Marked for Rufat Abdullayev
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 38. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad4 Oct 2027
A fracture rules Mahir Sadygov out for 46 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.
Market4 Oct 2027
Cavid Nazarov 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 Oct 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Araz Amirguliyev commits to Ravan for another 2 years.
Squad4 Oct 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 Ravan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Rashad Jafarov 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.
The terraces4 Oct 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Rufat Abdullayev has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Match2 Oct 2027
Ravan get the job done against Kapaz
A 1‑0 win over Kapaz, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
A mark of 7.67, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad27 Sep 2027
Mahir Sadygov breaks a bone — 54 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 54 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings27 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 34. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match25 Sep 2027
Chastening afternoon for Ravan
A 0‑3 beating by AZAL was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Market27 Sep 2027
Mahir Jafarov has one foot out of the door
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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Tempers go at Ravan
Rufat 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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Words at Ravan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rashad Jafarov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad27 Sep 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kleyder Barreto, and the manager let it.
Boardroom27 Sep 2027
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.
Loan watch27 Sep 2027
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Ravan, and 4 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad20 Sep 2027
A fracture rules Mahir Sadygov out for 62 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.
Match18 Sep 2027
Nowhere to hide for Ravan
1‑5 against Zira, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Match15 Sep 2027
The cup run ends for Ravan
0‑1 against Sumgayit, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad20 Sep 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 Ravan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Abdulla Mohamed 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.
Match18 Sep 2027
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Ravan and Zira in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Boardroom20 Sep 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces16 Aug 2027
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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Mahir Sadygov 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.
Boardroom16 Aug 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Ravan
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Match14 Aug 2027
Chastening afternoon for Ravan
A 0‑3 beating by Qarabag was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Match14 Aug 2027
No end in sight to Ravan's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Ravan has to find a result from somewhere.
Market16 Aug 2027
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.
Boardroom16 Aug 2027
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Matías Penela has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Həbib Hüşənov is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.
Match14 Aug 2027
Ravan are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
In brief
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Squad
Tempers go at Ravan
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Boardroom
6 academy players handed senior numbers at Ravan
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Squad
Words at Ravan training over how hard people work
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match28 Jun 2027
Ravan are in real trouble now
Position 10, 7 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.
Market28 Jun 2027
Agil Mammadov 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.
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
Rashad Jafarov 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.
Market28 Jun 2027
The name of Cavid Nazarov has come up in conversations Ravan were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad28 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 Ravan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Mahir Medvedev has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Squad7 Jun 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Ravan may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market7 Jun 2027
Malik Hamza 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.
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
The Ravan 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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Tempers go at Ravan
Rashad Jafarov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Diego Temoche 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.
Market7 Jun 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Agil Mammadov has his answer from Ravan; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Squad7 Jun 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.
Market7 Jun 2027
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
In brief
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Boardroom
Ravan pull $60.6K back off the table
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Market
Still no signature from Mahir Jafarov
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Boardroom
Ravan were not finished after all
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 May 2027
Matías Penela damages knee ligaments — 17 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 17 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.
Match3 May 2027
Ravan are in real trouble now
Position 10, 7 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.
Squad3 May 2027
A fracture rules Rufat Nazarov out for 26 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad3 May 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Mehdi Cənnətov
118 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sumgayit lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad3 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 Sumgayit this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 May 2027
Trésor Mossi 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.
Boardroom3 May 2027
Wages eat 87% of everything Sumgayit 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.
Market3 May 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Alexandre Ramalingom’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad3 May 2027
When it matters, Nsana Simon plays
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
Upbeat
Squad26 Apr 2027
Mehdi Cənnətov damages knee ligaments — 126 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 126 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Rufat 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Sumgayit training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Trésor Mossi 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
Squad5 Apr 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Matías Penela
47 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.
Match5 Apr 2027
Ravan are in real trouble now
Position 10, 7 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.
Squad5 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 Ravan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Diego Temoche falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad5 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Diego Temoche
“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.
