Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 33 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Sapovnela, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Temur Gvelesiani will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sapovnela 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 Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Dec 2029
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tedo Kikabidze 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sapovnela can pretend not to have heard.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 40 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Daniil Prokopchuk 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.
Squad24 Dec 2029
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jacob Dicko Eng is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Daniil Prokopchuk signs something — a contract at Sapovnela or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 47 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 Sapovnela 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 Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Dec 2029
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tedo Kikabidze 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.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Sapovnela know it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Artur Malievskiy signs something — a contract at Sapovnela or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
“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 Sapovnela, and it is not being withdrawn.
Daniil Prokopchuk 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.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Sapovnela know it.
He is 20, and nobody at Sapovnela signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sapovnela will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Sapovnela have had the benefit of it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sapovnela they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sapovnela will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sapovnela can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sapovnela they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Daniil Prokopchuk was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sapovnela will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sapovnela 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 Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Nov 2029
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tedo Kikabidze is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Artur Malievskiy signs something — a contract at Sapovnela or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 19 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Daniil Prokopchuk 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 Nov 2029
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Motiejus Burba 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 26 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Sapovnela, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sapovnela 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 Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Nov 2029
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tedo Kikabidze 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 at Sapovnela 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sapovnela will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sapovnela can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sapovnela they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Daniil Prokopchuk was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sapovnela will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sapovnela 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 Sapovnela 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.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Sapovnela know it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Artur Malievskiy signs something — a contract at Sapovnela or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 49 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Sapovnela, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
Beka Okriashvili 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.
“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; Sapovnela are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jacob Dicko Eng signs something — a contract at Sapovnela or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 56 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Temur Gvelesiani will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sapovnela the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Daniil Prokopchuk and Sapovnela agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Oct 2029
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tedo Kikabidze 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 63 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 Sapovnela can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sapovnela they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Daniil Prokopchuk 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 Oct 2029
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Motiejus Burba is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 70 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
16 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for 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 Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Saburtalo will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Abdelkrim Oukali has pre-agreed a move to Sapovnela, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 77 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Michalis Patiras provided it, and the 9.56 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Daniil Prokopchuk 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.
Squad17 Sep 2029
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Motiejus Burba 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 17-year-old it feels ownership of. Mamuka Kvaratskhelia 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jacob Dicko Eng signs something — a contract at Sapovnela or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 84 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
15 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Tskhinvali moved on, Beka Okriashvili reports back to Sapovnela, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sapovnela 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 Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A performance of 9.21 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad10 Sep 2029
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Bareiro 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Jacob Dicko Eng. 2‑0 against Chikhura, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 91 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Sapovnela, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jakub Hurny will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sapovnela the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Juan Manuel Díaz 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.
Samtredia will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Bachana Janelidze has pre-agreed a move to Sapovnela, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sapovnela is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“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 Sapovnela, and it is not being withdrawn.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Ivan Verhun did not need any: 7.61, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
5 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.
7 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad27 Aug 2029
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tedo Kikabidze is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 21 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Sapovnela will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
14 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere 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 Sapovnela can pretend not to have heard.
Daniil Prokopchuk 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.
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Sapovnela did not have in the autumn.
Squad20 Aug 2029
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Motiejus Burba 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sapovnela 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 Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Aug 2029
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tedo Kikabidze 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 goal that put Dinamo Tbilisi ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Sapovnela equalised, 2 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
13 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
“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 Sapovnela, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Temur Gvelesiani will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sapovnela the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Juan Manuel Díaz 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.
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.
“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; Sapovnela are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sapovnela can pretend not to have heard.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sapovnela 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.
4 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sapovnela can pretend not to have heard.
12 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sapovnela they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Marked 9.43 — 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 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Christos Kryparakos. 2‑1 against Sioni, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Beka Okriashvili 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 have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sapovnela can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sapovnela 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 Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tedo Kikabidze 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.
Samtredia made Sapovnela work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings16 Jul 2029
Jacob Dicko Eng was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.95. 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.
8.33. 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.
Nobody at Sapovnela 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.
“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 Sapovnela, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sapovnela is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad9 Jul 2029
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Motiejus Burba 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.
Beka Okriashvili was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
It 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.
10 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.
11 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 9.43. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Sapovnela.
Squad2 Jul 2029
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tedo Kikabidze 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.
21 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Dila go through and Sapovnela go home, 0‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sapovnela can pretend not to have heard.
The terraces25 Jun 2029
The ground has had enough
“We travel everywhere and we get this.” 7 of the 31 senior players heard it walking off, and the ones who did not hear it were not playing.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jakub Hurny will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sapovnela the goodbyes have quietly begun.
4 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.
Juan Manuel Díaz 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sapovnela can pretend not to have heard.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sapovnela they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
10 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Jun 2029
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artur Malievskiy 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.
“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.
Player ratings18 Jun 2029
Jacob Dicko Eng was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.65. 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sapovnela is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Jakub Hurny has agreed terms with Torpedo Kutaisi for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Juan Manuel Díaz 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.
