“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.
Nodar Kavtaradze 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.
“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 The request is on a desk at Merani, and it is not being withdrawn.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.
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.
Nodar Kavtaradze 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 a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Khazbulat Khamkhoev 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 message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Khazbulat Khamkhoev plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
Nodar Kavtaradze was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
A new face in his position, and Khazbulat Khamkhoev suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Merani have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
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.
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.
Nodar Kavtaradze 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 club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Merani 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 Merani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nodar Kavtaradze was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Davit Khelaia will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Merani 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 Merani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nodar Kavtaradze 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 club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried 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 Merani 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.” Merani 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 Merani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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; Merani are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Nodar Kavtaradze 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Merani they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
Nodar Kavtaradze 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 a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
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.
Nodar Kavtaradze 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 did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Merani will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Davit Khelaia will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Merani 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 Merani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I watch every Merani game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Lokomotivi runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Sioni defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Merani would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
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.
“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.
Nodar Kavtaradze 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 club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Merani has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 16 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
“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.
Nodar Kavtaradze 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Merani, another week without a signature from Sergey Zapalatskiy.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Davit Khelaia will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Merani 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 Merani this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Merani, another week without a signature from Daniil Prokopchuk.
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 7 of the 23 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
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.
Still no offer on the table, and Ruslan Askerov’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Merani has been clear about where Giorgi Gvasalia stands, which is more than many ever get.
“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.
Nodar Kavtaradze 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 phone has started ringing about Valer Chachava again, and this time the name on the line is Lokomotivi. Merani are listening politely and promising nothing.
Still no offer on the table, and Nodar Kavtaradze’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.