From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Feb 2027
Eric Barrios in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Samtredia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Bakar Laghadze commits to Samtredia for another 3 years.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lokomotivi have kept their man, and Samtredia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Samtredia
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matheus Gonçalves was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market8 Feb 2027
Nikita Morozov is 20, and Samtredia 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Too much change too quickly at Samtredia
5 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.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
“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.
Market8 Feb 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Giorgi Mchedlishvili’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market8 Feb 2027
The window shut and Nikoloz Vibliani is still in the building
Samtredia spent a month trying to move him and nobody rang back. He trains with a squad that has told him where he stands, and both sides start counting down to the next one.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market1 Feb 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Samtredia people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Samtredia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Samtredia close the window on a squad of their own making
4 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.
Market1 Feb 2027
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Squad1 Feb 2027
A move Samuel Bočkay would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Samuel Bočkay is living that version at Samtredia, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Eric Barrios 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.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
Samtredia 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Samtredia
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Julen Cordero was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bakar Laghadze, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market25 Jan 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Samtredia people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
The clubs have shaken hands with Merani; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Julen Cordero 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.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
Samtredia 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Samtredia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Carlos Philipe 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.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
Samtredia have made the call to Lokomotivi. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
Otar Gagnidze knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Otar Gagnidze trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market25 Jan 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Samtredia know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Giorgi Mchedlishvili’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market18 Jan 2027
Business is business: Asad Asadov goes
Sioni paid $54.0K and Samtredia took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Market18 Jan 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Samtredia have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Raul Baratelia
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
A loan move for Diego Deisadze is in the works
Samtredia 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Samtredia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Jan 2027
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Samtredia will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
Otar Gagnidze knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Samtredia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market18 Jan 2027
The Eric Barrios story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Eric Barrios signs something — a contract at Samtredia or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad18 Jan 2027
The move was somebody else's story. What it left behind was a dressing-room stall nobody has taken and a player who keeps looking at it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market11 Jan 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Samtredia people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Dinamo Tbilisi is saying, and nobody at Samtredia is enjoying the guessing.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Julen Cordero and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market11 Jan 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Samtredia have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Samtredia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Carlos Philipe 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.
Market11 Jan 2027
A stepping stone, not a home, for Phoenix Scholtz
He is doing his job and he is not settling. Samtredia were supposed to be a step up in his own reckoning, and his own reckoning has been adjusted since he arrived.
Market11 Jan 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Giorgi Mchedlishvili’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Somebody is after Eric Barrios’s shirt
A new face in his position, and Eric Barrios suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Samtredia have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
Squad11 Jan 2027
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Samtredia has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market4 Jan 2027
Lokomotivi come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Samtredia did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market4 Jan 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Eric Barrios 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.
Market4 Jan 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Samtredia have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dinamo Batumi have kept their man, and Samtredia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Carlos Philipe 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Samtredia will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Market4 Jan 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Samtredia, another week without a signature from Matheus Gonçalves.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Samtredia
Eric Barrios 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
“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; Samtredia are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Market28 Dec 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Tamaz Makatsaria’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Samtredia
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Carlos Philipe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Carlos Philipe, and the manager let it.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Samtredia
Vakhtang Gvelesiani 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
“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 Samtredia will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Market21 Dec 2026
The Eric Barrios story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Eric Barrios signs something — a contract at Samtredia or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Dec 2026
Julen Cordero and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market14 Dec 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Goga Kashia is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market14 Dec 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Otar Kvaratskhelia 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
A row about effort at Samtredia
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Carlos Philipe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Helistano Manga
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Raul Baratelia knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Samtredia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market14 Dec 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Julen Cordero signs something — a contract at Samtredia or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“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 Samtredia will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Samtredia
Julen Cordero 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 dugout7 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Otar Gagnidze, and the manager let it.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Asad Asadov's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Samtredia may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad30 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Samtredia
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Carlos Philipe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Otar Gagnidze knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Samtredia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Mate Turmanidze: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Samtredia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Carlos Philipe 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.
Market23 Nov 2026
The Eric Barrios story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Eric Barrios signs something — a contract at Samtredia or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Carlos Philipe asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
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 Teimuraz Aleksidze has written the date down.
Squad23 Nov 2026
The training reports on Luka Rekhviashvili are not good
A bad Saturday is forgiven; a bad Tuesday is chosen. Standards have slipped and in a building where everybody watches everybody, it has been noticed.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Nov 2026
Eric Barrios in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Samtredia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Luka Tsulaia is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“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.
Market16 Nov 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Julen Cordero signs something — a contract at Samtredia or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad16 Nov 2026
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
Squad16 Nov 2026
The training reports on Helistano Manga are not good
A bad Saturday is forgiven; a bad Tuesday is chosen. Standards have slipped and in a building where everybody watches everybody, it has been noticed.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Nov 2026
Eric Barrios 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.
Market9 Nov 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Beka Gamsakhurdia 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Carlos Philipe 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.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Asad Asadov's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Market9 Nov 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Giorgi Mchedlishvili signs something — a contract at Samtredia or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
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 Teimuraz Aleksidze has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Samtredia
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Carlos Philipe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Raul Baratelia, and the manager let it.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Vakhtang Gvelesiani and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad2 Nov 2026
“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 Samtredia will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Squad2 Nov 2026
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.
