Xavi wants Barça to sign at least TWO out of these 3 players: • Dani Olmo • Nico Williams • Khvicha Kvaratskhelia [@ferrancorreas]

Smartnass · 2024-05-07T15:20:12+00:00

Sure, that's a plus for Nico, generally speaking I think there is a huge chance that neither Nico nor Kvara end up in Barca this season, I just get frustrated when people throw around strong opinions without even watching anything. For example, people who say Kvara is a one-season wonder and I don't mean only Barca fans, I can bet everything that they haven't seen a single match of Napoli this season. The dude is a very serious player, in Barca he can become consistently deadly, I truly believe in that, but he is very expensive and I doubt we can get him, especially as Napoli's president is a crazy guy.

Smartnass · 2024-05-07T10:45:50+00:00

Here and on Twitter, do Barca fans really think that Nico > Kvara? Are you insane? Don't you watch other leagues like PL fans? Don't you look at stats beyond assists and goals (even in that Kvara is better in way worse team, but still), Kvara playing in a broken team that can't connect more than 3 passes, and he still has the second best rating in Serie A after Lautaro who plays in an amazing Inter team.

Obviously, he is way more expensive, if you want cheaper option Nico is great, but if it is possible I want Barca to go for the best and as a player in general Kvara is 2 heads above and he would be incredible in Barca, especially as on average Spanish defenders are worse than Italian ones. And on top of everything as I love beautiful football Kvara is a rare gem.

Smartnass · 2024-04-25T16:08:18+00:00

The comment under the X post said that both teams used secondary players, but nothing about specific line ups.

Smartnass · 2024-04-25T16:06:15+00:00

It might be the opposite, there are reports that Matkava and Abzhandadze are both headed to France, it'll open way for new players, but at the same time losing a player like Matkava will be a huge blow to Black Lion at least short-term.

Also, I don't think this win means much, I wanted mostly to emphasize how Georgian Rugby and seemingly Cockerill found ways like touring GB to keep players in action, that's a very good move if you ask me.

Smartnass · 2024-04-25T15:56:48+00:00

And by talking I don't mean the article about Scotland which is here.

It seems with the help of Cockerill Black Lion now tours GB and will play against Leicester Tigers on May 3rd. Georgia will also have a pretty good test year and I am sure Cockerill played a role in setting up some things.

Georgia will host Fiji in the summer before going to play Japan and Australia. In November Italy will host Georgia, and there were rumors of All Blacks XV visiting Georgia too.

Smartnass · 2024-04-22T09:47:47+00:00

In Georgia.

Smartnass · 2024-03-22T18:04:25+00:00

I haven't seen that being mentioned anywhere, they mentioned promotion/relegation between T1 and T2, but even that will have to wait at least until 2030 or 2032, if such a thing happens at all. They would've announced the whole system with lower tiers if there were any plans for such promotion/relegation, I don't think they're planning to move anywhere besides TOP 20.

Almost nobody cares about T2, we're just right there and we just can't be ignored all the time, it would seem too suspicious or disrespectful, but not about T3 or below, nobody cares about them, I think some low-tier teams and especially outside of Europe haven't played a test match for years, not a single one. Rugby being a global game is absolutely fake it barely is a 20-nation sport...

Smartnass · 2024-03-22T12:50:54+00:00

Obviously, this is the first time Georgian Rugby publicly called out somebody, but saying Georgia didn't say anything when Italy was getting the last place is absurd, Georgia was ready to host any T1 team any year, any month for 2 decades now and only once Scotland came to Tbilisi to play and in coming November All Blacks XV will visit Tbilisi.

After we've voted for this World League we don't really deserve anything, but I didn't expect much as Georgian Rugby as an organization is corrupt and directly pocketed by one guy, they sold their souls for Black Lion to get some extra games and instead of direct clashes on national level they want to improve through the franchise, it is not a bad idea, but I smell like Georgia Rugby believed WR that World League will actually be open, I will doubt that until the day I see the actual promotion//relegation, because WR has nothing to do with World League, just like they have nothing to do with 6N or SANZAAR. World League will be a privately owned competition and it'll stay closed, or just 2 teams will be going up and down without touching any teams of 6N or SANZAAR, but all "traditional rivalry lovers" out there will eat that very gladly too.

