Marked for Gregorio Vignali
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Jun 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 27 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market28 Jun 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Khazar can pretend not to have heard.
Squad28 Jun 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Caner Tekdemir is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Market28 Jun 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Khazar is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Tempers go at Khazar
Gregorio Vignali 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market21 Jun 2027
$470.0K — a new record at Khazar
No footballer has ever cost this club more, and the number will be read out every time he misplaces a pass for the next two years.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 34 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market21 Jun 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 The request is on a desk at Khazar, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market21 Jun 2027
Only the photograph left for Bahlul Madatov
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bahlul Madatov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Khazar the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market21 Jun 2027
Khazar get their man
The chase for Maksim Khalilzade ended with $290.0K changing hands and Inter out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Squad21 Jun 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 Khazar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
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Squad
Eddy Abdullayev is a better footballer than he was
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Squad
Rufat Ramazanov has improved at 25, which nobody expected
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The terraces
Khazar spend $470.0K on the signing the town wanted
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Jun 2027
A fracture rules Səlahət Ağayev out for 51 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Khazar will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market7 Jun 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market7 Jun 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
The medical room confirms 23 days on the sidelines for Gregorio Vignali, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad7 Jun 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 Khazar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Jun 2027
The medical room confirms 18 days on the sidelines for Orkhan Jafarov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 May 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 Khazar, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad31 May 2027
A fracture rules Səlahət Ağayev out for 58 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Khazar will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market31 May 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Khazar they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 May 2027
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.
Match19 May 2027
The small margins put Khazar out
Out, 0‑0 to Sumgayit, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Squad24 May 2027
A fracture rules Səlahət Ağayev out for 65 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Khazar will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad24 May 2027
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Khazar have had the benefit of it.
Squad24 May 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 Khazar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces24 May 2027
At 21 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.
Player ratings24 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings24 May 2027
The kick that got away from Emil Səfərov
Twelve yards, a goalkeeper guessing, and it still did not go in. He will take the next one, and every soul in the ground will hold their breath.
Market24 May 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Gregorio Vignali’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 May 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 73 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad17 May 2027
Bahlul Madatov: 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.” Khazar have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad17 May 2027
Tempers go at Khazar
Gregorio Vignali 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
Squad10 May 2027
A fracture rules Səlahət Ağayev out for 81 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Khazar will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market10 May 2027
Luigi Gaspar hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Khazar can pretend not to have heard.
Squad10 May 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 Khazar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 May 2027
A fracture rules Səlahət Ağayev out for 88 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Khazar will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market3 May 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 Khazar, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market3 May 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Eddy Abdullayev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Khazar the goodbyes have quietly begun.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Apr 2027
A fracture rules Səlahət Ağayev out for 95 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Khazar will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad26 Apr 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 Khazar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Caner Tekdemir 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
Steady
Squad19 Apr 2027
Səlahət Ağayev breaks a bone — 102 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 102 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad19 Apr 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 Khazar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Gregorio Vignali 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
Steady
Squad12 Apr 2027
Səlahət Ağayev breaks a bone — 109 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 109 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Tempers go at Khazar
Boris Tsyganov 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Khazar training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gregorio Vignali 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
Steady
Squad29 Mar 2027
Səlahət Ağayev breaks a bone — 123 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 123 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Khazar
Leroy-Jacques Mickels 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Khazar training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gregorio Vignali 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
Steady
Squad22 Mar 2027
Səlahət Ağayev breaks a bone — 130 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 130 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad22 Mar 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 Khazar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Gregorio Vignali 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
Steady
Squad15 Mar 2027
A fracture rules Səlahət Ağayev out for 138 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Khazar will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Khazar
Gregorio Vignali 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.
Squad15 Mar 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Mar 2027
Səlahət Ağayev breaks a bone — 146 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 146 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
The Khazar board want somebody sold
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
Market8 Mar 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Khazar they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match24 Feb 2027
Khazar march on in the cup
Kapaz are out and Khazar go through, 1‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Səlahət Ağayev breaks a bone — 153 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 153 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Khazar
Boris Tsyganov 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Khazar training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gregorio Vignali 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Feb 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Kamran Khalilzade
18 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Khazar lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad15 Feb 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Khazar have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Tempers go at Khazar
Boris Tsyganov 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
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Squad
Words at Khazar training over how hard people work
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Market
The market said no: Rahid Ramazanov stays put
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Feb 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Kamran Khalilzade
25 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Khazar lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market8 Feb 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Khazar they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad8 Feb 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 Khazar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 Feb 2027
Kamran Khalilzade damages knee ligaments — 33 days out
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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Market1 Feb 2027
So close: Mahir Garayev’s move dies late
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Ravan moved on, Mahir Garayev reports back to Khazar, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Tempers go at Khazar
Gregorio Vignali 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.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Prince Owusu has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Khazar have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Eddy 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
Steady
Market25 Jan 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.
Squad25 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 Khazar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Caner Tekdemir 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
Steady
Market18 Jan 2027
Khazar say no — this time
The offer from Neftchi for Gregorio Vignali 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Khazar
Boris Tsyganov 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Kamran 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Caner Tekdemir asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market18 Jan 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Bahlul Madatov has his answer from Khazar; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Squad18 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rufat Garayev, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market11 Jan 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Khazar is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Onuralp Çevikkan is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
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 Khazar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market11 Jan 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Khazar have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad11 Jan 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.
