From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom6 Nov 2028
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Tornike Kakabadze has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market6 Nov 2028
“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.
Squad6 Nov 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Nov 2028
The medical room confirms 14 days on the sidelines for Minago Khozrevanidze, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad6 Nov 2028
“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.
Squad6 Nov 2028
The captaincy has been taken off Giorgi Akhaladze. Shukura will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market30 Oct 2028
Ilja Volnov hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shukura can pretend not to have heard.
Squad30 Oct 2028
“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.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Veljko Bogićević 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.
Squad30 Oct 2028
The manager makes an example of Eduard Makas
“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.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Jaba Arveladze 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 Jaba Arveladze trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market30 Oct 2028
4 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Shukura could get for him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom23 Oct 2028
Pressure builds in the Shukura boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market23 Oct 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shukura can pretend not to have heard.
Squad23 Oct 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Shukura may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad23 Oct 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Oct 2028
The manager makes an example of Luka Nemsadze
“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.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Jaba Arveladze 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 Jaba Arveladze trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match16 Oct 2028
Shukura sink to position 14
28 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market16 Oct 2028
“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.
Squad16 Oct 2028
“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.
Market16 Oct 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Shukura they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Veljko Bogićević 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
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market9 Oct 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shukura can pretend not to have heard.
Squad9 Oct 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Giorgi Akhaladze and Shukura agree another 3 years.
Squad9 Oct 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom2 Oct 2028
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Tornike Kakabadze has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market2 Oct 2028
Ilja Volnov hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shukura can pretend not to have heard.
Squad2 Oct 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Giorgi Akhaladze and Shukura agree another 3 years.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Joel Domínguez 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 Oct 2028
Eduard Makas 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 Eduard Makas trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Boardroom2 Oct 2028
$323.4K taken back off the Shukura table
What was available in the summer has quietly gone. Upstairs nobody will call it a change of ambition; downstairs nobody will call it anything else.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Nerves in the Shukura squad
Giorgi Akhaladze has been around long enough to know what the spring feels like when it goes wrong, and he can feel it. A dressing room that is frightened plays like one.
Market2 Oct 2028
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Nika Dumbadze may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Market2 Oct 2028
5 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Shukura could ask drops and the wages Guga Palavandishvili can ask rise.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom25 Sep 2028
Pressure builds in the Shukura boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market25 Sep 2028
“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 Shukura, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings25 Sep 2028
Dion Vata runs at them all day
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.
Squad25 Sep 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match23 Sep 2028
Sapovnela made Shukura work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings25 Sep 2028
Marked 8.10 — 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 ratings25 Sep 2028
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.
Squad25 Sep 2028
The manager makes an example of Nika Dumbadze
“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.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Eduard Makas asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match18 Sep 2028
Every point is an argument now for Shukura
Position 14 and 25 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market18 Sep 2028
“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 Shukura, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match16 Sep 2028
No end in sight to Shukura's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Shukura has to find a result from somewhere.
Market18 Sep 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Guga Palavandishvili will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Shukura the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Player ratings18 Sep 2028
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Veljko Bogićević 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 Sep 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Giorgi Akhaladze, and the manager let it.
Player ratings18 Sep 2028
Shots: 8, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
Match16 Sep 2028
Point won or two lost for Shukura?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Torpedo Kutaisi? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market11 Sep 2028
“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.
Market11 Sep 2028
The deal that would have taken Jaba Arveladze to Sioni has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Shukura with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Match9 Sep 2028
No end in sight to Shukura's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Shukura has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Veljko Bogićević 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.
Squad11 Sep 2028
The manager makes an example of Jaba Arveladze
“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 ratings11 Sep 2028
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings11 Sep 2028
The afternoon belonged to Ilya Koval
A mark of 7.79, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Match9 Sep 2028
Point won or two lost for Shukura?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Dinamo Batumi? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Player ratings11 Sep 2028
Shots: 11, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Tornike Kakabadze has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market4 Sep 2028
“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 Shukura, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market4 Sep 2028
The name of Jaba Arveladze has come up in conversations Shukura were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Match2 Sep 2028
No end in sight to Shukura's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Shukura has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad4 Sep 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Maxim Makarov commits to Shukura for another 4 years.
Squad4 Sep 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Sep 2028
“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 ratings4 Sep 2028
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom28 Aug 2028
The scrutiny sharpens at Shukura
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Shukura is running low.
Market28 Aug 2028
“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 Shukura, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Veljko Bogićević 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 Aug 2028
The manager makes an example of Eduard Makas
“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.
Match26 Aug 2028
Honours even between Shukura and Dila
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The terraces28 Aug 2028
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.
