From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market25 Jan 2027
“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 The request is on a desk at Sapovnela, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market25 Jan 2027
The fee is $1.2M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Torpedo Kutaisi drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Dimitris Kolovetsios 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.
Market25 Jan 2027
The chase for Lasha Kukulava ended with $34.0K changing hands and Guria out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Squad25 Jan 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad25 Jan 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Kristoffer Bygland and Sapovnela agree another 3 years.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match18 Jan 2027
Sapovnela are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 14 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Squad18 Jan 2027
14 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Nikola Dimitrijević 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Kévin Aubeneau knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sapovnela, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market11 Jan 2027
“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 The request is on a desk at Sapovnela, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad11 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market11 Jan 2027
The paperwork is done: Temur Kvaratskhelia joins from Zugdidi in a deal worth $28.0K. Now comes the harder part.
Market11 Jan 2027
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Lukas Benes and Sapovnela agree another 1 years.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad4 Jan 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad4 Jan 2027
30 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad4 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Dec 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Diego Pereira knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Diego Pereira trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match21 Dec 2026
Sapovnela refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 14 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Market21 Dec 2026
“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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Sapovnela may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Dec 2026
Dimitris Kolovetsios 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Maxim Zhabitskiy and Sapovnela agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad14 Dec 2026
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Sapovnela pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ali Al-Memari, and the manager let it.
Match12 Dec 2026
Point won or two lost for Sapovnela?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against BK Hacken? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market7 Dec 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Nikola Dimitrijević 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Felipe Baiano and Sapovnela agree another 2 years.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Sapovnela may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad30 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match28 Nov 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Jairo Martínez’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Sapovnela.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Defensive actions: 19, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad30 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Diego Pereira, and the manager let it.
Squad30 Nov 2026
No place for Jairo Pérez on the big day
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Sapovnela pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.93 on the card, and the Sapovnela support went home talking about one name.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Defensive actions: 15. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Sapovnela may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match23 Nov 2026
Sapovnela refuse to drop out of the race
Position 3, 14 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Squad23 Nov 2026
46 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Nov 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad16 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Danila Smirnov
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match7 Nov 2026
Nowhere to hide for Sapovnela
1‑4 against NEC, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Match7 Nov 2026
No end in sight to Sapovnela's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Sapovnela has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Nikola Dimitrijević was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“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 ratings9 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.25, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Zayed Fadaaq and Sapovnela agree another 3 years.
Squad9 Nov 2026
The team sheet said everything about Danila Smirnov
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Danila Smirnov.
Boardroom9 Nov 2026
Nobody left the Sapovnela dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Nov 2026
Dimitris Kolovetsios 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad2 Nov 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Alioune Sylla and Sapovnela agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad26 Oct 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Match26 Oct 2026
Sapovnela are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 14 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Squad26 Oct 2026
75 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Match24 Oct 2026
The wait goes on for Sapovnela
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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Nikola Dimitrijević 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.
Match24 Oct 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Sapovnela are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Sapovnela may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Kévin Aubeneau was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad12 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Danila Smirnov
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match3 Oct 2026
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 11 matches without defeat is a foundation Sapovnela did not have in the autumn.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Oct 2026
The medical room confirms 41 days on the sidelines for Bence Takács, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad5 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Jairo Pérez
“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.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
135% of the income goes out in wages at Sapovnela
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Market5 Oct 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Marked 7.41 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Sapovnela had the best player on the pitch.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match28 Sep 2026
14 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Match26 Sep 2026
Whatever happens, Sapovnela do not lose
10 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
The medical room confirms 104 days on the sidelines for Marko Prljević, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Kévin Aubeneau 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 16 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.54 on the card, and the Sapovnela support went home talking about one name.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Jairo Pérez knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jairo Pérez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 14 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match19 Sep 2026
Still nobody has beaten Sapovnela
The unbeaten run reaches 9. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Dajan Ponjević 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gabriel Silva, and the manager let it.
Match19 Sep 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Jairo Martínez’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Sapovnela.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 18 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad21 Sep 2026
The team sheet said everything about Danila Smirnov
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Danila Smirnov.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
A mark of 7.89, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Defensive actions: 16. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match12 Sep 2026
Still nobody has beaten Sapovnela
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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Jairo Pérez 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market14 Sep 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Match12 Sep 2026
It needed Gabriel Silva to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Chikhura, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Sep 2026
Jairo Pérez in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match5 Sep 2026
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Sapovnela did not have in the autumn.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Marked 9.01 — 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.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
161% of the income goes out in wages at Sapovnela
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market7 Sep 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 34. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad31 Aug 2026
The medical room confirms 132 days on the sidelines for Marko Prljević, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Jairo Pérez 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Jairo Pérez gets it from the manager
“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.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Marked 8.03 — 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Aug 2026
Dimitris Kolovetsios 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.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
A performance of 8.88 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match22 Aug 2026
Saburtalo made Sapovnela work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad24 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Danila Smirnov
“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 ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
A performance of 8.01 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Market24 Aug 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Defensive actions: 15, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad24 Aug 2026
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Sapovnela have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match15 Aug 2026
Dinamo Tbilisi ended it 1‑1. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad17 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Aug 2026
“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 ratings17 Aug 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.25, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
It was his to settle and he did not settle it. A long walk back to the halfway line, and a considerably longer week.
Market17 Aug 2026
“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 Gabriel Silva.
Market17 Aug 2026
He is 20, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Maxim Azarko knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Maxim Azarko trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad10 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sapovnela this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match8 Aug 2026
Tskhinvali made Sapovnela work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“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 ratings10 Aug 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.55, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Marked 8.22 — 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.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market10 Aug 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Squad10 Aug 2026
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
Squad10 Aug 2026
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad3 Aug 2026
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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Sandro Shugladze commits to Sapovnela for another 1 years.
Match1 Aug 2026
Lokomotivi left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.