A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
6 matches without a win, and then this, against Jabrayil. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Words at Karvan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Umarali Rahmonaliyev 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.
Karvan asked and Figueirense said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Karvan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Karvan asked and Penedense said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Karvan, another week without a signature from Mattia Sangalli.
Position 9 and 16 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Karvan, and it is not being withdrawn.
Alassane Coulibaly 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Umarali Rahmonaliyev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Karvan asked and Druzhba said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Karvan can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Karvan have made the call to Figueirense. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Karvan people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Karvan they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
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.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Karvan know it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Umarali Rahmonaliyev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Karvan, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Umarali Rahmonaliyev had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Karvan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Karvan asked and São Luiz said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“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; Karvan are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Karvan, another week without a signature from Nanu.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Karvan, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Position 9 and 16 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
The phone has started ringing about Umarali Rahmonaliyev again, and this time the name on the line is Qarabag. Karvan are listening politely and promising nothing.
The deal with Fenix is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Karvan can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Mattia Sangalli and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Words at Karvan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Xəyal Əliyev 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Kapaz waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Karvan is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Karvan is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“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; Karvan are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Alassane Coulibaly 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Umarali Rahmonaliyev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Karvan asked and Bentonit Ijevan said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Add another name to the list: Sabail have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Eduardo Pletsch. The answer from Karvan has not changed — yet.
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.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Karvan asked and Uberlândia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Bayelsa United have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Umarali Rahmonaliyev signs something — a contract at Karvan or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Karvan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Umarali Rahmonaliyev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A loan enquiry to Spartakos Kitiou: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Independência have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Karvan, another week without a signature from Nanu.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nanu trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Position 9 and 16 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Karvan can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Karvan, and it is not being withdrawn.
Alassane Coulibaly 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Umarali Rahmonaliyev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Karvan asked and Warri Wolves said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Gavi Thompson has his answer from Karvan; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Shaquill Sno will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Karvan the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Alassane Coulibaly 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.
Squad29 May 2028
Words at Karvan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Umarali Rahmonaliyev 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.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Squad29 May 2028
6 new faces, and Karvan are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The manager has a list and the board has a condition attached to it. That is not a crisis — half of football works this way — but it decides which of the two of them gets his way in August.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Pedro Antônio trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Everybody at Karvan saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 34 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Karvan know it.
Mattia Sangalli 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Xəyal Əliyev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Umarali Rahmonaliyev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Karvan would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Position 9 and 16 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Alassane Coulibaly 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Umarali Rahmonaliyev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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; Karvan are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Umarali Rahmonaliyev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Karvan know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nobody at Karvan will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Karvan is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Karvan know it.
Xəyal Əliyev 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.
Squad1 May 2028
Words at Karvan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Umarali Rahmonaliyev 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.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The club is not barred from spending; it simply has nothing to spend that it has not first raised. Every name linked with Karvan this window arrives with a name leaving in the same sentence.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Karvan can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nanu trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Words at Karvan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Umarali Rahmonaliyev 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.
Gavi Thompson 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.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Karvan know it.
The least glamorous thing a foreign signing ever does and the one that decides most of them. A player who can hear the shout behind him is a different footballer from one who cannot.
Position 9 and 16 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Every long career reaches the week the player starts thinking about the last one. He would like it to be at the club that first put him on a pitch, and Karvan now know that too.
Alassane Coulibaly 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Umarali Rahmonaliyev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Karvan know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nobody at Karvan will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
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.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Moise Ngwisani signs something — a contract at Karvan or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Karvan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Umarali Rahmonaliyev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Umarali Rahmonaliyev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Karvan can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Alassane Coulibaly 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Umarali Rahmonaliyev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
6 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Karvan, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Karvan know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Karvan can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Karvan they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Xəyal Əliyev 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.
23 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Words at Karvan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Umarali Rahmonaliyev 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.
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Sávio is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
In brief
BoardroomNobody arrives at Karvan until somebody leaves
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Karvan know it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Umarali Rahmonaliyev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Patrick Allan 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.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Adailson has written the date down.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Karvan, and it is not being withdrawn.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Karvan can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Karvan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Words at Karvan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Umarali Rahmonaliyev 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.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Xəyal Əliyev 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.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words at Karvan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Umarali Rahmonaliyev 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Karvan, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Karvan know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nobody at Karvan will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Karvan will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Karvan, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Karvan is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Deadline passes with 1 signed and 6 gone
That is the business done at Karvan until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Alassane Coulibaly 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.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
$18.0K was the most the club would pay and Neftchi were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Words at Karvan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Umarali Rahmonaliyev 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.
