Marked for Ryan Kalms
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces24 May 2038
The mood at Kapaz 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.
Boardroom24 May 2038
The scrutiny sharpens at Kapaz
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Kapaz is running low.
Market24 May 2038
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Kapaz can pretend not to have heard.
Squad24 May 2038
Tempers go at Kapaz
Sadiq Şəfiyev 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.
Squad24 May 2038
Words at Kapaz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Apostolos Tsilingiris 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.
Squad24 May 2038
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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market17 May 2038
“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 The request is on a desk at Kapaz, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad17 May 2038
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kapaz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 May 2038
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market10 May 2038
“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 The request is on a desk at Kapaz, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad10 May 2038
Tempers go at Kapaz
Sadiq Şəfiyev 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.
Squad10 May 2038
Bautista Churlis falls out with a teammate over standards
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.
Squad10 May 2038
“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; Kapaz are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Boardroom10 May 2038
No signings allowed at Kapaz
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
Boardroom10 May 2038
The Kapaz debt reaches $32.0M
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
Boardroom10 May 2038
Wages eat 85% of everything Kapaz earn
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.
Squad10 May 2038
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.
Market10 May 2038
The clock does Ryan Kalms’s negotiating for him
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Kapaz could ask drops and the wages Ryan Kalms can ask rise.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market19 Apr 2038
“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.
Squad19 Apr 2038
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad19 Apr 2038
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kapaz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market12 Apr 2038
“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 Kapaz, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad12 Apr 2038
Tempers go at Kapaz
Sadiq Şəfiyev 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.
Squad12 Apr 2038
Words at Kapaz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Apostolos Tsilingiris 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.
Boardroom12 Apr 2038
No signings allowed at Kapaz
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
Boardroom12 Apr 2038
The Kapaz debt reaches $31.7M
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
Squad12 Apr 2038
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.
Squad12 Apr 2038
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Valentin Guillaume trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market12 Apr 2038
Ryan Kalms runs his contract down
1 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Kapaz money.
Market12 Apr 2038
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market15 Mar 2038
“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 Kapaz, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad15 Mar 2038
Tempers go at Kapaz
Sadiq Şəfiyev 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 Mar 2038
Bautista Churlis falls out with a teammate over standards
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.
Squad15 Mar 2038
“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 Kapaz know it.
Squad15 Mar 2038
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 Kapaz now know that too.
Boardroom15 Mar 2038
No signings allowed at Kapaz
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
Boardroom15 Mar 2038
The Kapaz debt reaches $31.7M
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
Market15 Mar 2038
Ryan Kalms runs his contract down
2 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Kapaz money.
Market15 Mar 2038
The shop window has Luke Daley in it
Kapaz have let the market know Luke Daley can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market15 Feb 2038
“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 Kapaz, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad15 Feb 2038
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Kapaz may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad15 Feb 2038
Tempers go at Kapaz
Sadiq Şəfiyev 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 Feb 2038
Bautista Churlis falls out with a teammate over standards
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.
Boardroom15 Feb 2038
The Kapaz debt reaches $32.0M
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
Squad15 Feb 2038
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rauf Hüseynli, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces1 Feb 2038
The mood at Kapaz 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.
Boardroom1 Feb 2038
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Kapaz
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad1 Feb 2038
Tempers go at Kapaz
Sadiq Şəfiyev 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.
Squad1 Feb 2038
Words at Kapaz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Apostolos Tsilingiris 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.
Squad1 Feb 2038
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.
Market1 Feb 2038
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market18 Jan 2038
“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 Kapaz, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad18 Jan 2038
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Kapaz may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad18 Jan 2038
Tempers go at Kapaz
Sadiq Şəfiyev 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.
Squad18 Jan 2038
Words at Kapaz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Apostolos Tsilingiris 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.
Boardroom18 Jan 2038
The Kapaz debt reaches $32.0M
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
Squad18 Jan 2038
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Dec 2037
A knee injury of the worst kind for Veysəl Rzayev
23 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kapaz lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad21 Dec 2037
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Market21 Dec 2037
“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.