Player ratings28 Aug 2028
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad28 Aug 2028
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Niina Tominaga asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match21 Aug 2028
Shukura sink to position 14
22 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market21 Aug 2028
“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 Shukura, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings21 Aug 2028
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad21 Aug 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market21 Aug 2028
Samtredia are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Shukura will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Player ratings21 Aug 2028
Defensive actions: 20, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad21 Aug 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mikhail Philippov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Player ratings21 Aug 2028
Shots: 8, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
Match19 Aug 2028
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Guria will be the happier side with the point.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market14 Aug 2028
Nika Dumbadze hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shukura can pretend not to have heard.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Matěj Helebrand 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 ratings14 Aug 2028
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad14 Aug 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matěj Helebrand, and the manager let it.
Match12 Aug 2028
Chikhura left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad14 Aug 2028
The medical room confirms 42 days on the sidelines for Otar Qazaishvili, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Player ratings14 Aug 2028
Shots: 8. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Nika Dumbadze 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 Shukura, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Player ratings14 Aug 2028
A day to forget for Dion Vata
Marked 5.67, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom7 Aug 2028
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Shukura can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market7 Aug 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ivan Mamrosenko will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Shukura the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad7 Aug 2028
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Market7 Aug 2028
“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 Aug 2028
14 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad7 Aug 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market7 Aug 2028
Merani are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Shukura will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Match5 Aug 2028
A 3‑2 win over Zugdidi, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings7 Aug 2028
Marked 9.23 — 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings31 Jul 2028
Successful dribbles: 35. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Boardroom31 Jul 2028
The scrutiny sharpens at Shukura
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Shukura is running low.
Market31 Jul 2028
“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.
Market31 Jul 2028
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Samtredia moved on, Jaba Arveladze reports back to Shukura, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Player ratings31 Jul 2028
Defensive actions: 26, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Matěj Helebrand 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.
Match29 Jul 2028
Merani made Shukura work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad31 Jul 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Maxim Makarov, and the manager let it.
Player ratings31 Jul 2028
A performance of 8.18 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market24 Jul 2028
Jaba Arveladze has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Shukura they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market24 Jul 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shukura can pretend not to have heard.
Match22 Jul 2028
No end in sight to Shukura's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Shukura has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad24 Jul 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Shukura may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings24 Jul 2028
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad24 Jul 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Jul 2028
“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.
Match22 Jul 2028
0‑1 to Saburtalo, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad24 Jul 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Shukura, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match17 Jul 2028
Shukura sink to position 15
15 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market17 Jul 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market17 Jul 2028
“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 Shukura, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match15 Jul 2028
No end in sight to Shukura's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Shukura has to find a result from somewhere.
Market17 Jul 2028
The phone has started ringing about Jaba Arveladze again, and this time the name on the line is Sioni. Shukura are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Matěj Helebrand 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 ratings17 Jul 2028
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Matěj Helebrand asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market17 Jul 2028
1 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Shukura money.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match8 Jul 2028
Nowhere to hide for Shukura
0‑3 against Tskhinvali, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market10 Jul 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Shukura is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market10 Jul 2028
“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.
Market10 Jul 2028
The phone has started ringing about Matěj Helebrand again, and this time the name on the line is Merani. Shukura are listening politely and promising nothing.
Match8 Jul 2028
No end in sight to Shukura's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Shukura has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad10 Jul 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings10 Jul 2028
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad10 Jul 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Giorgi Akhaladze, and the manager let it.
Boardroom10 Jul 2028
Nobody left the Shukura 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
Crisis
Squad3 Jul 2028
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.
Boardroom3 Jul 2028
Pressure builds in the Shukura boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Boardroom3 Jul 2028
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Shukura can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market3 Jul 2028
“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.
Market3 Jul 2028
Shukura say no — this time
The offer from Samtredia for Jaba Arveladze 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.
Market3 Jul 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Shukura is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Player ratings3 Jul 2028
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.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Veljko Bogićević 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.
Squad3 Jul 2028
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market26 Jun 2028
“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 Shukura, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad26 Jun 2028
“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; Shukura are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Player ratings26 Jun 2028
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.
Squad26 Jun 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market26 Jun 2028
Merani are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Shukura will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Player ratings26 Jun 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.02, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad26 Jun 2028
The manager makes an example of Luka Nemsadze
“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.
Match24 Jun 2028
Honours even between Shukura and Sioni
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad26 Jun 2028
A booking nobody needed, on a night the game was already won. Shukura lose a player for the most avoidable reason there is.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market19 Jun 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shukura can pretend not to have heard.
Match19 Jun 2028
Every point is an argument now for Shukura
Position 14 and 12 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Player ratings19 Jun 2028
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Matěj Helebrand 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.
Market19 Jun 2028
Samtredia are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Shukura will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Squad19 Jun 2028
The manager makes an example of Matěj Helebrand
“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.