Loan watch5 Apr 2027
“I did not go to Sumgayit to sit and watch. I want to come back to Ravan and fight for my place.” 11 appearances in 33 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad15 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 Sumgayit this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Trésor Mossi 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Ronaldo Vásquez has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Sumgayit will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad8 Mar 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Alexandre Ramalingom commits to Sumgayit for another 2 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Rufat 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Martín Quiróz
“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
Upbeat
Market25 Jan 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Sumgayit, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Jeimes keeps the receipts
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Sumgayit may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Rufat 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.
Market25 Jan 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Sumgayit have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Boardroom25 Jan 2027
Wages eat 98% of everything Sumgayit 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.
Squad25 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market18 Jan 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad18 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 Sumgayit this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market18 Jan 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Sumgayit have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match2 Dec 2026
Sumgayit bow out of the cup
Neftchi go through and Sumgayit go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 32. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Pedro Ramírez, 34, rolls back the years — 7.91
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.91 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad7 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 Sumgayit this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match5 Dec 2026
Three points for Sumgayit, 2‑0 the final word against AZAL in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Rüstəm Əhmədzadə was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.39. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Aleksa Janković dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Rachid Moumini
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Rachid Moumini has come out of that comparison in the side, and Sumgayit have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Ronaldo Vásquez has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Sumgayit will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match28 Nov 2026
Ronaldo Vásquez wins it after the whistle should have gone
92 minutes played. Ronaldo Vásquez found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Zira went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 31. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market30 Nov 2026
Sumgayit may not be able to give Keffel what he wants
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Keffel wants continental football; whether Sumgayit can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Rufat 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.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
171% of the income goes out in wages at Sumgayit
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
The terraces30 Nov 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Rufat Abdullayev has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Match28 Nov 2026
Zira made Sumgayit work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Marked 8.24 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad30 Nov 2026
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Pedro Ramírez will call it something else in private.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market26 Oct 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad26 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Səbuhi Abdullazadə, and the manager let it.
Squad26 Oct 2026
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Match24 Oct 2026
It needed Rufat Abdullayev to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Qarabag, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Martín Quiróz 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 43. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match17 Oct 2026
A bad afternoon for Sumgayit against Inter
1‑2 to Inter, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Rufat 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Martín Quiróz knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Martín Quiróz trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad19 Oct 2026
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Sumgayit have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Cédric Badolo has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Sumgayit will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad12 Oct 2026
Pedro Ramírez pulls a muscle — 14 days out
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Match10 Oct 2026
Still nobody has beaten Sumgayit
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad12 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 Sumgayit this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match10 Oct 2026
Three points for Sumgayit, 2‑0 the final word against Kapaz in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
A performance of 8.45 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
A performance of 8.13 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Market12 Oct 2026
He is 14, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Market12 Oct 2026
He is 16, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 51. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market31 Aug 2026
Jeimes puts it in writing
“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 Sumgayit, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market31 Aug 2026
Xəyal Fərzullayev has left for Gabala in a $280.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Match29 Aug 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Rüstəm Əhmədzadə. 1‑0 against Ravan, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Market31 Aug 2026
Ararat-Armenia are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Sumgayit will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
A performance of 8.24 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad31 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 Sumgayit this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Aug 2026
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 32. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market24 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sumgayit can pretend not to have heard.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match22 Aug 2026
Qarabag left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Rufat 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Martín Quiróz dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market17 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.
Squad17 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 Sumgayit this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad17 Aug 2026
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
A mark of 7.05, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
No investment in the facilities at Sumgayit
Nothing about this will be in a press release. A plan went upstairs, came back rejected, and the version of the club that would have existed in three years' time just quietly stopped being possible.
Market17 Aug 2026
Jeimes told to find a new club
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Jeimes has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Sumgayit.
Match15 Aug 2026
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Inter defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Every debut is a small story about the future: Rufat Abdullayev, 19 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Aug 2026
The name of Araz Amirguliyev has come up in conversations Ravan were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Maksim Jafarov and Ravan agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad10 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 Ravan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.