Temuri Ketsbaia ( ka, თემურ ქეცბაია; born 18 March 1968) is a Georgian former professional football player and current

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

. He is the current manager of the Cyprus national team.

Club career

After beginning his professional career in 1987 in his native Georgia with

Dinamo Tbilisi Dinamo Tbilisi is a sports club from Tbilisi, Georgia. It was founded in 1925. Among its highest honors, is the European trophy earned by its football team which won the Cup Winners' Cup in 1981, beating FC Carl Zeiss Jena of East Germany 2–1 ...

, Ketsbaia then played for Cypriot side

Anorthosis Anorthosis Famagusta ( el, Ανόρθωση Αμμοχώστου, translit=Anorthosi Ammochostou), commonly known as Anorthosis in English or Anorthosi in Greek, is a Cypriot football club, part of the Anorthosis Famagusta multi-sport club fo ...

, and Greek giants

AEK Athens A.E.K ( el, AEK , formally Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople''), known as A.E.K, is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadel ...

. His career in AEK started with a great misfortune, since in his first official match against Rangers, for the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

qualifiers, he seriously injured his hand. He returned after a few months, but his performance in his first season was not as expected, clearly affected by both the injury and his adaptation to a more demanding league. He was the only scorer in the league derby against

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

in the away win on 19 November 1994. The following season he won the cup with AEK, while impressing with his performance. He was even named by his colleagues in the league as the best foreign footballer of the season. On 28 September 1995 he scored against

Sion Sion may refer to * an alternative transliteration of Zion People * Sion (name) or Siôn, a Welsh and other given name and surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Shion or Sion, a Japanese given name Pl ...

for the

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tourn ...

. In the

semi-finals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

he scored in both legs against

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos ( el, Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club ba ...

. His next season he helped AEK a lot to play beautiful football, winning the

Greek Super Cup The Greek Super Cup ( el, Σούπερ Καπ Ελλάδος), officially known as the Cup of Friendship and Solidarity ( el, Κύπελλο Φιλίας και Αλληλεγγύης) was a Greek association football one-match competition which w ...

and add another Greek Cup to their trophy case. On 17 October 1996 he opened the score in the 0–2 win against Olimpija Ljubljana for the round of 16 of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. He ran down his contract in the Greek capital and arrived at

St James' Park St James' Park is a football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Premier League club Newcastle United F.C. With a seating capacity of 52,305 seats, it is the eighth largest football stadium in England. St James' Pa ...

and Newcastle United on a free transfer in 1997. Early in his career with ''The Magpies'', Ketsbaia scored a goal in extra time against Croatia Zagreb, ensuring a place for Newcastle United in the

for the first time in their history. In England, he is remembered for his celebration after scoring a last-minute winner against Bolton Wanderers in 1998, in which he took off his jersey and kicked the advertising hoardings. He stated that this was to relieve his frustration at being kept out of the Newcastle starting line-up. Although he was considered something of a 'cult hero' by Newcastle fans, he was sold to

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

in 2000, and also played for Dundee, among others. On 30 June 2007, Ketsbaia announced his retirement from professional football. His last match before retiring was held on 14 July. In May 2015, Ketsbaia played for Dundee versus

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

as part of

Julián Speroni Julián Maria Speroni (; born 18 May 1979) is an Argentine former professional footballer. Having started his career at Platense, he played three seasons in the Scottish Premier League with Dundee before joining Crystal Palace for £750,000 in ...

testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

, along with former Dundee players Georgi Nemsadze,

Juan Sara Juan Manuel Sara (born 13 October 1976, in Buenos Aires) is a retired Argentine footballer and currently a manager. He also holds Italian nationality. Playing career Sara was playing with Argentine side Almirante Brown and Nueva Chicago, Cze ...

Fabián Caballero Néstor Fabián Caballero (born 31 January 1978 in Misiones, Argentina) commonly referred to as Tyson, is a former footballer. Caballero had a 19-year career, playing in Argentina, Paraguay, England, Scotland, South Korea, Cyprus, Chile, Greece ...

and Luis Alberto Carranza.

International career

He won the

Malta International Football Tournament The Malta International Tournament was a biannual association football friendly competition for national teams organised by the Malta Football Association that took place in Malta between 1986 and 2008. Initially, the tournament included the parti ...

whilst on international duty with Georgia in 1998, the only International honour in his career.