Match17 Jun 2028
0‑1 to Samtredia, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Market19 Jun 2028
2 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Shukura could get for him.
Market19 Jun 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Shukura know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market12 Jun 2028
“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 Shukura, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market12 Jun 2028
Merani come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Shukura did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market12 Jun 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Shukura is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad12 Jun 2028
“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.
Squad12 Jun 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market12 Jun 2028
Business is business: Abdulla Ahmed goes
Torpedo Kutaisi paid $220.0K and Shukura took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Player ratings12 Jun 2028
Marked 9.09 — 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.
Match10 Jun 2028
Three points for Shukura, 2‑0 the final word against Sapovnela in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings12 Jun 2028
A defender's afternoon for Ilja Volnov
Defensive actions: 20. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match3 Jun 2028
The wait goes on for Shukura
20 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.
Boardroom5 Jun 2028
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Shukura can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market5 Jun 2028
“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 Shukura, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom5 Jun 2028
Pressure builds in the Shukura boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Matěj Helebrand 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 ratings5 Jun 2028
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market5 Jun 2028
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Shukura will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad5 Jun 2028
“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 ratings5 Jun 2028
A defender's afternoon for Abdulla Ahmed
Defensive actions: 17. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match27 May 2028
The wait goes on for Shukura
19 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.
Market29 May 2028
“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.
Squad29 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings29 May 2028
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings29 May 2028
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.45 on the card, and the Shukura support went home talking about one name.
Squad29 May 2028
The manager makes an example of Ilya Koval
“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.
Squad29 May 2028
Jaba Arveladze 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 Jaba Arveladze trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Player ratings29 May 2028
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.
Player ratings29 May 2028
Shots: 8. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match20 May 2028
The wait goes on for Shukura
18 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.
Match20 May 2028
0‑3 to Kolkheti, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Market22 May 2028
“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.
Player ratings22 May 2028
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.
Squad22 May 2028
Matěj Helebrand 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.
Squad22 May 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Denis Voychenko and Shukura agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad22 May 2028
The manager makes an example of Abdulla Ahmed
“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.
Boardroom22 May 2028
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Player ratings22 May 2028
Shots: 10, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match13 May 2028
17 matches without a win for Shukura
The run now stands at 17, and the questions being asked around Shukura are no longer polite ones.
Market15 May 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ivan Mamrosenko will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Shukura the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market15 May 2028
“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 Shukura, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad15 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ivan Mamrosenko, and the manager let it.
Match13 May 2028
Shukura come up short against Dila
Dila left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad15 May 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Denis Voychenko commits to Shukura for another 2 years.
Player ratings15 May 2028
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings15 May 2028
Shots: 8, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match6 May 2028
The wait goes on for Shukura
16 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.
Market8 May 2028
“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 Shukura, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings8 May 2028
Successful dribbles: 30. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad8 May 2028
“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.
Squad8 May 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mikhail Philippov and Shukura agree another 2 years.
Squad8 May 2028
Matěj Helebrand 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.
Match6 May 2028
6 unbeaten for Shukura
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Shukura did not have in the autumn.
Squad8 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Maxim Makarov, and the manager let it.
Player ratings8 May 2028
Shots: 9. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match29 Apr 2028
15 matches without a win for Shukura
The run now stands at 15, and the questions being asked around Shukura are no longer polite ones.
Match1 May 2028
Shukura sink to position 14
6 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market1 May 2028
“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.
Squad1 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 May 2028
“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.
Squad1 May 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Goga Kiteishvili and Shukura agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings1 May 2028
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market1 May 2028
Otar Chakvetadze is 18, and Shukura 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.
Player ratings1 May 2028
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
Uneasy
Match22 Apr 2028
14 matches without a win for Shukura
The run now stands at 14, and the questions being asked around Shukura are no longer polite ones.
Market24 Apr 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shukura can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings24 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad24 Apr 2028
“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; Shukura are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Matěj Helebrand 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 Apr 2028
“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 ratings24 Apr 2028
Shots: 9. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Player ratings24 Apr 2028
Defensive actions: 13. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Match22 Apr 2028
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Zugdidi will be the happier side with the point.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match15 Apr 2028
No end in sight to Shukura's wait for a win
13 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Shukura has to find a result from somewhere.
Market17 Apr 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Shukura they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market17 Apr 2028
Ilja Volnov hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shukura can pretend not to have heard.
Squad17 Apr 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings17 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings17 Apr 2028
Marked 8.28 — 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.
Match15 Apr 2028
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Squad17 Apr 2028
The manager makes an example of Ilja Volnov
“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.
Squad17 Apr 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Shukura, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match8 Apr 2028
12 matches without a win for Shukura
The run now stands at 12, and the questions being asked around Shukura are no longer polite ones.
