Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 103 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Chikhura waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Lokomotivi is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Sardorbek Hoshimov 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Filipe Alves 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. Rosario Central have kept their man, and Lokomotivi go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Aleksandre Turkia is on it.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Lokomotivi 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 Lokomotivi people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 10 signed and 2 gone
That is the business done at Lokomotivi until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Dennis Amoako 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Lokomotivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Filipe Alves 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.
Lokomotivi 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mehrubon Karimov and Lokomotivi agree another 4 years.
Lokomotivi asked and Andijon 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 Giorgi Todua was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Evgeniy Patyutko has just signed for Lokomotivi, and for once the answer mattered.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Chikhura have kept their man, and Lokomotivi 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 Lokomotivi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Lokomotivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luka Tsulaia 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 offer from Chikhura for Sandro Shashiashvili 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 Lokomotivi, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Shukura waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Lokomotivi is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
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.
At 20 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Lokomotivi can pretend not to have heard.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Lokomotivi are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Dennis Amoako 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. Dinamo Batumi have kept their man, and Lokomotivi go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Add another name to the list: Shukura have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Otar Gamsakhurdia. The answer from Lokomotivi has not changed — yet.
Lokomotivi have made the call to Torpedo Kutaisi. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
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 Lasha Ozbetelashvili is on it.
In brief
BoardroomOpen for business: Lokomotivi enter the window
Dennis Amoako 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 Luka Metreveli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Luka Metreveli is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Nikoloz Ugrekhelidze signs something — a contract at Lokomotivi or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Lokomotivi. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Lokomotivi, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Lasha Ozbetelashvili signs something — a contract at Lokomotivi or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
SquadThe training reports on Giorgi Todua are not good
At 20 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.
Nobody at Lokomotivi 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Filipe Alves signs something — a contract at Lokomotivi or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Luka Archaia trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
SquadThe training reports on Benjamin Twum are not good
Words at Lokomotivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Asayure 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.
Dennis Amoako 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 David Asayure was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Luka Metreveli is on it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Lokomotivi will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and João Vítor was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Giorgi Todua trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Lokomotivi will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Nikoloz Ugrekhelidze 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Lokomotivi will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Dennis Amoako 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Lokomotivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edson 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 bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Lokomotivi will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about 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 Lokomotivi 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 Giorgi Todua was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Archaia trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Nikoloz Ugrekhelidze signs something — a contract at Lokomotivi or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Lokomotivi. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Lokomotivi will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
João Vítor 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Lokomotivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edson 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 conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Frank Chileshe has written the date down.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 53 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
7 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.
Something was said to Giorgi Gogatishvili and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Nobody at Lokomotivi 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 61 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Dennis Amoako 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Lokomotivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. João Vítor 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Mamuka Chakvetadze has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Giorgi Todua has his answer from Lokomotivi; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 68 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Lokomotivi can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Mate Ghaghvishvili is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Dennis Amoako 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 is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
In brief
The dugoutGiorgi Todua knocks on the manager’s door
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Lokomotivi will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
A brace, and Dennis Amoako takes the afternoon — 9.22
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Dennis Amoako provided it, and the 9.22 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Lokomotivi have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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.
Nikoloz Ugrekhelidze 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Lokomotivi and Zugdidi, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Lokomotivi will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
0‑3 to Merani, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokomotivi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Lokomotivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. João Vítor 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.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Boardroom21 Sep 2026
Nobody left the Lokomotivi dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Squad21 Sep 2026
7 new faces, and Lokomotivi 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Shota Qazaishvili after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Nobody at Lokomotivi is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Lokomotivi will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Luka Archaia did not need any: 7.91, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
João Vítor and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Lokomotivi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edson is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Luka Archaia has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Otar Gamsakhurdia is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Lokomotivi 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.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 93. Saburtalo had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 98 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 Lokomotivi can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 24 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Lokomotivi until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Everything agreed with Dinamo Batumi, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Aktobe is saying, and nobody at Lokomotivi is enjoying the guessing.
Dennis Amoako 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.
Dinamo Batumi wanted more than $7.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad7 Sep 2026
João Vítor 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Lokomotivi can pretend not to have heard.
Lokomotivi had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Bukhara, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Lokomotivi offered $700.0K; Tskhinvali 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.
He is 19 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
It finished 1-4. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.
The offer went to Tskhinvali 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lokomotivi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Two goals and a mark of 8.69 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Lokomotivi offered $620.0K; Zugdidi 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.
Dennis Amoako 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.
He is 20 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Dinamo Tbilisi did not want to sell and the number is why they did. $550.0K for Nikoloz Ugrekhelidze, and the expectation that arrives with him is the kind no amount of settling-in period softens.
The offer went to Zugdidi 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.
Dennis Amoako and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces10 Aug 2026
Lokomotivi spend $550.0K on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $550.0K for Nikoloz Ugrekhelidze, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Revaz Ananidze 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. Temur Kashia has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Nika 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 hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Aleksandre Turkia did not need any: 9.86, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Mehrubon Karimov scored, was marked 7.94, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
$550.0K on the table at Dinamo Tbilisi. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Vasil Khositashvili and Lokomotivi agree another 2 years.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Dennis Amoako was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.96. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Dennis Amoako 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.