Squad21 Dec 2037
Tempers go at Kapaz
Sadiq Şəfiyev 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.
Squad21 Dec 2037
Words at Kapaz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Apostolos Tsilingiris 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.
Boardroom21 Dec 2037
The Kapaz debt reaches $32.4M
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Nov 2037
Veysəl Rzayev damages knee ligaments — 52 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 52 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.
Market23 Nov 2037
“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.
Player ratings23 Nov 2037
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.89 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Match21 Nov 2037
No end in sight to Kapaz's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Kapaz has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad23 Nov 2037
“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; Kapaz are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad23 Nov 2037
Tempers go at Kapaz
Sadiq Şəfiyev 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 Nov 2037
Bautista Churlis falls out with a teammate over standards
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.
Match21 Nov 2037
No clean sheets in sight for Kapaz
4 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Match21 Nov 2037
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Eirik Viland Andersen had Kapaz level again within 1 minutes, and Inter never got to play with a lead at all.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Nov 2037
Veysəl Rzayev damages knee ligaments — 73 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 73 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.
Player ratings2 Nov 2037
A brace, and Valery Arkhipenko takes the afternoon — 8.93
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Valery Arkhipenko provided it, and the 8.93 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market2 Nov 2037
Sime Vlasic 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 Kapaz can pretend not to have heard.
Squad2 Nov 2037
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kapaz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings2 Nov 2037
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad2 Nov 2037
Words at Kapaz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bautista Churlis 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.
Boardroom2 Nov 2037
The owner puts $489.9K into Kapaz
This is money that keeps the lights on rather than money that buys a centre-half, and the difference is the whole story. A club funded by its owner rather than by its football has exactly one conversation left ahead of it.
Squad2 Nov 2037
The manager makes an example of Mate Abuladze
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings2 Nov 2037
Marked 8.06. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Kapaz.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 Oct 2037
A knee injury of the worst kind for Veysəl Rzayev
87 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kapaz lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match17 Oct 2037
Kapaz are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 8 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Match17 Oct 2037
The wait goes on for Kapaz
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.
Squad19 Oct 2037
Tempers go at Kapaz
Sadiq Şəfiyev 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.
Squad19 Oct 2037
Words at Kapaz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Apostolos Tsilingiris 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.
Squad19 Oct 2037
“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 Kapaz know it.
Match17 Oct 2037
A bad afternoon for Kapaz against Gabala
0‑2 to Gabala, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Boardroom19 Oct 2037
No signings allowed at Kapaz
The manager may talk to whoever he likes and may pay nobody. A squad survives a window like this by borrowing, by promoting, and by hoping the injuries land somewhere else.
Boardroom19 Oct 2037
The Kapaz debt reaches $32.4M
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Oct 2037
There were 19 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
The terraces12 Oct 2037
Anger at Kapaz spills outside the ground
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.
Squad12 Oct 2037
A knee injury of the worst kind for Veysəl Rzayev
94 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kapaz lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad12 Oct 2037
3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Market12 Oct 2037
Ryan Kalms 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 Kapaz can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings12 Oct 2037
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.93 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Match10 Oct 2037
Kapaz leaking at the back
7 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Match10 Oct 2037
No end in sight to Kapaz's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Kapaz has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings12 Oct 2037
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Sep 2037
A knee injury of the worst kind for Veysəl Rzayev
122 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kapaz lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The terraces14 Sep 2037
Anger at Kapaz spills outside the ground
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.
Squad14 Sep 2037
There were 13 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match12 Sep 2037
No mercy from Kapaz
Neftchi will want this one forgotten quickly: 5‑2, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Kapaz were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Match9 Sep 2037
Kapaz bow out of the cup
Sumgayit go through and Kapaz go home, 0‑5 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Player ratings14 Sep 2037
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.89, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
The terraces14 Sep 2037
A cup hiding at Sumgayit leaves Kapaz explaining themselves
0-5, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.
Player ratings14 Sep 2037
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.90 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad14 Sep 2037
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kapaz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match22 Aug 2037
Kapaz leaking at the back
25 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Squad24 Aug 2037
Mate Abuladze damages knee ligaments — 29 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 29 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.