Match5 Apr 2028
The cup run ends for Shukura
0‑0 against Chikhura, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Market10 Apr 2028
“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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Mikhail Philippov: 1 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Squad10 Apr 2028
Matěj Helebrand 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.
Squad10 Apr 2028
The medical room confirms 35 days on the sidelines for Tornike Lobjanidze, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Player ratings10 Apr 2028
Defensive actions: 22, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad10 Apr 2028
“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 ratings10 Apr 2028
Dion Vata misses from twelve yards
It was his to settle and he did not settle it. A long walk back to the halfway line, and a considerably longer week.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match1 Apr 2028
The wait goes on for Shukura
10 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.
Market3 Apr 2028
“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.
Squad3 Apr 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Apr 2028
The manager makes an example of Matěj Helebrand
“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.
Match1 Apr 2028
0‑1 to Dinamo Tbilisi, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings3 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings3 Apr 2028
Shots: 5. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Squad3 Apr 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Shukura, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Player ratings3 Apr 2028
Marked 5.43, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match25 Mar 2028
No end in sight to Shukura's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Shukura has to find a result from somewhere.
Market27 Mar 2028
“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.
Player ratings27 Mar 2028
Successful dribbles: 32. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad27 Mar 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Shukura may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Veljko Bogićević 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 ratings27 Mar 2028
Marked 7.92 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Shukura had the best player on the pitch.
Match25 Mar 2028
It needed Jaba Arveladze to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Tskhinvali, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Squad27 Mar 2028
The manager makes an example of Ilya Koval
“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.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Ivan Mamrosenko asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings20 Mar 2028
Successful dribbles: 32. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match18 Mar 2028
The wait goes on for Shukura
8 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.
Market20 Mar 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ivan Mamrosenko will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Shukura the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad20 Mar 2028
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market20 Mar 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shukura can pretend not to have heard.
Squad20 Mar 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Mar 2028
“The easiest signature of my career.” Samir Mammadov and Shukura agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad20 Mar 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Maxim Makarov, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match11 Mar 2028
No end in sight to Shukura's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Shukura has to find a result from somewhere.
Market13 Mar 2028
“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.
The terraces13 Mar 2028
The boos come down from three sides
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 6 of the 30 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Squad13 Mar 2028
64 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Matěj Helebrand 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 ratings13 Mar 2028
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match11 Mar 2028
A bad afternoon for Shukura against Sioni
1‑2 to Sioni, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad13 Mar 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ivan Mamrosenko, and the manager let it.
Player ratings13 Mar 2028
A performance of 8.07 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market6 Mar 2028
“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.
Match4 Mar 2028
No end in sight to Shukura's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Shukura has to find a result from somewhere.
Market6 Mar 2028
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.
Market6 Mar 2028
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.
Market6 Mar 2028
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Aleksandre Gvelesiani is a Shukura player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Squad6 Mar 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Mar 2028
The manager makes an example of Matěj Helebrand
“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 ratings6 Mar 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.46, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings6 Mar 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.28, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market28 Feb 2028
“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.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Matěj Helebrand 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.
Market28 Feb 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Shukura know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market28 Feb 2028
6 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Shukura money.
Market28 Feb 2028
Shukura have let the market know Joel Domínguez can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Squad28 Feb 2028
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ibrahim Al-Hamlan trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market21 Feb 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Shukura they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market21 Feb 2028
Abdulla Ahmed hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shukura can pretend not to have heard.
Squad21 Feb 2028
“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 Shukura know it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom14 Feb 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Shukura
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Market14 Feb 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shukura can pretend not to have heard.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Matěj Helebrand 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 Feb 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Shukura, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market14 Feb 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Shukura know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market14 Feb 2028
Shukura spent the window trying to move Jaba Arveladze on and nobody came. He trains with a squad that has already told him he is not part of it, and both sides now wait for the next one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Shukura can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market7 Feb 2028
“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 Feb 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Feb 2028
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Shukura, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Shukura pull $627.9K back off the table
The money that was there in the summer is not there now. Nobody upstairs calls this a change of ambition, and everybody downstairs reads it as one.
Squad7 Feb 2028
A season on the outside for Maxim Makarov
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Shukura has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Market7 Feb 2028
“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.
Market7 Feb 2028
Shukura spent the window trying to move Matěj Helebrand on and nobody came. He trains with a squad that has already told him he is not part of it, and both sides now wait for the next one.
Squad7 Feb 2028
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Mikhail Philippov keeps the shirt for now, at Shukura's convenience rather than his own.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market31 Jan 2028
“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 Shukura, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market31 Jan 2028
Shukura say no — this time
The offer from Dinamo Tbilisi for Ivan Mamrosenko 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.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Matěj Helebrand 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 Jan 2028
Ivan Mamrosenko asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market31 Jan 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Shukura know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market31 Jan 2028
6 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Shukura could get for him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market24 Jan 2028
Shukura say no — this time
The offer from Samtredia for Vasil Khositashvili 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.