Managerial career

In January 2004, while still a player for

, Ketsbaia took his first managerial position in

, winning two championships, in 2004–05 and in 2007–08, and one cup in 2006–07. In 2005 Anorthosis reached in the third-round of the Champions League, over running

Trabzonspor Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish sports club located in the city of Trabzon. Formed in 1967 through a merger of several local clubs, the men's football team has won seven Süper Lig championships. Trabzonspor also have a women's football team, ...

in the second round, and in 2008–09 reached in the UEFA Champions League Group Stage, the first Cypriot team to do so. On 28 September 2008, he stated his interest for the vacant Newcastle manager position. In an interview with the '' Sunday Mirror'', he said: "I had a great opportunity to play at Newcastle as a player, so why not as a manager?" In the week before the match club directors had gone to the police complaining of financial irregularities being carried out by the club President who was forced to resign, despite support from Ketsbaia and club supporters. In April 2009, Ketsbaia stood down as coach of Anorthosis. On 25 May 2009, the chairman of

announced that Ketsbaia had been appointed the club's manager on a three-year deal, replacing

Ernesto Valverde Ernesto Valverde Tejedor (born 9 February 1964) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a forward. He is the current manager of La Liga club Athletic Bilbao. Over ten seasons, he amassed La Liga totals of 264 games and 68 ...

; however, on 15 September 2009, Ketsbaia and Olympiacos parted company following early criticism from the club's supporters, despite Olympiakos not conceding a goal during his tenure. In November 2009 he was announced as manager of the Georgian national side, which he represented 49 times as a player. He claimed that while he could not promise a major tournament in the near future, the team would fight to reach one. In January 2015, Ketsbaia once again declared his interest in taking over the vacant manager job at Newcastle United, after Alan Pardew moved on to Crystal Palace, however, John Carver was appointed in a temporary position instead. On 28 August 2015, Ketsbaia agreed terms with reigning

Cypriot Cypriot (in older sources often "Cypriote") refers to someone or something of, from, or related to the country of Cyprus. * Cypriot people, or of Cypriot descent; this includes: **Armenian Cypriots **Greek Cypriots **Maronite Cypriots **Turkish C ...

champions

APOEL APOEL FC ( el, ΑΠΟΕΛ; short for Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, ''Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias'', literally "Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia") ...

, signing a two-year contract with the club and replacing

Domingos Paciência Domingos José Paciência Oliveira, known simply as Domingos as a player (; born 2 January 1969), is a Portuguese former footballer who played as a striker, currently a manager. He achieved success with both Porto and the Portugal national te ...

who was fired earlier at the same day. On 21 April 2016, one day after APOEL's elimination in the

Cypriot Cup The Cypriot Cup () is the main cup competition in Cypriot football, run by the Cyprus Football Association (CFA). It began in 1934, the same season with the Cypriot Championship. It is the second most important competition for Cypriot club team ...

semi-finals by Apollon Limassol, Ketsbaia's contract with APOEL was terminated, although at that moment the team were four points clear at the top of the

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

with only four matches remaining. On 6 June 2016, Ketsbaia took over the management at Greek powerhouse

, a club he played for until 1996, on a two-year contract. His overall defensive managing mentality prevented the club from playing exciting football. On 19 October 2016, two weeks after a heavy away 3-0 defeat to

, the AEK board decided to terminate Ketsbaia's contract with immediate effect, something that Ketsbaia attributed to a premeditated sacking plan by the board, which amongst others involved slanderous press publications targeting Ketsbaia. The Georgian manager, apparently disturbed by the 'unlawful behaviour' of the club's administration in the employment termination process, filed a lawsuit on 10 December 2016 demanding a sum of approximately £350k to be shared among him and his backroom staff; Ketsbaia was eventually entitled to a sum of just under £100k plus legal taxes following the examination of the case. In an interview for the Cypriot branch of

Alpha TV Alpha TV is a Greek free-to-air channel, being one of the biggest stations in Greece. The station features a mix of Greek and foreign shows with an emphasis on information. The studios are located in Kifissia and Pallini. Alpha TV is owned by Alph ...