Torpedo Kutaisi pay $180.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Sapovnela are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
9.68. 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.
9 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tedo Kikabidze is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Christos Kryparakos. 2‑0 against Guria, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
In brief
Player ratingsJairo Martínez was on a different afternoon to everybody else
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 May 2029
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artur Malievskiy 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.
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sapovnela can pretend not to have heard.
4 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bartosz Żelazowski will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sapovnela the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
Beka Okriashvili 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.
20 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Two goals and a mark of 9.04 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sapovnela is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 23 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 May 2029
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tedo Kikabidze 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Jacob Dicko Eng. 2‑0 against Merani, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sapovnela they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“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 Sapovnela, and it is not being withdrawn.
Daniil Prokopchuk 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Jacob Dicko Eng. 3‑2 against Saburtalo, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.94 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“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 Sapovnela, 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 Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tedo Kikabidze 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Otar Gagnidze. 2‑1 against Dinamo Tbilisi, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sapovnela can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bartosz Żelazowski will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sapovnela the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Daniil Prokopchuk 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.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Motiejus Burba 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.
Player ratings23 Apr 2029
Otar Gagnidze was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.04. 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.
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.
“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 Sapovnela, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sapovnela they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artur Malievskiy is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Sapovnela know it.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 13 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Bartosz Żelazowski: 2 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jairo Martínez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sapovnela the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sapovnela can pretend not to have heard.
Juan Manuel Díaz 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Motiejus Burba. 4‑3 against Sioni, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sapovnela can pretend not to have heard.
The unbeaten run reaches 7. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tedo Kikabidze is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Sapovnela know it.
18 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Sapovnela, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sapovnela is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
4 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.
Daniil Prokopchuk 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sapovnela can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Temur Gvelesiani will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sapovnela 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 Sapovnela 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.
It needed Daniil Prokopchuk to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Torpedo Kutaisi, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sapovnela can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sapovnela they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Jairo Martínez has agreed terms with Torpedo Kutaisi for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Daniil Prokopchuk 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.
Player ratings12 Mar 2029
Jacob Dicko Eng was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.91. 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.
“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 Sapovnela will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Two goals and a mark of 7.84 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“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 Sapovnela, and it is not being withdrawn.
A new deal for the man in the dugout, and the clearest thing a board can say without calling a press conference about it. Stability is cheap to promise and expensive to deliver.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom5 Mar 2029
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Sapovnela
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Squad5 Mar 2029
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tedo Kikabidze 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Guram Kvilitaia is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sapovnela can pretend not to have heard.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Motiejus Burba 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.
Beka Okriashvili 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. Bartosz Żelazowski will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sapovnela the goodbyes have quietly begun.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tedo Kikabidze 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.
6 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sapovnela can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sapovnela is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Aleksandr Mukhin is living that version at Sapovnela, and it tends to show in the first month.
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.
Beka Okriashvili 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 have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Sapovnela know 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 Sapovnela 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 Sapovnela 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.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Sapovnela know it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Michalis Patiras signs something — a contract at Sapovnela or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Juan Manuel Díaz 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.
“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; Sapovnela are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“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 Sapovnela, 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 Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Add another name to the list: Merani have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Temur Gvelesiani. The answer from Sapovnela has not changed — yet.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artur Malievskiy 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 at Sapovnela 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sapovnela can pretend not to have heard.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Ivan Verhun has just signed for Sapovnela, and for once the answer mattered.
Juan Manuel Díaz 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.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Motiejus Burba 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.
He is 20, and nobody at Sapovnela signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sapovnela can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from Saburtalo for Jakub Hurny 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.
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 Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sapovnela have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Sapovnela will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sapovnela 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 Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tedo Kikabidze 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.
“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 Sapovnela, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
Jakub Hurny was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artur Malievskiy 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.
In brief
Squad7 new faces, and Sapovnela are still learning each other
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Sapovnela will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
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.
Jakub Hurny 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 have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Sapovnela know it.
Davit Gvelesiani is 19, and Sapovnela 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tedo Kikabidze 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 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 Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Dimitar Petrov is living that version at Sapovnela, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tedo Kikabidze 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Temur Gvelesiani and Sapovnela agree another 3 years.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Michalis Patiras signs something — a contract at Sapovnela or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Sapovnela, another week without a signature from Daniil Botukh.
Juan Manuel Díaz 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.
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artur Malievskiy 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.
Abdelkrim Oukali was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sapovnela, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sapovnela is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sapovnela can pretend not to have heard.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artur Malievskiy 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.
Abdelkrim Oukali 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.
Squad16 Oct 2028
5 new faces, and Sapovnela 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.
Nobody at Sapovnela 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 Michalis Patiras signs something — a contract at Sapovnela or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Juan Manuel Díaz and Sapovnela agree another 2 years.
Juan Manuel Díaz 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.
Tomas Janza is 19, and Sapovnela 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sapovnela can pretend not to have heard.