Market24 Jan 2028
“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 Shukura, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market24 Jan 2028
Add another name to the list: Dinamo Tbilisi have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Ivan Mamrosenko. The answer from Shukura has not changed — yet.
Squad24 Jan 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Jan 2028
“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.
Market24 Jan 2028
6 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Shukura money.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom17 Jan 2028
Pressure builds in the Shukura boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market17 Jan 2028
“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 Shukura, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market17 Jan 2028
The chase for Mamuka Gvelesiani ended with $72.0K changing hands and Zugdidi out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Matěj Helebrand 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 Jan 2028
“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; Shukura are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Market17 Jan 2028
“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
Crisis
Market10 Jan 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market10 Jan 2028
“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.
Squad10 Jan 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market10 Jan 2028
He is 19, and nobody at Shukura signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Squad10 Jan 2028
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad10 Jan 2028
A season on the outside for Ilya Koval
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Shukura has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom3 Jan 2028
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Market3 Jan 2028
“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 Shukura, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market3 Jan 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad3 Jan 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market3 Jan 2028
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Irakli Giritiladze has his answer from Shukura; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Boardroom3 Jan 2028
Shukura pull $627.9K back off the table
The money that was there in the summer is not there now. Nobody upstairs calls this a change of ambition, and everybody downstairs reads it as one.
Squad3 Jan 2028
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market3 Jan 2028
The name of Giorgi Akhaladze keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Shukura say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad3 Jan 2028
“I will know when it is time. I am not there yet.” Samir Mammadov is 34, with 1 appearances behind him, and Shukura will have to plan for whichever answer comes.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market27 Dec 2027
Abdulla Ahmed hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shukura can pretend not to have heard.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Matěj Helebrand 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.
Market27 Dec 2027
Experience through the door at Shukura
Samir Mammadov arrives at 34 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom20 Dec 2027
Pressure builds in the Shukura boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market20 Dec 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad20 Dec 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 Shukura know it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market13 Dec 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Matěj Helebrand 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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Luka Nemsadze asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom6 Dec 2027
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Shukura can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market6 Dec 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad6 Dec 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 Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Dec 2027
“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.
Market6 Dec 2027
He is 18, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Boardroom6 Dec 2027
Shukura pull $627.9K back off the table
The money that was there in the summer is not there now. Nobody upstairs calls this a change of ambition, and everybody downstairs reads it as one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market29 Nov 2027
Abdulla Ahmed hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shukura can pretend not to have heard.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Matěj Helebrand 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 Nov 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Shukura, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom22 Nov 2027
Pressure builds in the Shukura boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market22 Nov 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad22 Nov 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 Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market15 Nov 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shukura can pretend not to have heard.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Matěj Helebrand 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 Nov 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 Shukura know it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom8 Nov 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Tornike Kakabadze has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market8 Nov 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shukura can pretend not to have heard.
Squad8 Nov 2027
The medical room confirms 23 days on the sidelines for Veljko Bogićević, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market1 Nov 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Matěj Helebrand 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 Nov 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom25 Oct 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Shukura
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Shukura is running low.
Market25 Oct 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 Shukura, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad25 Oct 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 Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market18 Oct 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 Shukura, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad18 Oct 2027
“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; Shukura are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Matěj Helebrand 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market11 Oct 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 Shukura, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad11 Oct 2027
The medical room confirms 51 days on the sidelines for Veljko Bogićević, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad11 Oct 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 Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Shukura can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market4 Oct 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Shukura may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Paulo Campos and Shukura agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Matěj Helebrand 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.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Saba Sidamonidze, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom27 Sep 2027
Pressure builds in the Shukura boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market27 Sep 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Match25 Sep 2027
5 matches without a win for Shukura
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Shukura are no longer polite ones.
Squad27 Sep 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 Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match25 Sep 2027
Jaba Arveladze scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to Sapovnela, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matěj Helebrand, and the manager let it.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
A performance of 8.19 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad27 Sep 2027
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Shukura pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market20 Sep 2027
Filip Pajović hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shukura can pretend not to have heard.
Match18 Sep 2027
The wait goes on for Shukura
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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Matěj Helebrand 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.
Match18 Sep 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad20 Sep 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jaba Arveladze, and the manager let it.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Saba Sidamonidze will call it something else in private.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
Shots: 8, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
5.57 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market13 Sep 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shukura can pretend not to have heard.
