Marked for Namig Nadirov
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market19 Jul 2027
Max Dickov 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.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
Khazar have gone to Neftchi with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad19 Jul 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Cavid Bayramov commits to Khazar for another 3 years.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Tempers go at Khazar
Namig Nadirov 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 Jul 2027
“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 Khazar know it.
Squad19 Jul 2027
A row about effort at Khazar
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dimitrij Amirguliyev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
Cavid Bayramov 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.
Market19 Jul 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ruslan Nazarov’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Jul 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.
Market12 Jul 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Khazar people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market12 Jul 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
$60.0K was the most the club would pay and Ravan were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Ifeanyi Mathew falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
Khazar asked and Argentinos Juniors said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words exchanged at Khazar
Namig Nadirov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Daniel Castro has improved at 24, 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.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
Khazar have made the call to Colo-Colo. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces5 Jul 2027
Supporters organise against the Khazar board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Squad5 Jul 2027
A fracture rules Kamran Garayev out for 18 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.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Khazar
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Khazar is running low.
Market5 Jul 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.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
AZAL wanted more than $23.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at Khazar training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ifeanyi Mathew 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Alessandro Serpa and Khazar agree another 4 years.
Squad5 Jul 2027
A falling-out at Khazar
Namig Nadirov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Jun 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Rahid Jafarov
21 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.
Market21 Jun 2027
Sumgayit 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.
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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Alessandro Serpa is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Market21 Jun 2027
The paperwork is done: Aydın Bayramov joins from Zira in a deal worth $310.0K. Now comes the harder part.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
Khazar have gone to Inter with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
$23.0K on the table at AZAL. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad21 Jun 2027
At 27 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 3 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Ifeanyi Mathew 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
Squad7 Jun 2027
36 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Khazar lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The terraces7 Jun 2027
Anger at Khazar 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.
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Khazar
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Khazar is running low.
The terraces7 Jun 2027
Khazar sell a favourite for $600.0K
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Mahir Ozobic was one of the reasons people came, and $600.0K does not replace that by itself.
Market7 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.
Market7 Jun 2027
The phone has started ringing about Max Dickov again, and this time the name on the line is Sumgayit. Khazar are listening politely and promising nothing.
Market7 Jun 2027
Mahir Ozobic has left for Sumgayit in a $600.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad7 Jun 2027
A falling-out at Khazar
Namig Nadirov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match31 May 2027
Every point is an argument now for Khazar
Position 9 and 12 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.
Market31 May 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.
Squad31 May 2027
A row about effort at Khazar
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ifeanyi Mathew was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad31 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 dugout31 May 2027
A promise honoured for Max Dickov
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Khazar told Max Dickov something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Market31 May 2027
The loan was meant to give him football. 2 games and 0 goals later he is back at Khazar no further forward, and everybody involved will explain why it was not their doing.
The dugout31 May 2027
Juan Fiestas 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.
Market31 May 2027
The shop window has Mahir Ozobic in it
Khazar have let the market know Mahir Ozobic can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Squad31 May 2027
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 May 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.
Squad24 May 2027
A row about effort at Khazar
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ifeanyi Mathew was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad24 May 2027
Tempers go at Khazar
Namig Nadirov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Loan watch24 May 2027
“I watch every Khazar game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Sumgayit runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout24 May 2027
Ruslan Nazarov 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.
Market24 May 2027
Khazar have let the market know Ifeanyi Mathew can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 May 2027
A fracture rules Rashad Nazarov out for 45 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.
Market17 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.
Squad17 May 2027
Words exchanged at Khazar
Namig Nadirov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad17 May 2027
“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; Khazar are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad17 May 2027
Too much change too quickly at Khazar
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.
The dugout17 May 2027
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
Uneasy
Squad10 May 2027
53 days out for Rashad Nazarov after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Khazar will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market10 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.
Squad10 May 2027
Ifeanyi Mathew 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.
Squad10 May 2027
A falling-out at Khazar
Namig Nadirov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market10 May 2027
Khazar and Harry Lee are talking past each other
“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.
The dugout10 May 2027
Will Flint 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 Will Flint trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match3 May 2027
Khazar are in real trouble now
Position 9, 12 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
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 60 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market3 May 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.
Squad3 May 2027
Ifeanyi Mathew 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 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.
Squad3 May 2027
“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 Khazar know it.
Market3 May 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.
The dugout3 May 2027
Will Flint 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.
Market3 May 2027
Khazar have made Emin Medvedev available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market26 Apr 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 67 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Tempers go at Khazar
Namig Nadirov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Loan watch26 Apr 2027
“I watch every Khazar game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Sumgayit runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad26 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Khazar
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dimitrij Amirguliyev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad26 Apr 2027
No place for Rashad Nazarov in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Khazar are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Apr 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Khazar training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ifeanyi Mathew 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 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
“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 Khazar know it.
