“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 The request is on a desk at Merani, and it is not being withdrawn.
Zviad Sikharulia was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Merani, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
5 new faces, and Merani 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Javohir Esonqulov signs something — a contract at Merani or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Merani, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Merani can pretend not to have heard.
Zviad Sikharulia 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. Artem Babchuk has just signed for Merani, and for once the answer mattered.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Doueugui Mala 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 Merani, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The best deals are the ones the accountants never notice. Iljas Gaibov arrives at Merani with his wages the only cost and something to prove the only clause.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Merani may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Merani close the window on a squad of their own making
5 in and 3 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.
Ruslan Askerov 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.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
A new face in his position, and Zviad Sikharulia suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Merani have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Merani 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 Merani, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Merani is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Merani 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Zviad Sikharulia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ruslan Askerov 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 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 Bakar Laghadze has written the date down.
Position 2, 22 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Merani will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Zviad Sikharulia 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 name of Nodar Kavtaradze has come up in conversations Merani were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Chikhura have kept their man, and Merani go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Merani are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Javohir Esonqulov signs something — a contract at Merani or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Merani people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 32 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 Merani 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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Aleksey Sysoev is living that version at Merani, and it tends to show in the first month.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Samtredia have kept their man, and Merani go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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 Merani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Kakha Kiteishvili has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Merani will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The deal with Tskhinvali 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 Batumi have kept their man, and Merani go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 46 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 Merani 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 Merani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Davit Khelaia trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Zviad Sikharulia’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 54 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Zviad Sikharulia 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.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Javohir Esonqulov signs something — a contract at Merani or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
The dugoutDavit Khelaia asks for a word with the manager
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Merani will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Zviad Sikharulia 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Goga Janelidze is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Mikheil Daraselia is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Merani training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nodar Kavtaradze 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.
Qualification is done, and next season the floodlights come on for something bigger. A stage for the players, oxygen for the accounts and a passport for everybody else.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Merani will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
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.
Ruslan Askerov 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.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Merani than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
Done, and with games to spare. Next season has floodlit nights against clubs from other countries in it, and the accounts have a line they did not have last year.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Merani 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 Merani, 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 Merani 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 85 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Merani 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 Nodar Kavtaradze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Javohir Esonqulov signs something — a contract at Merani or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Merani will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Merani will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Bakar Laghadze trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Zviad Sikharulia plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Merani will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Lasha Chaladze 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Mikheil Kakabadze has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Kakha Chakvetadze is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Merani will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Lasha Chaladze 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 board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.
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 done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Merani will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Merani 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 Merani 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 Javohir Esonqulov signs something — a contract at Merani or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Merani, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Merani will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Merani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Halid Doltmourziev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Merani know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Merani will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
At 21 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Shota Ananidze 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.
Lasha Chaladze 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.
9 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Zviad Sikharulia is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Bakar Laghadze has his answer from Merani; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Ruslan Askerov wins it after the whistle should have gone
96 minutes played. Ruslan Askerov found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Tskhinvali went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Position 2, 22 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Zviad Sikharulia 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.
Three points for Merani, 2‑1 the final word against Tskhinvali in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Ruslan Askerov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.15. 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Temur Okriashvili on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Zviad Sikharulia 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.
At 19 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 3‑0, Temur Okriashvili could afford to be generous.
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 one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Merani asked and Tskhinvali 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.
Lasha Chaladze 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.
Successful dribbles: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Temur Arveladze 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. Saba Ananidze is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Giorgi Ugrekhelidze. 1‑0 against Sioni, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“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 Merani, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 19 arrived, 0 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 Merani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Tskhinvali have kept their man, and Merani go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A mark of 7.81, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Squad7 Sep 2026
9 new faces, and Merani 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.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Temur Okriashvili could afford to be generous.
Marked 8.27 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Merani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 7.20. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Temur Okriashvili chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Merani, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Merani had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Tskhinvali, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Temur Okriashvili after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nikoloz Kharabadze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Levan Tsotsonava’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Merani needing him to play as if none of it matters.
“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 Merani, and it is not being withdrawn.
Zviad Sikharulia 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Temur Lobjanidze 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. Mamuka Kvaratskhelia has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Sandro Kiteishvili has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
8 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.49 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“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 Merani, and it is not being withdrawn.
6 goals in one match, Nodar Kavtaradze on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Merani and Shukura.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Zviad Sikharulia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Lasha Chaladze 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.