Market11 Jan 2027
Qara Mammadov is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Khazar has been clear about where Qara Mammadov stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Jan 2027
Qara Mammadov: 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.” Khazar 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. Khazar will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Khazar
Gregorio Vignali 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
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Squad
Words at Khazar training over how hard people work
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Market
The shop window has Rahid Ramazanov in it
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Khazar
Gregorio Vignali 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Eddy 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Dec 2026
Orkhan Madatov 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.
Market14 Dec 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Khazar is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
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 Khazar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match12 Dec 2026
A bad afternoon for Khazar against Zira
0‑1 to Zira, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Araz Amirguliyev, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Dec 2026
Orkhan Madatov 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.
Match2 Dec 2026
Khazar march on in the cup
Inter are out and Khazar go through, 2‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
No sign of nerves from Eddy Nazarov at 21 — 8.56
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Eddy Nazarov did not need any: 8.56, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Emil Səfərov goes up and wins it — 7.39
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.39 for the rest of it.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Khazar
Gregorio Vignali 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.
Match5 Dec 2026
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Khazar training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Caner Tekdemir 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rahid Ramazanov, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Orkhan Madatov
36 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Khazar lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match21 Nov 2026
A hiding for Khazar
Beaten 0‑3 by Sumgayit, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Khazar
Boris Tsyganov 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.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad23 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Samir Ramazanov
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad2 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 Khazar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match31 Oct 2026
Emin Ramazanov scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Inter, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 54. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 14 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
No sign of nerves from Caner Tekdemir at 21 — 8.06
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Caner Tekdemir did not need any: 8.06, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Khazar
Gregorio Vignali 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
Words at Khazar training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Caner Tekdemir 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 terraces26 Oct 2026
At 21 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
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 37. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 21 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.16 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Market19 Oct 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Eddy Abdullayev will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Khazar the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad19 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 Khazar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match17 Oct 2026
Khazar get the job done against AZAL
A 2‑1 win over AZAL, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
In brief
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Player ratings
Emin Ramazanov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
-
Squad
Words at Khazar training over how hard people work
-
Squad
Rufat Ramazanov called up by his country
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 41. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 39 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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 Khazar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Caner Tekdemir 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.
Market5 Oct 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Gregorio Vignali is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad28 Sep 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 46 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Khazar
Boris Tsyganov 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
Upbeat
Squad21 Sep 2026
A fracture rules Rahid Ramazanov out for 54 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Khazar will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match21 Sep 2026
Khazar up to position 3
15 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Market21 Sep 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Khazar they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Khazar
Kamran Abdullayev 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.
Match19 Sep 2026
A bad afternoon for Khazar against Sumgayit
1‑2 to Sumgayit, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Rufat Garayev pulls a muscle — 18 days out
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 18 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad14 Sep 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 62 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
A brace, and Gregorio Vignali takes the afternoon — 8.55
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Gregorio Vignali provided it, and the 8.55 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
A brace, and Boris Tsyganov takes the afternoon — 8.13
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Boris Tsyganov provided it, and the 8.13 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Match12 Sep 2026
Khazar cannot stop winning
5 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Khazar
Rufat 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.
Match12 Sep 2026
6 goals as Khazar and Ravan go for it
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Khazar and Ravan, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Match12 Sep 2026
It finished 4‑2, and it was Boris Tsyganov’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Khazar.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Khazar training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Caner Tekdemir 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Samir Ramazanov
“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.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad7 Sep 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 69 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market7 Sep 2026
Neftchi come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Khazar did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.88 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Market7 Sep 2026
“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 Khazar, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match5 Sep 2026
Khazar make it 4 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Khazar have 4 straight wins of it.
Squad7 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 Khazar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match5 Sep 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Gregorio Vignali’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Khazar.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The young player of the month award goes to a 21-year-old at Khazar who has looked like the finished article for four weekends running. The next four are the ones that decide whether he is.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Orkhan Madatov 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
Triumph
Squad31 Aug 2026
A fracture rules Rahid Ramazanov out for 77 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Khazar will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Eddy Nazarov, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.99
A mark of 7.99 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.81 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Market31 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 Khazar can pretend not to have heard.
Match29 Aug 2026
Khazar make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Khazar have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Khazar
Rufat 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Caner Tekdemir. 3‑1 against Inter, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Ninety minutes of Emin Ramazanov at his very best
Marked 8.48. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Khazar.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 67. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A fracture rules Rahid Ramazanov out for 86 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Khazar will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market24 Aug 2026
Qarabag come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Khazar did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
A brace, and Boris Tsyganov takes the afternoon — 8.22
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Boris Tsyganov provided it, and the 8.22 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Market24 Aug 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.
Market24 Aug 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Khazar they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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 Khazar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match22 Aug 2026
Khazar get the job done against Kapaz
A 3‑1 win over Kapaz, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Gregorio Vignali 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
Steady
Squad10 Aug 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 102 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market10 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Kamran Abdullayev and Khazar agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Khazar
Kamran Abdullayev 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Gregorio Vignali 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
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Rahid Sadygov commits to Khazar for another 2 years.