The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sioni is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
A mark of 7.85 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 15-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Sioni and Zugdidi in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
“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; Sioni are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Tornike Mindiashvili has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Dimas at his very best
Player ratingsAlexandr Verulidze was on a different afternoon to everybody else
Player ratingsKuji Beselia was on a different afternoon to everybody else
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sandro Daraselia will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sioni the goodbyes have quietly begun.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.05 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dachi Tsnobiladze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Paata Kiteishvili was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
He is 17 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Marked 8.42 — 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.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Dimas at his very best
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Sioni people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The bid was some way short and Sioni did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Deadline passes with 16 signed and 2 gone
That is the business done at Sioni until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
The deal that would have taken Luka Avaliani to Sapovnela has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Sioni with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sioni is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dachi Tsnobiladze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Paata Kiteishvili and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The name of Tornike Mindiashvili has come up in conversations Sioni were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sioni is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Beka Kvaratskhelia has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
A point taken on 86 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Sioni people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Luka Avaliani will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sioni the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dachi Tsnobiladze is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sandro Daraselia will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sioni the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The offer from Shukura for Merab Nemsadze 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dachi Tsnobiladze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 20. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Paata Kiteishvili was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Temur Gamsakhurdia after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
In brief
The dugoutBantu Mzwakali has become a man the manager trusts
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Sioni people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sioni can pretend not to have heard.
5 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sioni the goodbyes have quietly begun.
In brief
SquadWords at Sioni training over how hard people work
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Shukura waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Sioni is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
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.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sioni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sioni is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Merani waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Sioni is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dachi Tsnobiladze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Sioni can tell you which week it ends in.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Guria waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Sioni is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Luka Avaliani and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Sioni can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The phone has started ringing about Tornike Tsitaishvili again, and this time the name on the line is Merani. Sioni are listening politely and promising nothing.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Sioni people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sioni is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Luka Avaliani 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dachi Tsnobiladze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Sandro Chakvetadze has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Tornike Tsitaishvili will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sioni the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Add another name to the list: Guria have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Sandro Daraselia. The answer from Sioni has not changed — yet.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dachi Tsnobiladze is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Erisjon Balla was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Temur Gamsakhurdia to a room that had heard them before.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Tornike Dundua has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sioni can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from Merani for Khvicha Kvaratskhelia 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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Sioni have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
He is 16 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
The name of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has come up in conversations Sioni were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.84 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sioni they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dachi Tsnobiladze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Giorgi Okriashvili has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Marked 8.33 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Marked 8.05 — 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.
Givi Mukbaniani 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.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.41 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sioni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Bantu Mzwakali in the middle of it, and Zugdidi unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
Marked 8.02 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Temur Gamsakhurdia after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Sioni can tell you which week it ends in.
Luka Avaliani and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dachi Tsnobiladze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Something was said to Dimas and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout24 May 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Temur Gamsakhurdia was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Sioni dressing room was either.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Saburtalo? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
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.
“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 Sioni, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sioni is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Kakha Kvaratskhelia and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Sioni can tell you which week it ends in.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Sioni can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Dinamo Tbilisi left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout17 May 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Temur Gamsakhurdia to a room that had heard them before.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sioni can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sioni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dachi Tsnobiladze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Sioni, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sioni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mate Ghaghvishvili, and the manager let it.
The dugout3 May 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Temur Gamsakhurdia to a room that had heard them before.
Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Givi Mukbaniani and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Erisjon Balla falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Mate Ghaghvishvili is 20, and for one weekend he was the best of everybody his age in the division. Nobody should build a career on it and everybody quietly does.
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.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 5 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sioni is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Luka Avaliani and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dachi Tsnobiladze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 20 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Mate Ghaghvishvili is 20, and for one weekend he was the best of everybody his age in the division. Nobody should build a career on it and everybody quietly does.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Sioni can tell you which week it ends in.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Jaba Kashia has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Sioni will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Nobody at Sioni will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
18 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sioni lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 Sioni, and it is not being withdrawn.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Luka Avaliani is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sioni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Sioni can tell you which week it ends in.
25 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sioni lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
0‑4 to Dinamo Batumi, 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.
“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 Sioni, and it is not being withdrawn.
Kakha Kvaratskhelia and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dachi Tsnobiladze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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; Sioni are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
32 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sioni lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sioni have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Mate Ghaghvishvili is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sioni they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Luka Avaliani and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dachi Tsnobiladze is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 4 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
The words a physio says slowly. 39 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.00 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sioni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Giorgi Ubilava has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
47 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sioni lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match6 Mar 2027
Bantu Mzwakali wins it after the whistle should have gone
90 minutes played. Bantu Mzwakali found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Guria went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
The board have signed the man in the dugout to a longer contract, which says more than any statement of support. Stability is easy to promise and costly to keep.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dachi Tsnobiladze was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sioni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
54 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sioni lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sioni can pretend not to have heard.
