Marked for Cavid Ramazanov
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match10 Nov 2029
No end in sight to Ravan's wait for a win
34 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Ravan has to find a result from somewhere.
Match12 Nov 2029
Every point is an argument now for Ravan
Position 10 and 3 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.
Squad12 Nov 2029
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad12 Nov 2029
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ravan have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad12 Nov 2029
Tempers go at Ravan
Cavid 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.
Squad12 Nov 2029
Words at Ravan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Richard Amirguliyev 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match3 Nov 2029
33 matches without a win for Ravan
The run now stands at 33, and the questions being asked around Ravan are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings5 Nov 2029
No sign of nerves from Andre Mohammed at 19 — 7.68
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Andre Mohammed did not need any: 7.68, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad5 Nov 2029
Ivan Kravchenko: 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.” Ravan have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad5 Nov 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ravan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Nov 2029
Words at Ravan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kamran Ismayilov 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 ratings5 Nov 2029
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Boardroom5 Nov 2029
Wages eat 89% of everything Ravan earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad5 Nov 2029
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Kamran Khalilzade is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Match3 Nov 2029
Honours even between Ravan and Gabala
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match27 Oct 2029
No end in sight to Ravan's wait for a win
32 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Ravan has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad29 Oct 2029
Eddy Medvedev damages knee ligaments — 22 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 22 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.
Squad29 Oct 2029
Tempers go at Ravan
Cavid 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.
Squad29 Oct 2029
Nikola Ninković has improved at 34, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 4 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Match27 Oct 2029
A bad afternoon for Ravan against Sumgayit
1‑3 to Sumgayit, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad29 Oct 2029
Words at Ravan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Richard Amirguliyev 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
Match13 Oct 2029
30 matches without a win for Ravan
The run now stands at 30, and the questions being asked around Ravan are no longer polite ones.
Squad15 Oct 2029
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 16 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad15 Oct 2029
Eddy Medvedev 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.
In brief
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Match
Ravan sink to position 10
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Squad
Tempers go at Ravan
-
Squad
Words at Ravan training over how hard people work
-
Match
Qarabag take the points off Ravan
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match15 Sep 2029
The wait goes on for Ravan
26 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.
Squad17 Sep 2029
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.
Match17 Sep 2029
Ravan are in real trouble now
Position 10, 0 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Match12 Sep 2029
The small margins put Ravan out
Out, 1‑4 to Khazar, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Player ratings17 Sep 2029
Successful dribbles: 32. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The terraces17 Sep 2029
Ravan are taken apart by Khazar — and the town wants answers
It finished 1-4. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.
Player ratings17 Sep 2029
A defender's goal wins it for Ravan — 7.62
1 for Cavid Ramazanov, marked 7.62, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Squad17 Sep 2029
Tempers go at Ravan
Cavid 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.
Squad17 Sep 2029
Words at Ravan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Richard Amirguliyev 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
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Match
Ravan are shipping goals every week
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Match
Zira take the points off Ravan
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Squad
The manager makes an example of Lucas Kagan
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match8 Sep 2029
24 matches without a win for Ravan
The run now stands at 24, and the questions being asked around Ravan are no longer polite ones.
Squad10 Sep 2029
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 53 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match8 Sep 2029
Nowhere to hide for Ravan
1‑4 against Khazar, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad10 Sep 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Ravan may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market10 Sep 2029
“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.
Squad10 Sep 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ravan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Sep 2029
Richard Amirguliyev 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.
Boardroom10 Sep 2029
Doors closed at Ravan
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Player ratings10 Sep 2029
Successful dribbles: 15. 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
Crisis
Match25 Aug 2029
22 matches without a win for Ravan
The run now stands at 22, and the questions being asked around Ravan are no longer polite ones.
The terraces27 Aug 2029
The mood at Ravan has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Squad27 Aug 2029
A fracture rules Nikola Ninković out for 68 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ravan will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad27 Aug 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ravan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Aug 2029
Richard Amirguliyev 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.
