Temuri Ketsbaia
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| Temuri Ketsbaia | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Temuri Ketsbaia | |
| Date of birth | March 18, 1968 (age 39) | |
| Place of birth | Gali, Georgia | |
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.76m) | |
| Playing position | Midfielder | |
| Youth clubs | ||
| 1986 1987 |
Dinamo Sukhumi Dinamo Tbilisi |
|
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1987-1992 1992-1994 1994-1997 1997-2000 2000-2001 2001-2002 2002- |
Dinamo Tbilisi Anorthosis Famagusta AEK Athens Newcastle United Wolves Dundee Anorthosis Famagusta Total |
54 (8) 76 (36) 84 (23) 78 (8) 24 (3) 22 (6) ? (?) 338 (84) |
| National team | ||
| 1992-2002 | Georgia | 45 (15) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Temuri Ketsbaia (born 18 March 1968 in Gali) is a Georgian football midfielder who was previously one of the leading players with the Georgian national team. Known for his powerful shot and unpredictable personality, Ketsbaia is held in very high esteem by numerous sections of football fans across Europe. He is currently football player and manager for Anorthosis Famagusta.
He began his career with minor Georgian team Dinamo Sukhumi before transferring to Dinamo Tbilisi, the country's biggest team. He came to prominence whilst with Dinamo and earned a move to Cypriot club Anorthosis Famagusta FC in 1992 and then to Greece with AEK Athens FC, winning the Greek Cup with the club.
Under the Bosman ruling, Ketsbaia became a free agent in the summer of 1997 and joined Newcastle United. Although a popular figure with the fans, Ketsbaia was used sparingly by the club, particularly under Kenny Dalglish who saw Ketsbaia as a fringe player and regularly gave him the substitute role. Although impressing at Newcastle it is not only his performances Ketsbaia is remembered for but also his bizarre celebrations, such as aggressively kicking the advertising hoardings after scoring a goal against Bolton. This was done in frustration at having been constantly used as a substitute by Dalglish. He left St James' Park in 2000 to sign for Wolves in a £900,000 deal but again failed to fully settle and in 2001 joined Dundee F.C. during a time when the club began to spend at unheard of levels.
He returned to Anorthosis in the Summer of 2002 as a player-coach. He remains at the club, where he is now player-manager, as from January 2004. In his first summer as the transfer-making man, he brought 11 players, mostly well-known ones, who helped the team win the championship title in Ketsbaia's first full-season as a manager.
In the summer of 2005, Ketsbaia wrote in the Cypriot football hall of fame, as Anorthosis beat Turkish side Trabzonspor in the second qualifyng round of the UEFA Champions League, despite being underdogs. However next season was a disaster for Ketsbaia and Anorthosis as they finished 4th in the league and didn't manage to qualify for Europe. In the summer of 2004, he made massive changes to the squad, bringing in eleven new players. He was hoping to re-establish Anorthosis as the dominant force in Cypriot football. Ketsabaia now has Cypriot citizenship.
