Saba Chakvetadze 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.
13 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
0‑13 against Torpedo Kutaisi, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Guria can tell you which week it ends in.
Levan Isiani 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 13 goals between Guria and Torpedo Kutaisi, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
104 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 team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
0‑9 to Dinamo Batumi, 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.
“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 Guria, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Guria they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 9 goals between Guria and Dinamo Batumi, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Davit Chankotadze 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 12 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
0‑4 to Shukura, 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.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 10 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Guria they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivane Okropiridze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 9 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivane Okropiridze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
100 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Guria can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Otar Arveladze will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Guria the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Saba Chakvetadze 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivane Okropiridze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
98 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Guria is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Guria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 19 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Out, 0‑2 to Torpedo Kutaisi, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
8 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Guria and Saburtalo, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
95 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. 10 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“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 Guria, and it is not being withdrawn.
6 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Guria they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match27 Mar 2032
Nobody could stop scoring
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Guria and Dinamo Tbilisi in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivane Okropiridze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
0‑3 against Tskhinvali, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 5 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Guria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivane Okropiridze 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.
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Revaz Kobiashvili will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Guria the goodbyes have quietly begun.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Guria can tell you which week it ends in.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Guria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Lokomotivi left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout15 Mar 2032
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 0‑2 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Khvicha Tsitaishvili and Guria agree another 3 years.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Davit Lobjanidze's mistake
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Goga Janelidze
92 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Guria, and it is not being withdrawn.
5 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.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivane Okropiridze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Khvicha Tsitaishvili 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. Jaba Chakvetadze 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. Bachana Daraselia 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Guria they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Saba Chakvetadze 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.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Levan Isiani’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Guria needing him to play as if none of it matters.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Levan Isiani signs something — a contract at Guria or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Guria has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Levan Isiani 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.
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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Guria is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
81 graduates, from a department now rated 7 out of 20. Nothing about the academy appears in a result, and nothing about the club’s future exists without it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Guria can pretend not to have heard.
The name of Revaz Kobiashvili has come up in conversations Guria were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Guria will try again when the window opens; Dila may not be selling by then.
Position 16 and 5 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Guria is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 0 arrived, 1 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Guria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Commercial news is the news nobody sings about and everything else is paid for with. The board will call it a partnership; the accountants will call it the difference between this squad and a smaller one.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Guria have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, and a scan that said otherwise. He goes back to Dila; Guria go back to the market; and both will insist there is no story here.
The deal with Dila is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
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.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Guria people have started saying his name in the past tense.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Guria have done the hard part with Torpedo Kutaisi, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Guria asked and Dinamo Batumi said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivane Okropiridze 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 Guria, and both men came out saying it was fine.
81 graduates, from a department now rated 7 out of 20. Nothing about the academy appears in a result, and nothing about the club’s future exists without it.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Levan Isiani
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Guria can pretend not to have heard.
The deal with Dila is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Dinamo Tbilisi is saying, and nobody at Guria is enjoying the guessing.
The offer went to Chikhura 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.
Saba Chakvetadze 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.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Chikhura will make the call about Revaz Kobiashvili this week. Guria have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Interim Coach has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Everything agreed with Samtredia, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivane Okropiridze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Sandro Tsitaishvili has moved up it.
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Revaz Mikautadze's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Guria can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivane Okropiridze 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 Guria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Guria can pretend not to have heard.
Davit Lobjanidze 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Revaz Kobiashvili trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Guria can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivane Okropiridze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The table is being checked before the results are in, which is always the tell. Nobody at Guria says the word and every senior player in the building is thinking it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Guria can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivane Okropiridze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nika Kvilitaia and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Levan Isiani signs something — a contract at Guria or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The table is being checked before the results are in, which is always the tell. Nobody at Guria says the word and every senior player in the building is thinking it.
In brief
The dugoutNika Kvilitaia asks for a word with the manager
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Guria can pretend not to have heard.