Squad13 Sep 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 Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad13 Sep 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mikhail Philippov, and the manager let it.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.00, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad13 Sep 2027
“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; Shukura are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Match11 Sep 2027
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Squad13 Sep 2027
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Shukura would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Market13 Sep 2027
Shukura shop where it costs nothing
Saba Sidamonidze signs, and the fee column stays empty. Deals like this look small in July and clever by March — or they are never mentioned again.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Matěj Helebrand 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
An unwelcome headline for Ilja Volnov
He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday. The order of those three tells you everything about what a football club actually values.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Voices raised on the Shukura training ground
Two players, one bad tackle and a session that had to be stopped. It was over in a minute; it was outside the gates in an hour.
Match4 Sep 2027
A 1‑1 draw with Kolkheti leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom30 Aug 2027
Pressure builds in the Shukura boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market30 Aug 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 Shukura, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad30 Aug 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 Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matěj Helebrand, and the manager let it.
Match28 Aug 2027
Shukura come up short against Dila
Dila left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
A performance of 8.14 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings30 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market30 Aug 2027
Shukura have let the market know Matěj Helebrand can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Squad30 Aug 2027
“If we are going to be beaten, let it not be because somebody in here could not be bothered.” He stood up and said it in front of everybody, which is a thing a squad remembers about a man for years.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market23 Aug 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 Shukura, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match21 Aug 2027
Shukura make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Shukura have 3 straight wins of it.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Matěj Helebrand 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.
Match21 Aug 2027
Shukura get the job done against Guria
A 1‑0 win over Guria, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad23 Aug 2027
The medical room confirms 50 days on the sidelines for Temur Gvelesiani, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad23 Aug 2027
“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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Shukura pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
Defensive actions: 17, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market16 Aug 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 Shukura, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad16 Aug 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.
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad16 Aug 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 Shukura know it.
Squad16 Aug 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 Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market16 Aug 2027
Business is business: Diego Ojeda goes
Tskhinvali paid $33.0K and Shukura took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Match14 Aug 2027
Three points for Shukura, 1‑0 the final word against Chikhura in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
Marked 8.01 — 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.
Squad16 Aug 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market9 Aug 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 Shukura, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Matěj Helebrand 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 Aug 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ilja Volnov commits to Shukura for another 4 years.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
A performance of 8.73 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad9 Aug 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.
Match7 Aug 2027
It finished 1‑0, and it was Giorgi Akhaladze’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Shukura.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
A defender's afternoon for Paulo Campos
Defensive actions: 16. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad9 Aug 2027
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Guga Palavandishvili will call it something else in private.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Shots: 8, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom2 Aug 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Shukura
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Boardroom2 Aug 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Tornike Kakabadze has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Match2 Aug 2027
Every point is an argument now for Shukura
Position 14 and 19 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market2 Aug 2027
Abdulla Ahmed hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shukura can pretend not to have heard.
Match31 Jul 2027
5 matches without a win for Shukura
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Shukura are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad2 Aug 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 Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad2 Aug 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ilja Volnov commits to Shukura for another 4 years.
Match31 Jul 2027
Merani left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Jul 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Match24 Jul 2027
The wait goes on for Shukura
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.
Match24 Jul 2027
Still nobody has beaten Shukura
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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Matěj Helebrand 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.
Market26 Jul 2027
The name of Diego Ojeda has come up in conversations Shukura were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad26 Jul 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ivan Mamrosenko, and the manager let it.
Player ratings26 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match24 Jul 2027
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Player ratings26 Jul 2027
A mark of 5.64 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Jul 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 Shukura, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad19 Jul 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 Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match17 Jul 2027
Still nobody has beaten Shukura
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.
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad19 Jul 2027
The manager makes an example of Filip Pajović
“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 ratings19 Jul 2027
A performance of 8.04 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Match17 Jul 2027
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Raul Baratelia 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 Raul Baratelia trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market19 Jul 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Ivan Mamrosenko may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Jul 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 Shukura, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad12 Jul 2027
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market12 Jul 2027
Shukura say no — this time
The offer from Ethnikos Achnas for Diego Ojeda 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Matěj Helebrand 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 Jul 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jaba Arveladze, and the manager let it.
Player ratings12 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings12 Jul 2027
Defensive actions: 17, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad12 Jul 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 Shukura know it.
Player ratings12 Jul 2027
Marked 7.56 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Shukura had the best player on the pitch.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Jul 2027
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.
Market5 Jul 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Shukura
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Shukura is running low.
Squad5 Jul 2027
23 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad5 Jul 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 Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings5 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market5 Jul 2027
Add another name to the list: Ethnikos Achnas have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Diego Ojeda. The answer from Shukura has not changed — yet.
Squad5 Jul 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matěj Helebrand, and the manager let it.
Match3 Jul 2027
A 1‑1 draw with Lokomotivi leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market28 Jun 2027
Filip Pajović hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shukura can pretend not to have heard.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Matěj Helebrand 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.
