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.
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.
Pachu 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 had been thinking. Javid Guseynov 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.
In brief
SquadElcan Əbilov has become a man the manager trusts
The words a physio says slowly. 18 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.
Ramil Şeydayev 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 words a physio says slowly. 33 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.
Pachu 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 had been thinking. Javid Guseynov 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 words a physio says slowly. 54 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.
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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Dimitrij Nazarov is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
In brief
SquadJavid Guseynov falls out with a teammate over standards
62 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.
“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.
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.
In brief
SquadWords at Kapaz training over how hard people work
The words a physio says slowly. 77 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.
Pachu 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.
In brief
SquadWords at Kapaz training over how hard people work
92 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.
Pachu 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 had been thinking. Adama Fofana 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.
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.
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.
169 appearances across 10 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
The offer from Paralimni for Javid Guseynov was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Adama Fofana 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.
Pachu 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 had been thinking. Javid Guseynov 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.
Ilhan Fakili 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Khalifa Sembaij has just signed for Inter, and for once the answer mattered.
“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 Inter, and 0 appearances in 21 say he has earned the hearing.
“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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Kapaz is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Pachu 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 had been thinking. Adama Fofana 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 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Inter is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
He is 20, he is averaging 7.21, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
“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.
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.
Khazar go through and Inter go home, 2‑9 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
The terraces7 Dec 2026
A cup hiding at Khazar leaves Inter explaining themselves
2-9, 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.
He is 20, he is averaging 7.17, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Javid Guseynov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Inter the goodbyes have quietly begun.
11 goals in one match, Deniz Yilmaz on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Inter and Khazar.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Samir Sheydaev 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 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.
Ilhan Fakili 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.
“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 Inter, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
Marked 8.01 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Inter they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
He is 20, he is averaging 7.16, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Samir Sheydaev 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.
Squads form friendships and that is healthy; this is not that. 3 separate groups, 2 players belonging to none of them, and a set of tables at lunch that have stopped rearranging themselves. It very rarely fixes itself.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 16 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Two goals and a mark of 8.38 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 14 goals between Inter and Khazar, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Successful dribbles: 41. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Ilhan Fakili, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.31
A mark of 8.31 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Javid Guseynov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Inter the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad12 Oct 2026
At 20, Ilhan Fakili is already the best thing here
An average of 7.01 in a first team he is several years too young for. Inter have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
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.
The goal that put Ravan ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Inter equalised, 2 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
“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 Inter, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
“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 Inter, and it is not being withdrawn.
Ilhan Fakili 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 am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Inter, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rufat Dadashov 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.
In brief
SquadA place in the month's best eleven for Ilhan Fakili
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Ilhan Fakili did not need any: 8.28, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Inter is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
6 goals in one match, Ilhan Fakili on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Inter and AZAL.
Three points for Inter, 4‑2 the final word against AZAL in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Eddy Bayramov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.09. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
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.
Javid Jafarov 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Ilhan Fakili
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Ilhan Fakili has come out of that comparison in the side, and Inter have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vugar Nadirov, and the manager let it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Araz Mammadov 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.
“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 Inter, and it is not being withdrawn.
9 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Inter and Khazar in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
The phone has started ringing about Vugar Ozobic again, and this time the name on the line is Sumgayit. Inter are listening politely and promising nothing.
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.
“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 Inter, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer from Al-Ittihad for Vugar Ozobic was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Orkhan Khalilzade 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.
Samir Ramazanov 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.