The table is being checked before the results are in, which is always the tell. Nobody at Guria says the word and every senior player in the building is thinking it.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivane Okropiridze is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Guria, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Guria have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Guria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Guria can pretend not to have heard.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Levan Isiani signs something — a contract at Guria or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Guria can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivane Okropiridze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Davit Lobjanidze 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 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.
Nika Nozadze and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivane Okropiridze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Davit Chankotadze 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivane Okropiridze 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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Levan Isiani signs something — a contract at Guria or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Guria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivane Okropiridze 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.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Revaz Mikautadze is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Guria than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Tornike Mikautadze's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
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.
Levan Isiani 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Otar Arveladze trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Guria know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 5 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
“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 Guria, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivane Okropiridze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 0‑5, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
90 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.
Position 16 and 5 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 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. Ivane Okropiridze 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 not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 13 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
1‑4 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.
“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 Guria, and it is not being withdrawn.
8 seasons and 110 appearances, all of them here. Careers like this are not designed; they happen to a certain kind of man at a certain kind of club, and this town has one.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Dinamo Batumi is saying, and nobody at Guria is enjoying the guessing.
Nika Nozadze 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.
88 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.
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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Sandro Qazaishvili had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 6 arrived, 12 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Guria have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
8 seasons and 109 appearances, all of them here. Careers like this are not designed; they happen to a certain kind of man at a certain kind of club, and this town has one.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Samtredia keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Guria have done the hard part with Dila, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The clubs have shaken hands with Saburtalo; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Guria can pretend not to have heard.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Guria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
19 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Guria lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Guria people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Saba Chakvetadze 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. Saburtalo have kept their man, and Guria go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 18 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
26 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Guria lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Guria can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have shaken hands with Samtredia; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
The deal with Torpedo Kutaisi is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Guria is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Levan Isiani 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.
84 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.
17 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Guria can tell you which week it ends in.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
The words a physio says slowly. 33 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Guria can pretend not to have heard.
Levan Isiani 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.
83 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.
16 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Guria can tell you which week it ends in.
0‑5 to Zugdidi, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
The deal with Samtredia is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Guria asked and Torpedo Kutaisi said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
82 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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 15 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Guria and Dila have settled on $120.0K. 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Guria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Guria asked and Torpedo Kutaisi said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
81 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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 14 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Guria people have started saying his name in the past tense.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Guria have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have shaken hands with Dinamo Batumi; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Guria offered $130.0K; Dila said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 13 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“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 Guria, and it is not being withdrawn.
Guria have gone to Dila 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.
$130.0K was the most the club would pay and Dinamo Batumi were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
79 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.
12 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Guria can tell you which week it ends in.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Guria can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from Sapovnela for Sandro Qazaishvili 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.
$130.0K on the table at Dinamo Batumi. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Saba Chakvetadze 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.
Guria asked and Dinamo Batumi said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivane Okropiridze is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 11 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
0‑3 to Lokomotivi, 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Guria can pretend not to have heard.
The deal with Dinamo Batumi is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Guria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 10 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Guria people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Dinamo Batumi is saying, and nobody at Guria is enjoying the guessing.
Levan Isiani 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.
Guria offered $37.0K; Dinamo Batumi said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
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.
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.
9 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Guria can tell you which week it ends in.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Guria can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have shaken hands with Samtredia; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Dinamo Batumi is saying, and nobody at Guria is enjoying the guessing.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivane Okropiridze 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.
75 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.
8 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Guria can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Guria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 15 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Position 16 and 1 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.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 7 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 7 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
“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 Guria, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Luka Avaliani will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Guria the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Davit Chankotadze 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 16 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
6 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivane Okropiridze 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.
72 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
It 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Guria will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 Guria, and it is not being withdrawn.
5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Guria can tell you which week it ends in.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Guria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivane Okropiridze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Guria 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 Guria can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Guria have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Guria can tell you which week it ends in.
70 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.
Position 15 and 1 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Guria will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 Guria, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Luka Avaliani will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Guria 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 Guria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Guria will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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 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.