, Ketsbaia accused the Greek sport journalism sector of deliberately misrepresenting true facts in favour of certain teams and board members, and AEK of underestimating his managerial abilities for no apparent reason; he even added that certain AEK board members were hoping for a loss against

Larisa Larissa (; el, Λάρισα, , ) is the capital and largest city of the Thessaly region in Greece. It is the fifth-most populous city in Greece with a population of 144,651 according to the 2011 census. It is also capital of the Larissa regio ...

in order to justify his imminent sacking. On 1 June 2017, he was hired as the manager of the Russian club

FC Orenburg FC Orenburg (russian: ФК «Оренбург») is a Russian professional football club from Orenburg, founded in 1976. It will return to the Russian Premier League for the 2022–23 season. History It played professionally as Gazovik from 19 ...

. On 17 August 2017,The president of

, Vasily Stolypin, said that Temuri Ketsbaia left the post of head coach not because of sports results. He left the mutual consent of the parties and personal affairs, the family. On June 1, 2019, he returned to Anorthosis and "A. Papadopoulos". He was the coach of the Famagusta team for the second time, finishing in the 2nd place of the championship in the 2019-20 season, which was stopped prematurely due to the coronavirus, equaling with the 1st Omonia, which the team would have faced in the semifinals of the cup. In the 2020-21 season he finished in 4th place and won the cup. In the period 2021-22, Anorthosis finished in 5th place and was excluded from the institution of the cup in the semifinal phase by Omonia. Participated in the Europa League qualifiers in 2020-21 and 2021-22. In 2021-22 he also qualified for the Europa Conference groups. He finished in 3rd place in the group behind

Gent Gent is a shortened form of the word gentleman. It may also refer to: * Ghent (Dutch language, Dutch: Gent), a Belgian city ** K.A.A. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** K.R.C. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** Gent RFC, a rugby club in Ghen ...

and

Partizan Partizan may refer to: Sport * JSD Partizan, a sports society from Belgrade, Serbia, which includes the following clubs: **AK Partizan, athletics ** Biciklistički Klub Partizan, cycling ** Džudo Klub Partizan, judo **FK Partizan, association fo ...

and in front of

Flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' ...

. On June 6, 2022, he was announced by the management of Anorthosis that he is a past member of the team. The reason was his insistence on keeping his associates on the bench, disagreeing with the terms set by the Athletic Director and management.

Career statistics

International goals

:''Georgia score listed first, score column indicates score after each Ketsbaia goal.''

Managerial statistics

Honours

As a player

;Dinamo Tbilisi *

Umaglesi Liga The Erovnuli Liga ( ka, ეროვნული ლიგა - lit. National League) is the top division of professional football in Georgia. Since 1990, it has been organized by the Professional Football League of Georgia and Georgian Football ...

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

;AEK Athens *

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most ...

: 1995–96, 1996–97 *

: 1996 ;Anorthosis *

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division ( el, Πρωτάθλημα Α΄ Κατηγορίας) is the top tier football league competition in Cyprus, run by the Cyprus Football Association. Since February 2016, it is sponsored by Cyta and is thus officially ...

: 2004–05 *

: 2002–03

As a manager

;Anorthosis *Cypriot First Division: 2004–05, 2007–08 *Cypriot Cup: 2006–07,

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

Cypriot Super Cup The Cypriot Super Cup is a Cypriot football trophy, contested in an annual match between the previous season's Cypriot First Division champions, and the Cypriot Cup winners. The match is contested at the beginning of the football season, and is u ...

: 2007

Individual

* Georgian Footballer of the Year:1990, 1997 * Best Foreign Player: 1995–96

References

External links

*
Where are they now – Temuri Ketsbaia
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ketsbaia, Temur 1968 births Living people People from Gali District, Abkhazia Footballers from Abkhazia Mingrelians Association football midfielders Soviet footballers Footballers from Georgia (country) Georgia (country) international footballers FC Dinamo Tbilisi players Anorthosis Famagusta F.C. players AEK Athens F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Dundee F.C. players Cypriot First Division players Super League Greece players Premier League players English Football League players Scottish Premier League players Football managers from Georgia (country) Anorthosis Famagusta F.C. managers Olympiacos F.C. managers Georgia national football team managers APOEL FC managers Expatriate football managers in Cyprus Expatriate footballers from Georgia (country) Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Expatriate footballers in Greece Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Scotland Expatriate sportspeople from Georgia (country) in Cyprus Expatriate sportspeople from Georgia (country) in Greece Expatriate sportspeople from Georgia (country) in England Expatriate sportspeople from Georgia (country) in Scotland AEK Athens F.C. managers Expatriate football managers in Russia FC Orenburg managers Expatriate sportspeople from Georgia (country) in Russia FA Cup Final players