Match26 Jun 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Giorgi Akhaladze. 3‑2 against Sioni, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings28 Jun 2027
A performance of 9.15 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings28 Jun 2027
Marked 8.86 — 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 ratings28 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market28 Jun 2027
The Diego Ojeda conversation is coming
Everyone has stopped pretending: Sumgayit will make the call about Diego Ojeda this week. Shukura have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Squad28 Jun 2027
The manager makes an example of Diego Ojeda
“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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
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
Uneasy
Market21 Jun 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Match19 Jun 2027
No end in sight to Shukura's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Shukura has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad21 Jun 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 Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Jun 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 Shukura know it.
Player ratings21 Jun 2027
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.47 on the card, and the Shukura support went home talking about one name.
Squad21 Jun 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Giorgi Kavtaradze, and the manager let it.
Squad21 Jun 2027
A booking nobody needed, on a night the game was already won. Shukura lose a player for the most avoidable reason there is.
Match19 Jun 2027
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Samtredia defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Player ratings21 Jun 2027
Marked 5.14, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Jun 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shukura can pretend not to have heard.
Match12 Jun 2027
7 matches without a win for Shukura
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Shukura are no longer polite ones.
Market14 Jun 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Player ratings14 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad14 Jun 2027
“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; Shukura are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Matěj Helebrand 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 Jun 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.
Player ratings14 Jun 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.12, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match12 Jun 2027
It needed Jaba Arveladze to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Sapovnela, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market7 Jun 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Match5 Jun 2027
The wait goes on for Shukura
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad7 Jun 2027
53 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad7 Jun 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 Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market7 Jun 2027
Add another name to the list: AE Kition have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Diego Ojeda. The answer from Shukura has not changed — yet.
Squad7 Jun 2027
“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.
Match5 Jun 2027
0‑1 to Torpedo Kutaisi, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings7 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings7 Jun 2027
Shots: 6, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match31 May 2027
Every point is an argument now for Shukura
Position 14 and 10 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market31 May 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 Shukura, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match29 May 2027
No end in sight to Shukura's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Shukura has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad31 May 2027
Matěj Helebrand 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 May 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 Shukura know it.
Player ratings31 May 2027
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.59 on the card, and the Shukura support went home talking about one name.
Squad31 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ibrahim Al-Hamlan, and the manager let it.
Squad31 May 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Guga Palavandishvili trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Player ratings31 May 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market24 May 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad24 May 2027
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.
Player ratings24 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad24 May 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.
Market24 May 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Shukura is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match22 May 2027
The wait goes on for Shukura
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.
Squad24 May 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 Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match22 May 2027
Kolkheti left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad24 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Jaba Arveladze
“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
Squad17 May 2027
There were 10 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market17 May 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 Shukura, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad17 May 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Shukura have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad17 May 2027
Matěj Helebrand 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.
Match15 May 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad17 May 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.
Player ratings17 May 2027
Shots: 11. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Player ratings17 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 11. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings17 May 2027
Marked 5.75, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market10 May 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad10 May 2027
82 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad10 May 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 Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings10 May 2027
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.
Player ratings10 May 2027
Defensive actions: 20. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings10 May 2027
Defensive actions: 20, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad10 May 2027
“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; Shukura are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad10 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Diego Ojeda, and the manager let it.
Player ratings10 May 2027
Shots: 7. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market3 May 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings3 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 29. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad3 May 2027
Matěj Helebrand 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.
Match1 May 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad3 May 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.
Squad3 May 2027
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Filip Pajović knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Player ratings3 May 2027
One lapse, one goal, and ninety minutes of honest work counting for nothing. That is the job at Shukura, and it is a cruel one.
Squad3 May 2027
The captaincy has been taken off Guga Palavandishvili. Shukura will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
Market3 May 2027
The clock runs on Ilja Volnov's contract
8 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Apr 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shukura can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
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.
Squad26 Apr 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 Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match24 Apr 2027
Zugdidi made Shukura work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Marked 8.53 — 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
“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 ratings26 Apr 2027
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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
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
Uneasy
Match17 Apr 2027
No end in sight to Shukura's wait for a win
15 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Shukura has to find a result from somewhere.
Market19 Apr 2027
Diego Ojeda hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shukura can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 25 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad19 Apr 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 Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matěj Helebrand, and the manager let it.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad19 Apr 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 Shukura know it.
Squad19 Apr 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Giorgi Akhaladze trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Match17 Apr 2027
Shukura and Merani cancel each other out
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Merani came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match10 Apr 2027
14 matches without a win for Shukura
The run now stands at 14, and the questions being asked around Shukura are no longer polite ones.