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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Shahdag Qusar waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Karvan is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Araz-Nakhchivan paid $130.0K and Karvan took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Umarali Rahmonaliyev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Shahdag Qusar waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Karvan is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Karvan can pretend not to have heard.
Thiago Rodrigues 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Xəyal Əliyev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Karvan has been clear about where Umarali Rahmonaliyev stands, which is more than many ever get.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Karvan, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Position 9 and 16 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Neftchi go through and Karvan go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Karvan, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Karvan have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 6 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
The phone has started ringing about Shaquill Sno again, and this time the name on the line is Shahdag Qusar. Karvan are listening politely and promising nothing.
“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; Karvan are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
4 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Umarali Rahmonaliyev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Karvan, and it is not being withdrawn.
“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; Karvan are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Thiago Rodrigues 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.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Words at Karvan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Umarali Rahmonaliyev 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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Karvan, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Shahriyar Medvedev after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Alassane Coulibaly and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Words at Karvan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Xəyal Əliyev 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.
Successful dribbles: 16. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Umarali Rahmonaliyev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody at Karvan is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
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.
Successful dribbles: 22. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Karvan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Karvan, and 6 appearances in 26 say he has earned the hearing.
“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; Karvan are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Xəyal Əliyev.
A mark of 7.36, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Shahriyar Medvedev chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Tuqay Əlizadə is living that version at Karvan, and it tends to show in the first month.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Umarali Rahmonaliyev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Xəyal Əliyev has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Position 9 and 10 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Karvan, and it is not being withdrawn.
1 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.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Thiago Rodrigues 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Xəyal Əliyev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Thiago Rodrigues 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.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words at Karvan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Umarali Rahmonaliyev 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.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against MOIK Baku.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against MOIK Baku in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Karvan has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Zé Romário trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Alassane Coulibaly signs something — a contract at Karvan or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Karvan can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Xəyal Əliyev 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Umarali Rahmonaliyev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Shahriyar Medvedev left the room before anybody could ask which.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Karvan told Camilo something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
In brief
The dugoutXəyal Əliyev knocks on the manager's door
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Karvan can pretend not to have heard.
Successful dribbles: 25. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Thiago Rodrigues and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words at Karvan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Xəyal Əliyev 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.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Karvan know it.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Karvan, and it is not being withdrawn.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Karvan know it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Karvan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Umarali Rahmonaliyev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Karvan can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Umarali Rahmonaliyev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A 1‑0 win over Shahdag Qusar, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Karvan told Thiago Rodrigues something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Karvan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words at Karvan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Xəyal Əliyev 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Karvan has been clear about where Camilo stands, which is more than many ever get.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Shahdag Qusar in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Xəyal Əliyev has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
Successful dribbles: 40. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Karvan have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
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.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Karvan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Karvan, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
In brief
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than Camilo
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Alassane Coulibaly provided it, and the 9.32 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
7 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Shimal were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Karvan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Dimitrij Ismayilov has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Samir Ramazanov has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Orkhan Guseynov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Eddy Mammadov has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Karvan can pretend not to have heard.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 22 arrived, 11 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Balance sheets do not care about form or about who the manager was planning to build around. The board have decided a sale is required, and the only question left is which name ends up carrying it.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Karvan can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Xəyal Əliyev 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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words at Karvan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Umarali Rahmonaliyev 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.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Karvan know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Karvan can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Karvan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sávio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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; Karvan are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Thiago Rodrigues 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at Karvan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Umarali Rahmonaliyev 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Karvan have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Karvan can pretend not to have heard.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Karvan know it.
Xəyal Əliyev 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.
4 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Xəyal Əliyev 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.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Xəyal Əliyev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Still no offer on the table, and Vüsal Məsimov’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Karvan know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Karvan, and it is not being withdrawn.
Thiago Rodrigues 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Umarali Rahmonaliyev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
5 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.
24 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Xəyal Əliyev 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sávio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Karvan know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Karvan, and it is not being withdrawn.
Alassane Coulibaly 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Umarali Rahmonaliyev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Karvan, and it is not being withdrawn.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Karvan know it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Karvan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
5 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Vadim Abdullayev has his answer from Karvan; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Karvan can pretend not to have heard.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Karvan know it.