Match25 Aug 2029
A bad afternoon for Ravan against Sumgayit
0‑1 to Sumgayit, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad27 Aug 2029
Nobody at Ravan 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.
Market27 Aug 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Richard Amirguliyev’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market27 Aug 2029
Ravan have made André-Jordy Ella available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad6 Aug 2029
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 90 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad6 Aug 2029
Tempers go at Ravan
Cavid 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.
Squad6 Aug 2029
Nikola Ninković has improved at 34, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 4 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Squad6 Aug 2029
Words at Ravan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Richard Amirguliyev 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.
Market6 Aug 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Rahid Garayev signs something — a contract at Ravan or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market6 Aug 2029
Ravan shop where it costs nothing
Ivan Mamavko signs, and the fee column stays empty. Deals like this look small in July and clever by March — or they are never mentioned again.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match23 Jul 2029
Every point is an argument now for Ravan
Position 10 and 2 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.
Market23 Jul 2029
“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.
Squad23 Jul 2029
Lucas Kagan 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.
Squad23 Jul 2029
Tempers go at Ravan
Richard Amirguliyev 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.
Squad23 Jul 2029
Cavid Ramazanov has improved at 26, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Squad23 Jul 2029
Words at Ravan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rahid Garayev 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
Boardroom18 Jun 2029
Pressure builds in the Ravan boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market18 Jun 2029
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ravan they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market18 Jun 2029
“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 Ravan, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad18 Jun 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ravan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Jun 2029
Richard Amirguliyev 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.
Market18 Jun 2029
He is 19, and nobody at Ravan signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces4 Jun 2029
The mood at Ravan has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Boardroom4 Jun 2029
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Renat Sadygov has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Boardroom4 Jun 2029
Crisis meeting at Ravan
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
Market4 Jun 2029
Lucas Kagan 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 Ravan can pretend not to have heard.
Squad4 Jun 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ravan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Richard Amirguliyev 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.
Squad4 Jun 2029
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Ravan are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Nobody at Ravan 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.
Boardroom4 Jun 2029
$101.3K taken back off the Ravan table
What was available in the summer has quietly gone. Upstairs nobody will call it a change of ambition; downstairs nobody will call it anything else.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 May 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ravan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 May 2029
Richard Amirguliyev 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.
Squad14 May 2029
The manager makes an example of Yance Sayuri
“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
Boardroom26 Mar 2029
Pressure builds in the Ravan boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market26 Mar 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ravan can pretend not to have heard.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Tempers go at Ravan
Cavid 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces12 Mar 2029
Anger at Ravan spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Tempers go at Ravan
Cavid 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.
Squad12 Mar 2029
Words at Ravan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Richard Amirguliyev 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.
Squad12 Mar 2029
The manager has not finished forgetting Tamkin Huseynov's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Squad12 Mar 2029
“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.
Market12 Mar 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Richard Amirguliyev signs something — a contract at Ravan or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom26 Feb 2029
The scrutiny sharpens at Ravan
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Ravan is running low.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Tempers go at Ravan
Richard Amirguliyev 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 Feb 2029
Words at Ravan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cavid Ramazanov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Jan 2029
Rufat Mammadov damages knee ligaments — 28 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 28 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.
Market22 Jan 2029
“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.
Squad22 Jan 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ravan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Sarmat Khubezhov has just signed for Ravan, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Richard Amirguliyev 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.
Boardroom22 Jan 2029
Kapaz will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Petros Manukyan has pre-agreed a move to Ravan, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match9 Dec 2028
19 matches without a win for Ravan
The run now stands at 19, and the questions being asked around Ravan are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings11 Dec 2028
Successful dribbles: 42. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match11 Dec 2028
Every point is an argument now for Ravan
Position 10 and 2 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.
Match9 Dec 2028
Ravan taken apart
0‑3 to Inter, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Market11 Dec 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ravan can pretend not to have heard.
Squad11 Dec 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ravan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Richard Amirguliyev 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.
