Marked for Cavid Mammadov
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market15 Feb 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Rodina 2 people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market15 Feb 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Rodina 2 may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market15 Feb 2027
Ivan Vozrastov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Rodina 2 they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Rodina 2
Alexandr Alekhin 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Rodina 2
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniel Svintsov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad15 Feb 2027
The formation has left Cavid Mammadov behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Rodina 2 will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Inter
Eddy Dadashov 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Agil Ramazanov 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.
Match3 Oct 2026
A bad afternoon for Inter against Qarabag
0‑1 to Qarabag, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Samir Ismayilov commits to Inter for another 1 years.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Emin Mammadov
“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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Inter have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
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 Dimitrij Garayev left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Javid Bayramov
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.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
Javid Bayramov 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 Inter, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market24 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.21 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market24 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Inter can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Everything agreed with Neftchi, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad24 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Inter this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Inter asked and Ravan said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Inter
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Agil Ramazanov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match22 Aug 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Agil Ramazanov. 2‑1 against Gabala, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Inter
Eddy Dadashov 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Inter training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Agil Ramazanov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Market3 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Maksim Khalilzade again, and this time the name on the line is Sumgayit. Inter are listening politely and promising nothing.
Market3 Aug 2026
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Cavid Mammadov has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Inter.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
Agil Ramazanov 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 Inter, and both men came out saying it was fine.