Thiago Rodrigues 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.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Marquinhos signs something — a contract at Karvan or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“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; Karvan are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Karvan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Karvan, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Araz Abdullayev has his answer from Karvan; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Karvan will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Karvan, and it is not being withdrawn.
The chase for Xəyal Əliyev ended with $470.0K changing hands and Sabah out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Karvan can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Thiago Rodrigues and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces14 Jun 2027
Karvan spend $470.0K on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $470.0K for Xəyal Əliyev, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Umarali Rahmonaliyev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Agil Guseynov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Tamkin Bayramov has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The arithmetic ran out, and everybody could see it coming from a distance. The hard summer starts now, and next season's fixtures will be full of unfamiliar names.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
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.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Karvan heard it as anything else.
Thiago Rodrigues 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at Karvan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sávio 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.
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Thiago Rodrigues is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
Alassane Coulibaly and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Karvan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Umarali Rahmonaliyev 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.
17 appearances and 3 goals away from here, and a player the manager did not have in August. Loans are sent out hoping for exactly this and most of them do not deliver it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Karvan, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Marquinhos signs something — a contract at Karvan or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Karvan. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The least glamorous thing a foreign signing ever does and the one that decides most of them. A player who can hear the shout behind him is a different footballer from one who cannot.
Alassane Coulibaly 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.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Kamran Ibrahimov has written the date down.
Position 12 and 12 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sávio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Karvan, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Thiago Rodrigues 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.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Karvan. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“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; Karvan are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Thiago Rodrigues 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.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Karvan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Umarali Rahmonaliyev 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Karvan, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Marquinhos signs something — a contract at Karvan or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Édson Reis
Position 12 and 12 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Karvan know it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Karvan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Karvan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Umarali Rahmonaliyev 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.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Karvan can pretend not to have heard.
“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; Karvan are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Alassane Coulibaly and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Karvan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Umarali Rahmonaliyev 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Karvan, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Umarali Rahmonaliyev has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Karvan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Karvan, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Umarali Rahmonaliyev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Umarali Rahmonaliyev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Kamran Ibrahimov has written the date down.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Karvan know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
At 20 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Karvan can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Karvan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Umarali Rahmonaliyev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Balance sheets do not care about form or about who the manager was planning to build around. The board have decided a sale is required, and the only question left is which name ends up carrying it.
“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; Karvan are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Thiago Rodrigues 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Umarali Rahmonaliyev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Karvan can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Every long career reaches the week the player starts thinking about the last one. He would like it to be at the club that first put him on a pitch, and Karvan now know that too.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Umarali Rahmonaliyev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Karvan can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Édson Reis trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Karvan would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Karvan know it.
Thiago Rodrigues 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.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Something was said to Adailson and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Karvan has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
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.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Karvan, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Karvan have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The fee is $1.0M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Sabah drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Karvan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Umarali Rahmonaliyev was the name on every phone-in, and the club has gone and signed him for $1.0M. For one week the board can do no wrong, which is a week most boards never get.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Two goals and a mark of 8.12 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Umarali Rahmonaliyev was one of the reasons people came, and $1.0M does not replace that by itself.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sabah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Pirverdi Seyidov has just signed for Sabah, and for once the answer mattered.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Stas Pokatilov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Qarabag have kept their man, and Sabah go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Sabah keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Karvan have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The deal with Neftchi is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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.
Thiago Rodrigues 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Karvan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sávio 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.
Everybody at Karvan saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 36 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Successful dribbles: 16. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Karvan had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Position 3, 32 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Sabah had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Qarabag, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Karvan can pretend not to have heard.
“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; Karvan are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Alassane Coulibaly 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.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Karvan asked and Sabah said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Sabah have had the benefit of it.
Sabah asked and Ponferradina said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
A point taken on 89 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Stas Pokatilov 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Eddy Sadygov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Ruslan Mammadov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Stas Pokatilov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Sabah can tell you which week it ends in.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Aaron Malouda is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Aaron Malouda
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Sabah can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sabah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivan Lepinjica 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 dugout30 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Mahir Dadashov chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Imishli defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Nobody at Sabah will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Turan Tovuz in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.97 on the card, and the Sabah support went home talking about one name.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Mahir Dadashov kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Zira in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Sabah has been clear about where Umarali Rahmonaliyev stands, which is more than many ever get.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
16 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Mahir Dadashov, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.