Squad11 Dec 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kamran Ismayilov, and the manager let it.
Boardroom11 Dec 2028
Inquest at Ravan
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match2 Dec 2028
18 matches without a win for Ravan
The run now stands at 18, and the questions being asked around Ravan are no longer polite ones.
Boardroom4 Dec 2028
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Market4 Dec 2028
“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 Ravan, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom4 Dec 2028
The Ravan board call everybody in
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
Boardroom4 Dec 2028
The scrutiny sharpens at Ravan
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Ravan is running low.
Player ratings4 Dec 2028
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.
Squad4 Dec 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Orkhan Medvedev and Ravan agree another 2 years.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Tempers go at Ravan
Cavid 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.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Nikola Ninković 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
Match25 Nov 2028
No end in sight to Ravan's wait for a win
17 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Ravan has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad27 Nov 2028
A fracture rules Orkhan Medvedev out for 21 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ravan will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market27 Nov 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ravan can pretend not to have heard.
Squad27 Nov 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ravan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Mahir Medvedev pulls a muscle — 15 days out
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 15 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Orkhan Medvedev has improved at 35, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Player ratings27 Nov 2028
Marked 8.04. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Ravan.
Match25 Nov 2028
Honours even between Ravan and AZAL
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Player ratings27 Nov 2028
Successful dribbles: 10. 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
Crisis
The terraces23 Oct 2028
Anger at Ravan spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Match21 Oct 2028
No end in sight to Ravan's wait for a win
12 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Ravan has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 57 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match21 Oct 2028
Chastening afternoon for Ravan
A 0‑3 beating by Neftchi was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Market23 Oct 2028
Olegs Fertovs 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 Ravan can pretend not to have heard.
Squad23 Oct 2028
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Ravan know it.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Tempers go at Ravan
Cavid 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.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Words at Ravan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rahid Garayev 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.
Boardroom23 Oct 2028
Inquest at Ravan
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad16 Oct 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 64 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match14 Oct 2028
11 matches without a win for Ravan
The run now stands at 11, and the questions being asked around Ravan are no longer polite ones.
Squad16 Oct 2028
There were 10 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.
Match16 Oct 2028
Ravan sink to position 10
1 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Match14 Oct 2028
Nowhere to hide for Ravan
1‑4 against Qarabag, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market16 Oct 2028
“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 ratings16 Oct 2028
Up for the corner, and Kamran Ismayilov delivers — 7.74
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Kamran Ismayilov scored, was marked 7.74, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Squad16 Oct 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ravan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Richard Amirguliyev 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
Squad9 Oct 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 71 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match7 Oct 2028
10 matches without a win for Ravan
The run now stands at 10, and the questions being asked around Ravan are no longer polite ones.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match7 Oct 2028
Chastening afternoon for Ravan
A 0‑3 beating by Inter was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad9 Oct 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nikola Ninković and Ravan agree another 2 years.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Tempers go at Ravan
Richard Amirguliyev 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 ratings9 Oct 2028
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Boardroom9 Oct 2028
Inquest at Ravan
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Player ratings9 Oct 2028
4.71 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces25 Sep 2028
Anger at Ravan spills outside the ground
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Squad25 Sep 2028
A fracture rules Orkhan Medvedev out for 88 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ravan will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match23 Sep 2028
8 matches without a win for Ravan
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Ravan are no longer polite ones.
Squad25 Sep 2028
Words at Ravan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Richard Amirguliyev 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.
Match23 Sep 2028
No clean sheets in sight for Ravan
4 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Match23 Sep 2028
Richard Amirguliyev scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to AZAL, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad25 Sep 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ravan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad25 Sep 2028
The manager makes an example of Anton Bratkov
“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.
Player ratings25 Sep 2028
A performance of 8.15 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad4 Sep 2028
A fracture rules Orkhan Medvedev out for 110 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ravan will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad4 Sep 2028
There were 9 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.