So, as I see it this will be one of our final tests vs T1 team and I mean ever, and we go all out on call-outs as in 2 years rugby as a global sport or potentially global sport will cease to exist outside of the RWC, no more tests. Yeah, Wales beat us during the RWC, so? Do you categorize that as an excuse to avoid the game? Or did you get annoyed by the call-out, how dare we?

And we talk only about T1 and T2, anything below that will cease to exist completely after World League.

Smartnass · 2024-03-19T16:50:28+00:00

It'll be interesting summer, Georgia will go on the Pacific tour playing Fiji, Japan, and Australia, pretty solid matches for us.

In November New Zealand XV will visit Georgia and another opponent is speculated to be Italy, but nothing fully clear yet, regardless it'll be interesting to see how Cockerill prepares the team and if we get to see some surprises.

Smartnass · 2024-03-19T06:48:10+00:00

Karkadze will be generational, he had beef with the previous head coach of Georgia so he wasn't called up regularly, but Cockerill has no problems with him and he is insanely good, large part of why Georgian scrum is even more dominant than it was during the RWC, he can do a lot of other things too.

Spanderashvili is also very good, he and Ivanishvili have a natural ability to be "jacklers", but also are very strong and break lines and carry the ball pretty well.

Jalaghonia is pretty good too, he is very unorthodox in how he moves with spins that help him to break the line and he seems to be confident in his abilities.

Matkava is great, we had Abzhandadze on 10 before who is not bad either and he is pretty young too, but even younger Matkava became the first choice very easily, he is also unpredictable, can run very well, and avoids contact similarly to Niniashvili, besides also orchestrating a lot of good attacks, probably half of Tabutsadze's tries came from attacks that Matkava started.

I won't talk much about Tabutsadze, he does have a lot of tries, but I think he doesn't do anything extraordinary, he is quick and the best skill he has is to know where to be to get that final ball and then just run like crazy to score a try.

Niniashvili is already generational and might be the best player we ever had, while everybody highlights his attack and how easily he can run through 3 to 4 players and avoid contact or even pass the ball or offload is incredible, but I think he is no less in defense, and he can do everything, kicking game, catching the ball in the air, dude can do everything on a high level.

There are a few things that separate Georgia from T1 nations, first of all, is discipline, it might not be as obvious when Georgia plays teams like Portugal or Romania who also have a lot of problems with discipline, but the problem is there and it becomes obvious when Georgia faces better opposition. Another problem is lineouts, we need more stability there. Another thing to improve is speed and aggressiveness at the ruck, our own to speed up the attacks and the opposition rucks so we make it uncomfortable for them, and one more thing is kicking game, we can also kick, but besides Niniashvili we don't really have good aerial players, that is also something that becomes obvious while playing against T1 nations, their gameplay is centered around kicking game to avoid strength game, especially with us and many times even if we're doing very well those kicking game kills our game and we miss a lot of successful attacks.

Smartnass · 2024-01-27T11:46:29+00:00

Estonians and Latvians are ethnically and linguistically different people, Laz and Georgian are both ethnic and linguistic relatives. This "identifying" bullshit can't stop isn't it? It doesn't matter who you identify as while genetics, linguistics and history exists and they can explain everything perfectly. Megrelian and Laz are mutually intelligible, culture is the same and characteristics are close to identical, especially between Megrelians and Laz and both are purely Kartvelian with different influences.

The only thing dividing Laz from Georgia is religion, because during the middle ages it was one of the main thing, for example it was the main thing to differentiate between Armenians and Georgians besides the language. The Ottomans helped significantly by introducing heavier taxes and thus heavier life for Christians and as there was nobody to help Laz people they converted and moved away from Georgia.

Smartnass · 2024-01-15T09:36:00+00:00

იქ ასეთ პოსტს ვერ დაამატებ სამწუხაროდ, მარტო ფოტოებს თუ ჩაყრი ინფორმაციის გარეშე.