Luka Avaliani 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dachi Tsnobiladze is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“Nobody 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 Mar 2027
6 new faces, and Sioni are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sioni they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Luka Avaliani and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sioni can pretend not to have heard.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Kuji Beselia is on it.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Sioni would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
In brief
MarketThe window shut and Tornike Dundua is still in the building
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Sioni people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dachi Tsnobiladze is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Sandro Daraselia is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Giorgi Janelidze is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Nobody at Sioni will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 6 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Sioni until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Luka Avaliani 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Tskhinvali have kept their man, and Sioni go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
6 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Sioni, and it is not being withdrawn.
Sioni and Zugdidi have settled on $15.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Sioni have done the hard part with Dinamo Tbilisi, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Samtredia have kept their man, and Sioni go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Givi Mukbaniani and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Sioni are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
The deal with Torpedo Kutaisi is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dachi Tsnobiladze is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Nobody at Sioni will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Sioni would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
The offer from Merani for Tornike Dundua 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Sergi Abramishvili has just signed for Sioni, and for once the answer mattered.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sioni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Nika Mchedlidze has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Torpedo Kutaisi have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Erisjon Balla has, at Sioni, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Luka Avaliani was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Givi Mukbaniani trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The registration window is open and the phone has started. Between now and the deadline this club will be linked with forty players and sign three, which is the usual ratio.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Luka Avaliani and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Luka Avaliani trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sioni have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Nobody at Sioni will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sioni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sioni, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Paata Kiteishvili was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Alexandr Verulidze has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
“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 Sioni, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sioni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody at Sioni will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Nobody at Sioni will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Paata Kiteishvili and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Tornike Tsitaishvili is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Dato Gvelesiani is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sioni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Sioni will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
“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 Sioni, and it is not being withdrawn.
Lasha-Giorgi Titvinidze was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Sioni told Lasha-Giorgi Titvinidze something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Sioni agree another 3 years.
Nobody at Sioni will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
In brief
The dugoutLuka Avaliani knocks on the manager’s door
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Lasha-Giorgi Titvinidze and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
10 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Nobody at Sioni will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Sioni told Nikoloz Ugrekhelidze something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Paata Kiteishvili 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.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Alexandr Verulidze has come out of that comparison in the side, and Sioni have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Sioni will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sioni, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“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 Sioni, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sioni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
2 goals before the ground had finished arriving. Chikhura spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Zugdidi were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
11 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Temur Gamsakhurdia could afford to be generous.
Sioni asked and Saburtalo said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Lasha Kvaratskhelia has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
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 dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Temur Gamsakhurdia was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Sioni dressing room was either.
In brief
SquadMerab Nemsadze falls out with a teammate over standards
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 19 arrived, 0 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sioni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Sioni asked and Torpedo Kutaisi said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Successful dribbles: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Minute 91, against Saburtalo, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jaba Okriashvili and Sioni agree another 3 years.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Luka Avaliani
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Luka Avaliani has come out of that comparison in the side, and Sioni have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“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 Sioni, and it is not being withdrawn.
Sioni asked and San Lorenzo said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 90. Dinamo Tbilisi had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Lasha-Giorgi Titvinidze was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
A loan enquiry to Torpedo Kutaisi: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
A 1‑1 draw with Dinamo Tbilisi leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Temur Gamsakhurdia chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Luka Avaliani
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
7.61, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Everything agreed with Tskhinvali, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sioni this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Dachi Tsnobiladze, and the manager let it.
Squad24 Aug 2026
8 new faces, and Sioni are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 2‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
There were 87 minutes on the clock and Lokomotivi had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Sioni did not stop to explain themselves.
The 85th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Bantu Mzwakali decided nobody was going anywhere. Dila had no time left to answer.
At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.99 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Everything was agreed with Dinamo Tbilisi and then the doctor spoke. Sioni have walked away from a signing on the advice of somebody who never saw him play, which is how it is supposed to work.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Tskhinvali keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Zugdidi have kept their man, and Sioni go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Givi Mukbaniani was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Sioni have done the hard part with Dinamo Tbilisi, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Sioni asked and Banfield said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Goga Tsitaishvili has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Kakha Kvilitaia has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Khvicha Shengelia is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Levan Mikautadze has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
“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 Sioni, and it is not being withdrawn.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Saba Nioradze is living that version at Sioni, and it tends to show in the first month.
Givi Mukbaniani and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Dinamo Tbilisi have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
A loan enquiry to Dinamo Tbilisi: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.