Squad24 Aug 2037
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings24 Aug 2037
Ryan Kalms pops up at the right end — 7.67
7.67, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Squad24 Aug 2037
Tempers go at Kapaz
Sadiq Şəfiyev 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.
Match22 Aug 2037
Ryan Kalms among the goals in a wild afternoon
6 goals in one match, Ryan Kalms on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Kapaz and Khazar.
Match22 Aug 2037
Beaten 2‑4, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad24 Aug 2037
Words at Kapaz training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Apostolos Tsilingiris 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.
Player ratings24 Aug 2037
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Jun 2037
Mate Abuladze damages knee ligaments — 89 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 89 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.
Match29 Jun 2037
Kapaz sink to position 8
15 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad29 Jun 2037
Tempers go at Kapaz
Sadiq Şəfiyev 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Jun 2037
Mate Abuladze damages knee ligaments — 96 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 96 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.
The terraces22 Jun 2037
Anger at Kapaz spills outside the ground
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.
Market22 Jun 2037
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad25 May 2037
A knee injury of the worst kind for Mate Abuladze
125 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kapaz lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The terraces25 May 2037
Anger at Kapaz spills outside the ground
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.
Market25 May 2037
Ryan Kalms 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 Kapaz can pretend not to have heard.
Squad25 May 2037
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kapaz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 May 2037
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.
Squad25 May 2037
“The easiest signature of my career.” James Wright and Kapaz agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad27 Apr 2037
A knee injury of the worst kind for Fərid Nəbiyev
50 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kapaz lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The terraces27 Apr 2037
Anger at Kapaz spills outside the ground
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.
Market27 Apr 2037
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Mar 2037
A knee injury of the worst kind for Fərid Nəbiyev
80 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kapaz lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The terraces30 Mar 2037
Anger at Kapaz spills outside the ground
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.
Market30 Mar 2037
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces2 Feb 2037
The mood at Kapaz 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.
Squad2 Feb 2037
A knee injury of the worst kind for Veysəl Rzayev
99 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kapaz lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad2 Feb 2037
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kapaz will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad2 Feb 2037
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Kapaz may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market2 Feb 2037
“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.
Squad2 Feb 2037
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mate Abuladze and Kapaz agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Jan 2037
A knee injury of the worst kind for Veysəl Rzayev
120 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kapaz lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad12 Jan 2037
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Kapaz will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match12 Jan 2037
Kapaz are in real trouble now
Position 8, 15 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.
Squad12 Jan 2037
“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; Kapaz are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad12 Jan 2037
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kapaz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market12 Jan 2037
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Apostolos Tsilingiris’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Dec 2036
A knee injury of the worst kind for Veysəl Rzayev
134 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kapaz lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Boardroom29 Dec 2036
Pressure builds in the Kapaz boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad29 Dec 2036
Tempers go at Kapaz
Sheriff Sinyan 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match13 Dec 2036
Kapaz leaking at the back
23 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Match15 Dec 2036
Kapaz are in real trouble now
Position 8, 15 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.
Squad15 Dec 2036
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market15 Dec 2036
“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.
Squad15 Dec 2036
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Kapaz may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad15 Dec 2036
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Kapaz will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad15 Dec 2036
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Kapaz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match13 Dec 2036
Sumgayit left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings15 Dec 2036
Ninety minutes of Valery Arkhipenko at his very best
Marked 8.12. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Kapaz.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match8 Nov 2036
Kapaz are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 18 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
The terraces10 Nov 2036
The mood at Kapaz 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.
Squad10 Nov 2036
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad10 Nov 2036
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 24 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market10 Nov 2036
Ryan Kalms 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 Kapaz can pretend not to have heard.
Match8 Nov 2036
No end in sight to Kapaz's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Kapaz has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad10 Nov 2036
“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 Kapaz know it.
Squad10 Nov 2036
Tempers go at Kapaz
Sadiq Şəfiyev 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.
Match8 Nov 2036
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Kapaz and AZAL in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.