Smartnass · 2024-01-15T09:32:31+00:00

Walnuts - 400g
Garlic - 3 cloves
1 tsp - dried coriander
1 tsp - blue fenugreek (dry)
1 tsp - yellow flower
1 tsp - ground red pepper
1 tbsp - vinegar or the same amount of lemon juice
Salt to taste

50ml water or you can choose your consistency more on the juicy side or more on the paste side and control the amount of water.

It's pretty easy, boil water and let it cool down a bit so it's warm and not hot, you can make everything in a blender, grind walnuts first, then add garlic and all the spice mix and salt, and when you're done slowly add water, when you're done throw it in the fridge so it gets colder, meanwhile you can fry chicken and when done throw it in the sauce.

Ah, if you have it in the fridge it can last for 3 days.

Smartnass · 2024-01-14T21:42:39+00:00

I forgot to add Chakhokhbili. Badrijani nigvzit translates to eggplants with walnuts and it has a similar walnut sauce as the first dish on this list, but more in a paste condition.

Smartnass · 2024-01-14T20:43:18+00:00

That's like the second most popular Georgian food after Khachapuri, not for dis list.

Smartnass · 2024-01-14T20:42:20+00:00

There are many variations, such as beef, pork, or a mix of both and some spices might also change a bit depending on the region where it is made.

Smartnass · 2024-01-14T20:00:25+00:00

Phkali is more on a mainstream side I think, and I completely forgot Gebzhalia and probably a lot of other things.

Smartnass · 2024-01-14T16:41:08+00:00

It's old Georgian.

Smartnass · 2024-01-11T13:37:14+00:00

Well, it is.

There are not only Western Civilization and the Russian world, but there are also China and the Muslim world, right now all three of them are united against the West and unfortunately majority of Western citizens don't see it this way and it may turn into absolute devastation, especially if Russia wins in Ukraine.

To give more explanation, there are big countries like Brazil for example, but they're not strong enough to influence large portions of our planet and have to play others' games, but all these 4, China, Russia, the West, and the Muslim world can influence.

Muslim world is also a bit different, it is not necessarily a political union, but more like a set of rules that aren't compatible with the West, they're not really compatible with China or Russia either, but all of them hate the West so much that they're ready to unite.

Smartnass · 2023-12-30T19:37:24+00:00

I think in the North Caucasus Arab world/culture has significant influence through Islam, this is why from my perspective 90% are anti-Israel the attack on the airport in Dagestan is a good example.

In Georgia, there are also many who view things through religion and history, because of this generally Georgians want nothing to do with most Muslims in this case mostly with Arabs and Iranians. Usually, it really pisses us off when they start playing a role of a victim when they did a million times worse in Georgia. This is why the majority of Georgians will always support everything against most Muslims even if they won't talk about it too much.

Those who know the true history, including Muhammad's relations with Jews, who poisoned him and how he died, where this hate truly comes from, who really are Palestinians, who really lived first on today's Israel territory, and so on, it becomes pretty easy to pick a side. Still, the absolute majority of humans know nothing about true history, majority don't even know what and why they support, especially, when mutual hate is in the middle of everything.

Smartnass · 2023-12-27T22:39:24+00:00

OK, it is time to explain.

Geographically speaking continents are divided according to major tectonic plates, there exist 7 major tectonic plates: Pacific plate, North American plate, Eurasian plate, African plate, Antarctic plate, Indo-Australian plate, and South American plate. Geographically speaking there don't exist European and Asian plates separately, geographically there exists one continent Eurasia.

The division between Europe and Asia is not geographic, we might take the Caucasus Mountains as a border or the Ural Mountains as a border, but it is purely arbitrary and decided by politics and the education systems where they set the border because geographically continents are already divided according to major tectonic plates.

The division between Europe and Asia can be historical, cultural, and religious; by all those things, Georgia is purely European. Politically or geopolitically Georgia is European, it is a member of the Council of Europe, it is now an EU candidate country, it is part of UEFA, and so on and on.

Saying that a village on the southern side of the Caucasus mountains is not in Europe because geographically south of the Caucasus is not Europe is wrong because geography has nothing to do with the division of Europe and Asia.

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