Marked for Andersson Timaná
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom8 Jan 2029
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.
Market8 Jan 2029
“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.
Transfer targets8 Jan 2029
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Mingachevir have done the hard part with DIFAI Agsu, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Oruc Mammadov 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.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Words at Mingachevir training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mohammed Kadiri 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 dugout8 Jan 2029
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Franck Otchere is the month’s best young player
At 19 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Mingachevir will try not to make too much of it.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Market8 Jan 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Igor Pimenta’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match25 Dec 2028
Every point is an argument now for Mingachevir
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.
Player ratings25 Dec 2028
No sign of nerves from Gustavo Puskas at 20 — 7.76
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Gustavo Puskas did not need any: 7.76, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
The dugout25 Dec 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Mingachevir may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad25 Dec 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mingachevir this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Cabir Əmirli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom25 Dec 2028
222% of the income goes out in wages at Mingachevir
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.
The terraces25 Dec 2028
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Andersson Timaná 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.
Looking ahead25 Dec 2028
Everything rides on Jabrayil
Both clubs in the mire, one fixture between them, and a ground that will be louder and more frightened than at any point in the season. Mingachevir know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Oct 2028
Oruc Mammadov 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.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mohammed Kadiri was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Looking ahead16 Oct 2028
Jabrayil next, and one man in the Mingachevir dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Market16 Oct 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Roman Hüseynov’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market16 Oct 2028
Mingachevir have let the market know Andersson Timaná can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
The dugout16 Oct 2028
Rəvan Kazımov knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mingachevir, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 Jul 2028
Ihlan Liberato damages knee ligaments — 72 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 72 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.
Boardroom17 Jul 2028
Pressure builds in the Mingachevir boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market17 Jul 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mingachevir can pretend not to have heard.
Squad17 Jul 2028
David Luis and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Words at Mingachevir training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cabir Əmirli 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.
Transfer targets17 Jul 2028
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Boardroom17 Jul 2028
The embargo bars a fee being paid for a player, whatever the manager thinks the squad needs. Every rumour printed about this club between now and its lifting is a rumour about a deal that cannot happen.
Transfer targets17 Jul 2028
A loan enquiry to Sumgayit: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets17 Jul 2028
A loan enquiry to DIFAI Agsu: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.