Marked for Samir Sheydaev
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Jan 2027
A fracture rules Cavid Ismayilov out for 131 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Inter will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market11 Jan 2027
Inter get their man
The chase for Richard Dadashov ended with $190.0K changing hands and Ravan out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Squad11 Jan 2027
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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad4 Jan 2027
Maksim Dadashov damages knee ligaments — 36 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 36 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Cavid Ismayilov: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Inter have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad4 Jan 2027
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Inter will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Dec 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Maksim Dadashov
44 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 Dec 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Shahriyar Sadygov 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
Uneasy
Squad14 Dec 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match12 Dec 2026
Inter cannot find the net
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad14 Dec 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.
Loan watch14 Dec 2026
“I watch every Inter game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Qarabag runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The terraces14 Dec 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Samir Sheydaev 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
The team sheet said everything about Maksim Nazarov
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Maksim Nazarov.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
15 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Rahid Ramazanov 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Dec 2026
Samir Sheydaev decides it from twelve yards
2 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
Match2 Dec 2026
The cup run ends for Inter
0‑0 against Khazar, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Market7 Dec 2026
“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 ratings7 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 21 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Inter
Jesús Villarroel 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 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rashad Mammadov, and the manager let it.
Match5 Dec 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Inter training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Shahriyar Sadygov 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad16 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Agil Dadashov
30 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Inter may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad16 Nov 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market9 Nov 2026
“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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Inter
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.
Loan watch9 Nov 2026
“I did not go to Gabala to sit and watch. I want to come back to Inter and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 13 matches say the rest.
Match7 Nov 2026
Inter come up short against Zira
Zira left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Dimitrij Medvedev 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.
In brief
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Player ratings
Nobody could get near Rashad Mammadov
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Squad
The division's best last weekend was a Inter man
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match24 Oct 2026
The goals have deserted Inter
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Inter can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Inter
Jesús Villarroel 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
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Samir Sheydaev, and the manager let it.
Match24 Oct 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Inter training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lapidar Lladrovci 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 ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Oct 2026
Vugar Sheydaev damages knee ligaments — 14 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 14 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 ratings5 Oct 2026
No sign of nerves from Rashad Mammadov at 21 — 7.73
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Rashad Mammadov did not need any: 7.73, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Match3 Oct 2026
Whatever happens, Inter do not lose
8 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad5 Oct 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.
The terraces5 Oct 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Rashad Mammadov 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.
Match3 Oct 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Rashad Mammadov. 1‑0 against Qarabag, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Lapidar Lladrovci 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Renat Abdullayev is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
13 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Sep 2026
Vugar Sheydaev damages knee ligaments — 21 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 21 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
5 matches without a win for Inter
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Inter are no longer polite ones.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Mahir Ismayilov is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Match26 Sep 2026
Still nobody has beaten Inter
The unbeaten run reaches 7. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Inter
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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lapidar Lladrovci, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Sep 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Vugar Sheydaev
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.
Match21 Sep 2026
Inter up to position 3
10 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
No sign of nerves from Emin Huseynov at 21 — 7.68
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Emin Huseynov did not need any: 7.68, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Match19 Sep 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.
Squad21 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.
Match19 Sep 2026
6 unbeaten for Inter
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Inter did not have in the autumn.
Squad21 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Yusuf Barasi
“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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Lapidar Lladrovci 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.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.76 on the card, and the Inter support went home talking about one name.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad24 Aug 2026
Orkhan Ramazanov damages knee ligaments — 27 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 27 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.
Market24 Aug 2026
Inter say no — this time
The offer from Kapaz for Samir Sheydaev 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.
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.
Match22 Aug 2026
Gabala made Inter work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑2 at the end and the table does not ask how.
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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Maksim Ismayilov, and the manager let it.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
A performance of 8.62 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Lapidar Lladrovci 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.
Market24 Aug 2026
Everyone has stopped pretending: Kapaz will make the call about Orkhan Dadashov this week. Inter have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad17 Aug 2026
Orkhan Ramazanov damages knee ligaments — 34 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 34 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.
Market17 Aug 2026
Neftchi come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Inter did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Inter
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.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Inter
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Market17 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Dimitrij Jafarov has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market17 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Araz Amirguliyev has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market17 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Tamkin Dadashov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad17 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rashad Mammadov, and the manager let it.
Match15 Aug 2026
A 1‑0 win over Sumgayit, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Mahir Madatov
23 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Maksim Ismayilov commits to Inter for another 3 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Inter
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Aug 2026
Inter say no — this time
The offer from Ethnikos Achnas for Javid 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Every paper's favourite story and every manager's least. What happened is being dealt with internally, which is the phrase clubs use when they would rather nobody asked again.
Squad3 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Lapidar Lladrovci 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Tempers went at Inter this week. Nothing a hard session and a quiet word cannot repair, though the story got out all the same.
Market3 Aug 2026
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Maksim Dadashov has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Inter.