There was one mistake and it ended in the net. Defenders are judged on the worst thing they did rather than on the eighty-nine minutes either side of it, which is unfair and is also the job.
Khvicha Shengelia was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
In brief
The terracesThe spotlight tightens on Levan Isiani
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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
0‑3 to Zugdidi, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Guria 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 Guria can pretend not to have heard.
Nika Nozadze 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.
67 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Guria will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Guria, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivane Okropiridze 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.
65 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 team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
0‑6 to Saburtalo, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Guria can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Luka Avaliani will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Guria the goodbyes have quietly begun.
5 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Match29 Mar 2031
Nobody could stop scoring
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Guria and Saburtalo in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Guria can tell you which week it ends in.
In brief
SquadWords at Guria training over how hard people work
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 14 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
0‑3 against Dinamo Tbilisi, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Guria will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
63 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.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
0‑5 to Tskhinvali, 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. 79 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 Guria, and it is not being withdrawn.
Levan Isiani and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivane Okropiridze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 86 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Guria can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivane Okropiridze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Guria 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 Guria is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
4 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.
Davit Chankotadze 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Revaz Kobiashvili has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Beka Okriashvili is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Guria will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Nika Nozadze 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 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.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Guria will quote 16 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Guria asked and Saburtalo said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivane Okropiridze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Guria will try again when the window opens; Dinamo Tbilisi may not be selling by then.
Davit Chankotadze 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.
Guria 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nika Kakabadze 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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Levan Isiani signs something — a contract at Guria or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Position 16 and 1 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.
The clubs have shaken hands with Dinamo Batumi; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Boardroom3 Feb 2031
Guria close the window on a squad of their own making
2 in and 4 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Luka Avaliani will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Guria the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Saba Chakvetadze 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 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.
Levan Isiani 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.
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.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Dinamo Batumi is saying, and nobody at Guria is enjoying the guessing.
The deal that would have taken Luka Avaliani to Chikhura has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Guria with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Levan Isiani 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Khvicha Janelidze has just signed for Guria, and for once the answer mattered.
Torpedo Kutaisi will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Federico Chiatante has pre-agreed a move to Guria, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Khvicha Janelidze is 19, and Guria have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Chikhura waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Guria is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, and a scan that said otherwise. He goes back to Dinamo Batumi; Guria go back to the market; and both will insist there is no story here.
Guria had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Dinamo Tbilisi, 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 Ivane Okropiridze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Dinamo Batumi 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.
Nika Kvilitaia is 18, and Guria have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
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.
Position 16 and 1 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.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Guria asked and Saburtalo said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Guria 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.
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.
“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 Guria, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Guria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nika Kakabadze 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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivane Okropiridze 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 Guria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Saba Chakvetadze 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gogita Salukvadze 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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Levan Isiani signs something — a contract at Guria or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
The dugoutOtar Arveladze has become a man the manager trusts
The dugoutLuka Avaliani knocks on the manager’s door
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Guria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The table is being checked before the results are in, which is always the tell. Nobody at Guria says the word and every senior player in the building is thinking it.
In brief
The dugoutLuka Avaliani asks for a word with the manager
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Levan Isiani
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Guria can pretend not to have heard.
Levan Isiani 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 has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
The 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 Guria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Levan Isiani signs something — a contract at Guria or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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 Otar Arveladze is on it.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Nika Nozadze
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivane Okropiridze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Guria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Guria has been clear about where Luka Avaliani stands, which is more than many ever get.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Guria, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Levan Isiani’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.
Kichi Meliava 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivane Okropiridze 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 Luka Avaliani trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Kichi Meliava 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. Ivane Okropiridze 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.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Guria can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Davit Chankotadze was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Tornike Arveladze is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
Kichi Meliava has been around long enough to know what the spring feels like when it goes wrong, and he can feel it. A dressing room that is frightened plays like one.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Guria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivane Okropiridze 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.
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Levan Isiani has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 1 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivane Okropiridze 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 Guria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.