Abdelkrim Oukali was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sapovnela, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Abdelkrim Oukali will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sapovnela the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
Juan Manuel Díaz 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.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jacob Dicko Eng is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artur Malievskiy 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Tedo Kikabidze 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 Michalis Patiras signs something — a contract at Sapovnela or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tedo Kikabidze 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.
Abdelkrim Oukali 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.
Nobody at Sapovnela 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.
Juan Manuel Díaz was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jacob Dicko Eng signs something — a contract at Sapovnela or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sapovnela can pretend not to have heard.
Two goals and a mark of 9.08 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sapovnela is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sapovnela 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 Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artur Malievskiy 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Christos Kryparakos. 2‑0 against Merani, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Saburtalo kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Sapovnela will be asked about the last half hour all week.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Daniil Prokopchuk provided it, and the 8.92 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sapovnela they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sapovnela have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Juan Manuel Díaz 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 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.
Ahmad Hosseini, 18, plays like he has been here for years — 7.84
A mark of 7.84 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 18-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sapovnela can pretend not to have heard.
The fee is $330.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Shukura drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Otar Gagnidze from Shukura for $330.0K, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Marked 9.35 — 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.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artur Malievskiy 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 board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 94th minute. Tskhinvali will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Two goals and a mark of 8.85 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sapovnela have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Juan Manuel Díaz was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Evgeniy Karpovich signs something — a contract at Sapovnela or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sapovnela can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sapovnela 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 Sapovnela 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; Sapovnela are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sapovnela they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Evgeniy Zemko 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Jacob Dicko Eng. 3‑2 against Sioni, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 9.33 — 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 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Jairo Martínez 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.
8.59. 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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.94 at 38, and nobody on the pitch was better.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artur Malievskiy 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Evgeniy Zemko 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.
7 goals and a season average of 7.51. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Evgeniy Karpovich 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.
9.02. 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Abdelkrim Oukali will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sapovnela 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 Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artur Malievskiy 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.
6 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sapovnela can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sapovnela they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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 Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Dinamo Batumi defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sapovnela can pretend not to have heard.
11 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sapovnela 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.
8.88. 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.
18 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.97 at 38, and nobody on the pitch was better.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Abdelkrim Oukali has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Juan Manuel Díaz 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 version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Tadas Jankauskas is living that version at Sapovnela, and it tends to show in the first month.
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.
5 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Abdelkrim Oukali will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sapovnela 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 Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artur Malievskiy 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Evgeniy Zemko will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sapovnela the goodbyes have quietly begun.
4 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.
Juan Manuel Díaz 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.
Squad29 May 2028
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Evgeniy Karpovich 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.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by 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 Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
9 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Squad22 May 2028
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artur Malievskiy 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.
At 23 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.
“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; Sapovnela are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
3 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Merani the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Sapovnela will enjoy reviewing.
Player ratings15 May 2028
Ahmad Hosseini, 17, plays like he has been here for years — 7.74
A mark of 7.74 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 17-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Juan Manuel Díaz 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.
8.99. 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.
8 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
8.31. 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.
The hardest thing about being 17 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Ahmad Hosseini did not need any: 7.76, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
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.
Abdelkrim Oukali 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 the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
Two goals and a mark of 9.39 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
There were 85 minutes on the clock and Dinamo Tbilisi had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Sapovnela did not stop to explain themselves.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sapovnela they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Juan Manuel Díaz 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings24 Apr 2028
Ahmad Hosseini, 17, plays like he has been here for years — 8.63
A mark of 8.63 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 17-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 17 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.
“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.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artur Malievskiy 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.
Evgeniy Zemko 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.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Evgeniy Karpovich 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.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Artur Malievskiy knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
“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 Sapovnela, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
Ahmad Hosseini, 17, plays like he has been here for years — 7.75
A mark of 7.75 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 17-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sapovnela 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.
At 23 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.
Marked 8.65 — 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sapovnela they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Evgeniy Zemko has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Evgeniy Zemko 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.
Marked 9.41 — 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Jairo Martínez. 3‑1 against Samtredia, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 8.87 — 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Jairo Martínez 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.
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.
24 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sapovnela 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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.87 at 38, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Evgeniy Karpovich is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Sapovnela know it.
The hardest thing about being 17 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Ahmad Hosseini did not need any: 8.24, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 17 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.
Marked 8.64. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Sapovnela.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artur Malievskiy 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Andhika Setiawan and Sapovnela agree another 3 years.
26 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Christos Kryparakos and Sapovnela agree another 4 years.
Juan Manuel Díaz 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.
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Words at Sapovnela training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Evgeniy Karpovich 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sapovnela 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 Sapovnela 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sapovnela can pretend not to have heard.
Juan Manuel Díaz 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.
“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 Sapovnela, 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 Sapovnela 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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
5 new faces, and Sapovnela 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.
Juan Manuel Díaz 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sfundo Shezi, and the manager let it.
Squad7 Feb 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Artur Malievskiy'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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Sapovnela, another week without a signature from Abdelkrim Oukali.