Market12 Apr 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shukura can pretend not to have heard.
Squad12 Apr 2027
110 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad12 Apr 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 Shukura know it.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Matěj Helebrand 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.
Match10 Apr 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad12 Apr 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.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
One lapse, one goal, and ninety minutes of honest work counting for nothing. That is the job at Shukura, and it is a cruel one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match3 Apr 2027
No end in sight to Shukura's wait for a win
13 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Shukura has to find a result from somewhere.
Match31 Mar 2027
The small margins put Shukura out
Out, 0‑1 to Chikhura, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Market5 Apr 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad5 Apr 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Shukura may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad5 Apr 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 Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Apr 2027
“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; Shukura are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad5 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Guga Palavandishvili, and the manager let it.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match3 Apr 2027
It needed Jaba Arveladze to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Dinamo Tbilisi, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match27 Mar 2027
No end in sight to Shukura's wait for a win
11 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Shukura has to find a result from somewhere.
Market29 Mar 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Matěj Helebrand 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 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ilja Volnov, and the manager let it.
Squad29 Mar 2027
“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; Shukura are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match20 Mar 2027
No end in sight to Shukura's wait for a win
10 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Shukura has to find a result from somewhere.
Market22 Mar 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 Shukura, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad22 Mar 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 Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matěj Helebrand, and the manager let it.
Match20 Mar 2027
0‑1 to Lokomotivi, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Marked 5.79, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
5.80 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
Squad22 Mar 2027
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match13 Mar 2027
No end in sight to Shukura's wait for a win
9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Shukura has to find a result from somewhere.
Market15 Mar 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad15 Mar 2027
The medical room confirms 140 days on the sidelines for Mikhail Philippov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Matěj Helebrand 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.
Match13 Mar 2027
6 unbeaten for Shukura
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Shukura did not have in the autumn.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market8 Mar 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shukura can pretend not to have heard.
Match6 Mar 2027
No end in sight to Shukura's wait for a win
8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Shukura has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mikhail Philippov and Shukura agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market8 Mar 2027
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Market8 Mar 2027
The shirt still fits. Goga Mchedlidze is back at Shukura, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Market8 Mar 2027
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Squad8 Mar 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 Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Defensive actions: 20, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vasil Khositashvili, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market1 Mar 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad1 Mar 2027
“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; Shukura are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Matěj Helebrand 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market22 Feb 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad22 Feb 2027
33 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad22 Feb 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 Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Feb 2027
Matěj Helebrand 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 Feb 2027
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Shukura would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Market15 Feb 2027
The window shut and Irakli Baladze is still in the building
Shukura spent a month trying to move him and nobody rang back. He trains with a squad that has told him where he stands, and both sides start counting down to the next one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market8 Feb 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“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; Shukura are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jaba Arveladze commits to Shukura for another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market1 Feb 2027
$420.0K. No player has ever cost Shukura more, and expectation arrives with him.
Market1 Feb 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shukura can pretend not to have heard.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Matěj Helebrand 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 Feb 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Niina Tominaga and Shukura agree another 3 years.
Market1 Feb 2027
11 months and counting on Ilja Volnov
Still no offer on the table, and Ilja Volnov’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Jaba Arveladze 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 Shukura, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market25 Jan 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad25 Jan 2027
62 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad25 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 Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Jan 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Tornike Lobjanidze and Shukura agree another 3 years.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Luka Chaganava asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market25 Jan 2027
A season-long look at somebody else’s player: Beka Arveladze arrives from Tskhinvali with something to prove and a return ticket in the drawer. Good loans make everybody richer; this one starts Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market18 Jan 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shukura can pretend not to have heard.
Market18 Jan 2027
The chase for Tornike Lobjanidze ended with $310.0K changing hands and Zugdidi out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Matěj Helebrand 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
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ilias Sgouros and Shukura agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Luka Chaganava asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad18 Jan 2027
A season on the outside for Ilja Volnov
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Shukura has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market11 Jan 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shukura can pretend not to have heard.
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 Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Jan 2027
41 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“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.
Market11 Jan 2027
He is 17, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ilias Sgouros and Shukura agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market4 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 Shukura, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Matěj Helebrand 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Filip Pajović, and the manager let it.
Market4 Jan 2027
10 months and counting on Diego Ojeda
Still no offer on the table, and Diego Ojeda’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
Market4 Jan 2027
Nika Dumbadze is 20, and Shukura 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Ivan Mamrosenko asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Dec 2026
91 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
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 Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
153% of the income goes out in wages at Shukura
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
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 Shukura, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Veljko Bogićević 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 Dec 2026
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Dec 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Shukura can pretend not to have heard.
Squad14 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 Shukura this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Dec 2026
The medical room confirms 69 days on the sidelines for Gogita Salukvadze, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.