“It was a bad moment for me, and I said it was never going to happen again”
As a player, how important was it for you to get the chance to play abroad, first with Anorthosis Famagusta and then AEK Athens?
I played in the Soviet Union championship for three years [at Dinamo Tbilisi]. I had some offers to go elsewhere in Europe but, because the Georgian Federation left the Soviet Union to create our own championship, we weren’t allowed to play in European competition. We were banned for the decision we made.
In the first year, we won the Georgian championship, and I was named the best player. I was hoping to go somewhere. I had an offer from Russia, but it was a difficult time for my family and we didn’t have a good relationship with Russia. When I was 23, I accepted an offer from Cyprus. I was there for three years and then spent three years in Greece, so I was 29 when I went to England.
How did your move to Newcastle happen?
I was playing in Greece [for AEK Athens] and we