Market2 Nov 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Davit Samurkasovi signs something — a contract at Samtredia or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Samtredia may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad26 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Samtredia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Otar Gagnidze
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad26 Oct 2026
12 new faces, and Samtredia 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 dugout26 Oct 2026
Raul Baratelia knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Samtredia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market26 Oct 2026
The Eric Barrios story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Eric Barrios signs something — a contract at Samtredia or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Otar Gagnidze: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Samtredia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Julen Cordero and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Samtredia can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Carlos Philipe 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.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Luka Tsulaia is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Samtredia will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“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.
Market19 Oct 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Samtredia know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Asad Asadov knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Asad Asadov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Oct 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Tsotne Chikovani commits to Samtredia for another 3 years.
Market12 Oct 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Aleksandre 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.
Market12 Oct 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Giorgi Janelidze is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Carlos Philipe, and the manager let it.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Otar Gagnidze knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Samtredia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages swallow 115% of the Samtredia income
Every club 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 it has been tried.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
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. Tsotne Chikovani has moved up it.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
Carlos Philipe knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Samtredia, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market5 Oct 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Davit Samurkasovi signs something — a contract at Samtredia or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Mate Turmanidze arrived with a record at a bigger club than this one, and the room has treated him accordingly. The young ones watch him train; the senior ones watch to see whether it lasts.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
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 Teimuraz Aleksidze has written the date down.
Squad5 Oct 2026
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
Market5 Oct 2026
Torpedo Kutaisi watched Julen Cordero again at the weekend, and this time they did not bother hiding it. Clubs only stop hiding when they want the price to start moving.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Sep 2026
Eric Barrios and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Samtredia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Carlos Philipe 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Too much change too quickly at Samtredia
12 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.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Marked 7.21. 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 dugout28 Sep 2026
“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.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Revaz Ananidze after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Squad28 Sep 2026
One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Julen Cordero has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Match26 Sep 2026
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Guria came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.83 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Eric Barrios in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Samtredia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match19 Sep 2026
The drought breaks for Samtredia
6 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Chikhura were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
Transfer targets21 Sep 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Tskhinvali have kept their man, and Samtredia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match19 Sep 2026
It finished 2‑0, and it was Julen Cordero’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Samtredia.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Carlos Philipe 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.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Revaz Ananidze could afford to be generous.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Luka Tsulaia's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Sep 2026
The wait goes on for Samtredia
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Match12 Sep 2026
1‑3 to Zugdidi, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Market14 Sep 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Beka Mchedlidze is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market14 Sep 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Archil Mchedlidze 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.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Eric Barrios was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.23. 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Vakhtang Gvelesiani commits to Samtredia for another 3 years.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
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 1‑3 Revaz Ananidze left the room before anybody could ask which.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad14 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Samtredia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 40. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market7 Sep 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Match5 Sep 2026
5 matches without a win for Samtredia
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Samtredia are no longer polite ones.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Window shuts: 18 in, 1 out at Samtredia
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 18 arrived, 1 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Match5 Sep 2026
4 matches without a goal for Samtredia
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Julen Cordero 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.
Match5 Sep 2026
Merani left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Samtredia
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Carlos Philipe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market31 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Match29 Aug 2026
4 matches without a win for Samtredia
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Samtredia are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad31 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Samtredia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match29 Aug 2026
3 matches without a goal for Samtredia
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.
Match29 Aug 2026
0‑1 to Saburtalo, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 9 actions, 6.57, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Too much change too quickly at Samtredia
11 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.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Revaz Ananidze to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market24 Aug 2026
Samtredia say no — this time
The offer from Saburtalo for Davit Samurkasovi 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.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Eric Barrios beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match22 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Otar Gagnidze
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Revaz Ananidze after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Market24 Aug 2026
Luka Rekhviashvili is 19, and Samtredia 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Aleksandre Lobjanidze and Samtredia agree another 3 years.
Market24 Aug 2026
Asad Asadov told to find a new club
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Asad Asadov has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Samtredia.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match12 Aug 2026
The cup run ends for Samtredia
1‑2 against Lokomotivi, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
A defender's goal wins it for Samtredia — 7.71
1 for Eric Barrios, marked 7.71, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Samtredia
Julen Cordero 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.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
The offer went to Torpedo Kutaisi 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.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Avtandil Labadze, and the manager let it.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Carlos Philipe 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.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match8 Aug 2026
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Lokomotivi, and it could have been more.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.86 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Carlos Philipe arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Carlos Philipe has, at Samtredia, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Eric Barrios and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Samtredia asked and Alianza Lima said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Revaz Mchedlidze 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Levan Tsitaishvili is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Archil Mchedlidze 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Giorgi Mchedlishvili and Samtredia agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Samtredia
Eric Barrios 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.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Deportivo Pasto have kept their man, and Samtredia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Samtredia, another week without a signature from Giorgi Mchedlishvili.
Market3 Aug 2026
49 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
Squad3 Aug 2026
9 new faces, and Samtredia 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 dugout3 Aug 2026
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Looking ahead3 Aug 2026
A test against the best for Samtredia
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Lokomotivi.