Marked for Coppetti
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match5 Jul 2027
Ravan are in real trouble now
Position 10, 3 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad5 Jul 2027
41 days out for Ruslan Guseynov after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ravan will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Ravan
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Ravan is running low.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
The clubs have shaken hands with Zira; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Market5 Jul 2027
Renat Garayev hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ravan can pretend not to have heard.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Tempers go at Ravan
Coppetti 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.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
Ravan asked and Neftchi said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad5 Jul 2027
A row about effort at Ravan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rufat Ramazanov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad5 Jul 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Namig Khalilzade and Ravan agree another 4 years.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 May 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ravan will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad17 May 2027
Coppetti in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ravan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at Ravan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rufat Ramazanov 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.
The dugout17 May 2027
Lucas Hulk asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market17 May 2027
The name of Araz Madatov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Ravan say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout17 May 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Mar 2027
25 days out for Jeferson Parrudo after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ravan will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The terraces29 Mar 2027
The mood at Ravan has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Market29 Mar 2027
“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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
At 18 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Coppetti in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ravan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Lucas Hulk asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Feb 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 77 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Eddy Huseynov damages knee ligaments — 32 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 32 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.
Market8 Feb 2027
“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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“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; Ravan are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Tempers go at Ravan
Coppetti 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.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Gabala have kept their man, and Ravan go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
“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.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Market8 Feb 2027
Ravan shop where it costs nothing
Dan Martin signs, and the fee column stays empty. Deals like this look small in July and clever by March — or they are never mentioned again.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Dec 2026
18 matches without a win for Ravan
The run now stands at 18, and the questions being asked around Ravan are no longer polite ones.
Squad21 Dec 2026
16 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ravan lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match21 Dec 2026
Ravan sink to position 10
1 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Ravan
Coppetti 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Luiz Batista is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 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.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tony Júnior, and the manager let it.
Match19 Dec 2026
A bad afternoon for Ravan against AZAL
0‑1 to AZAL, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Ravan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nadir Orucov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Looking ahead21 Dec 2026
Ravan face Kapaz in the game that matters most
Two sides from the bottom of the table, three points, and an afternoon that will be described afterwards as a relegation decider by whoever loses it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match31 Oct 2026
No end in sight to Ravan's wait for a win
11 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Ravan has to find a result from somewhere.
Match31 Oct 2026
Nowhere to hide for Ravan
1‑4 against Qarabag, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Ravan
Coppetti and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lucas Hulk, and the manager let it.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Nobody left the Ravan dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Squad2 Nov 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” David Button and Ravan agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑4, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Renat Nadirov named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Renat Nadirov is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Squad2 Nov 2026
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
In brief
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Looking ahead
The leaders are next for Ravan
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Market
Experience through the door at Ravan
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Player ratings
Qara Ismayilov beats them one at a time
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Sep 2026
3 kept out from twelve yards, and a stadium that will describe each of them for twenty years. A goalkeeper needs one night like this in a career, and this was it.
Squad14 Sep 2026
A fracture rules Jeferson Parrudo out for 33 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ravan will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match9 Sep 2026
Ravan march on in the cup
Kapaz are out and Ravan go through, 0‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match12 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Ravan's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Ravan has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Coppetti in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ravan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match12 Sep 2026
Ravan cannot find the net
3 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.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
The terraces14 Sep 2026
At 20 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad31 Aug 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 48 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market31 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ravan can pretend not to have heard.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Erick Daltro pulls a muscle — 16 days out
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 16 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Squad31 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Ravan
Erick Daltro and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Zira have kept their man, and Ravan go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match29 Aug 2026
Sumgayit left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“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.
Market31 Aug 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Too much change too quickly at Ravan
7 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad24 Aug 2026
7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Market24 Aug 2026
Eddy Nazarov hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ravan can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom24 Aug 2026
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $35.0K — a club that wants Nadir Orucov enough to be asked twice.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Atlético Mineiro is saying, and nobody at Ravan is enjoying the guessing.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Erick Daltro in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ravan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
$34.0K on the table at Sumgayit. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Ravan asked and Sumgayit said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match22 Aug 2026
Qara Ismayilov scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to Neftchi, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Ravan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rufat Ramazanov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.