Marked for Gleb Mamonov
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market11 Jan 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Inter have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market11 Jan 2027
“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 The request is on a desk at Inter, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Everything agreed with Zira, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Inter
Renat Nadirov 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
Mustafa Ozan 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.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Zira have kept their man, and Inter go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
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.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Afran Ismayilov, and the manager let it.
Market11 Jan 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Renat Nadirov’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market4 Jan 2027
Inter say no — this time
The offer from Zira for Qara Mammadov 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.
Market4 Jan 2027
“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 The request is on a desk at Inter, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market4 Jan 2027
The name of Rufat Garayev has come up in conversations Inter were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Inter
Mustafa Ozan 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.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
Inter asked and Khazar said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
A loan enquiry to Zira: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
A loan enquiry to Neftchi: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Kamran Jafarov named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Kamran Jafarov is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Inter
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Afran Ismayilov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Inter
Mustafa Ozan and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Inter
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rashad Dadashov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“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.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
Kamran Sheydaev is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Market21 Dec 2026
The Mustafa Ozan story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mustafa Ozan signs something — a contract at Inter or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
Kamran Jafarov has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Inter 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.
Match21 Dec 2026
Continental football is in reach for Inter
24 points from position 6. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
Loan watch21 Dec 2026
10 starts and an average of 6.66. He went there to play and he is playing, which is the only thing a loan was ever for.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Richard Madatov makes the division’s eleven — 6.76
Marked 6.76, and picked in the team of the week for it. He was the best player on that pitch and the selectors saw the same match everybody else did.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match9 Nov 2026
Every point is an argument now for Inter
Position 8 and 14 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 ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 30. 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Inter may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Inter
Renat Nadirov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Looking ahead9 Nov 2026
Everything rides on AZAL
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. Inter know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
The dugout9 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.” Dimitrij Bayramov chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Inter training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rashad 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.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 29. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match24 Oct 2026
The wait goes on for Inter
6 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Inter
Richard Madatov 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Inter
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mustafa Ozan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Dimitrij Bayramov was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Inter dressing room was either.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Afran Ismayilov
“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.
Match24 Oct 2026
Point won or two lost for Inter?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Gabala? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Market26 Oct 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Kamran Ramazanov’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The plan did not have a place for Gleb Mamonov
Nobody at Inter 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 Oct 2026
A one-man rearguard from Gleb Mamonov
There were 7 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.
Match17 Oct 2026
No end in sight to Inter's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Inter has to find a result from somewhere.
Match17 Oct 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Inter and Sumgayit, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Match17 Oct 2026
Beaten 2‑4, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Mustafa Ozan in a row with a teammate
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.
Match17 Oct 2026
Inter are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Dimitrij Bayramov after 2‑4, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Namig Abdullayev 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 Oct 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Rahid Sadygov
14 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Inter lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match10 Oct 2026
4 matches without a win for Inter
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Inter are no longer polite ones.
Squad12 Oct 2026
15 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Inter
Mustafa Ozan 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.
Match10 Oct 2026
A bad afternoon for Inter against Ravan
0‑2 to Ravan, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Match12 Oct 2026
Inter at the halfway mark
Half the programme played, position 9, 9 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
The dugout12 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 0‑2 Dimitrij Bayramov left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad28 Sep 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Rahid Sadygov
29 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Inter lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad28 Sep 2026
10 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Qara Mammadov, 35, rolls back the years — 8.10
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.10 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad28 Sep 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Dimitrij Bayramov to a room that had heard them before.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Rashad Dadashov 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.
Looking ahead28 Sep 2026
The leaders are next for Inter
Qarabag top the table and they are coming into view. Nothing to lose, which is what every manager says before losing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Sep 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Rahid Sadygov
36 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Inter lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match21 Sep 2026
Inter are in among the leaders
Position 3 and 9 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match19 Sep 2026
Kapaz take the points off Inter
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Looking ahead21 Sep 2026
The big one: Neftchi come into view
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Inter will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Mustafa Ozan in a row with a teammate
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 dugout21 Sep 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Inter training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kamran Jafarov 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 ratings21 Sep 2026
Shots: 14, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.