Match2 Sep 2028
No end in sight to Ravan's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Ravan has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Tempers go at Ravan
Cavid 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.
Squad4 Sep 2028
At 35 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Player ratings4 Sep 2028
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.
Match2 Sep 2028
Ravan come up short against Gabala
Gabala left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Market4 Sep 2028
Nelson Seguel is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Ravan has been clear about where Nelson Seguel stands, which is more than many ever get.
Market4 Sep 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ravan know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Aug 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 134 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad14 Aug 2028
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.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Lucas Kagan is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad14 Aug 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ravan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom14 Aug 2028
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Ravan
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.
Match12 Aug 2028
A bad afternoon for Ravan against Qarabag
0‑2 to Qarabag, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Market14 Aug 2028
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Javid Huseynov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market14 Aug 2028
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Emin Ramazanov 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.
Market14 Aug 2028
One of our own: Cavid Ozobic joins the Ravan first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Cavid Ozobic is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces31 Jul 2028
The mood at Ravan has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Market31 Jul 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ravan can pretend not to have heard.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Eşqin Əhmədov 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.
Squad31 Jul 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ravan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Cavid Ramazanov has improved at 25, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Words at Ravan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Ninković 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
Uneasy
Match24 Jul 2028
Every point is an argument now for Ravan
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.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Tamkin Huseynov is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 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.
Market24 Jul 2028
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Maksim Guseynov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ravan the goodbyes have quietly begun.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom17 Jul 2028
Pressure builds in the Ravan boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad17 Jul 2028
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Cavid Ramazanov commits to Ravan for another 3 years.
Squad17 Jul 2028
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Lucas Kagan is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad10 Jul 2028
Nelson Seguel breaks a bone — 21 days out
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.
Market10 Jul 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ravan is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Tempers go at Ravan
Cavid 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.
Squad10 Jul 2028
At 27 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Nikola Ninković 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.
Market10 Jul 2028
Ravan have let the market know Jonathan Waris can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Jun 2028
A fracture rules Nelson Seguel out for 50 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ravan will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market12 Jun 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ravan is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom12 Jun 2028
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Mahir Medvedev has agreed terms with AZAL for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Tempers go at Ravan
Cavid 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.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Words at Ravan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Richard Amirguliyev 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.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Too much change too quickly at Ravan
7 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces5 Jun 2028
The mood at Ravan has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Boardroom5 Jun 2028
Renat Sadygov has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Ravan can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Nelson Seguel breaks a bone — 58 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 58 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad5 Jun 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ravan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Jun 2028
A move Archil Gvelesiani would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Archil Gvelesiani is living that version at Ravan, and it tends to show in the first month.
Boardroom5 Jun 2028
Kapaz will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Richard Jafarov has pre-agreed a move to Ravan, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Words at Ravan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Ninković 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.
Market5 Jun 2028
The phone has started ringing about Maksim Guseynov again, and this time the name on the line is Khazar. Ravan are listening politely and promising nothing.
Market5 Jun 2028
Tamkin Huseynov is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Ravan has been clear about where Tamkin Huseynov stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom22 May 2028
Pressure builds in the Ravan boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad22 May 2028
Nelson Seguel breaks a bone — 72 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 72 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad22 May 2028
A season's verdict on Abdul Aziz Batibie: the best of his age
Ravan have a 21-year-old the division has just voted its finest young footballer. The club's next problem is that everybody else now knows it too.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 May 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Yegor Solovyov
111 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Ravan lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match1 May 2028
Every point is an argument now for Ravan
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.
Squad1 May 2028
A fracture rules Nelson Seguel out for 94 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Ravan will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad1 May 2028
Tempers go at Ravan
Cavid 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.
Squad1 May 2028
A move Kamran Khalilzade would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Kamran Khalilzade is living that version at Ravan, and it tends to show in the first month.
Market1 May 2028
He is 18, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad20 Mar 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 57 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Tempers go at Ravan
Cavid 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.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Words at Ravan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Richard Amirguliyev 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.