Squad12 Apr 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Benjamín Aravena and Khazar agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
Mahir Bayramov 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
Uneasy
Match5 Apr 2027
Khazar sink to position 9
12 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Market5 Apr 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Conor Masterson and Khazar agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad5 Apr 2027
The medical room confirms 16 days on the sidelines for Namig Nadirov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Ifeanyi Mathew 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
A falling-out at Khazar
Namig Nadirov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market29 Mar 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Ifeanyi Mathew 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Khazar
Namig Nadirov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Loan watch29 Mar 2027
“I did not go to Sumgayit to sit and watch. I want to come back to Khazar and fight for my place.” 2 appearances in 29 matches say the rest.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Khazar, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market29 Mar 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Mahir Ozobic may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Mar 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 20 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market15 Mar 2027
Mahir Ozobic 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Khazar
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ifeanyi Mathew was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Khazar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Mar 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Araz Huseynov and Khazar agree another 3 years.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
Ruslan Nazarov 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
Uneasy
Match8 Mar 2027
Khazar sink to position 9
12 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad8 Mar 2027
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Khazar will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market8 Mar 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
The medical room confirms 49 days on the sidelines for Namig Nadirov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Tamkin Khalilzade and Khazar agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Ifeanyi Mathew 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.
Market8 Mar 2027
Cavid Bayramov returns from a loan that gave him nothing
2 appearances and 0 goals is not a season, it is a year somebody has lost. Whether that is his fault, the borrowing club's or the people who arranged it is the argument the next few weeks will have.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
Ruslan Nazarov 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.
Market8 Mar 2027
Khazar and Harry Lee are talking past each other
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Mar 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 35 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market1 Mar 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Ifeanyi Mathew 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Khazar
Namig Nadirov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad1 Mar 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Daniel Castro commits to Khazar for another 3 years.
Loan watch1 Mar 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 Khazar, and 2 appearances in 25 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Feb 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 44 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market22 Feb 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
14 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad22 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Khazar
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ifeanyi Mathew was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets22 Feb 2027
Khazar asked and Defensores Unidos said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Tempers go at Khazar
Namig Nadirov 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
Uneasy
Squad15 Feb 2027
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Khazar will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market15 Feb 2027
Eddy 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 Khazar can pretend not to have heard.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A muscle injury and 18 days out for Tamkin Khalilzade
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Khazar will quote 18 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Ifeanyi Mathew falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Transfer targets15 Feb 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Torpedo Moscow have kept their man, and Khazar go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad15 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.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Khazar, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market15 Feb 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ruslan Nazarov signs something — a contract at Khazar or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market15 Feb 2027
Khazar have made Mahir Ozobic available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match8 Feb 2027
Khazar are in real trouble now
Position 9, 12 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 60 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market8 Feb 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.
Market8 Feb 2027
The Gabala deal is off
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Mahir Ozobic reports back to Khazar with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Dinamo Tbilisi keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A move Felipe Gutiérrez 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. Felipe Gutiérrez is living that version at Khazar, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Khazar
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ifeanyi Mathew was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
Door shut on Pachu
Khazar asked and Kapaz said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A falling-out at Khazar
Namig Nadirov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad25 Jan 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 75 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
Market25 Jan 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.
Market25 Jan 2027
Khazar get their man
The chase for Ifeanyi Mathew ended with $1.2M changing hands and Neftchi out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
The terraces25 Jan 2027
The town asked, and Khazar paid $1.2M
Ifeanyi Mathew was the name on every phone-in, and the club has gone and signed him for $1.2M. For one week the board can do no wrong, which is a week most boards never get.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
Khazar asked and AZAL said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Khazar
Namig Nadirov 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Khazar
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ruslan Nazarov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
Union Magdalena have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Jan 2027
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Khazar will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market18 Jan 2027
Mahir Ozobic 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.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Neftchi keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Neftchi have kept their man, and Khazar go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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 Khazar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Jan 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Samir Garayev commits to Khazar for another 4 years.
Market18 Jan 2027
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Khazar will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Emin Ramazanov 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.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
Ruslan Nazarov 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 Ruslan Nazarov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match11 Jan 2027
Khazar are in real trouble now
Position 9, 12 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
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.
Market11 Jan 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Khazar have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market11 Jan 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.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Everything agreed with Neftchi, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Neftchi have kept their man, and Khazar go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market11 Jan 2027
The name of Rashad Madatov has come up in conversations Khazar were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Khazar
Namig Nadirov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Loan watch11 Jan 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 Khazar, and 2 appearances in 18 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market4 Jan 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Khazar, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Khazar
Namig Nadirov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Market4 Jan 2027
Everyone has stopped pretending: Sumgayit will make the call about Dimitrij Ozobic this week. Khazar have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Loan watch4 Jan 2027
“I watch every Khazar game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Sumgayit runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at Khazar training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dimitrij 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.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
A loan move for Imad Faraj is in the works
Khazar have made the call to Neftchi. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
AZAL have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Squad4 Jan 2027
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
Open for business: Khazar enter the window
The registration window is open and the phone has started. Between now and the deadline this club will be linked with forty players and sign three, which is the usual ratio.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Dec 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match2 Dec 2026
Khazar out of the cup
Inter ended it 0‑1. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Market7 Dec 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 Dec 2026
No end in sight to Khazar's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Khazar has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Khazar
Mahir Bayramov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Khazar
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Max Dickov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match5 Dec 2026
A goal on 88 minutes turned three points into one and a good afternoon into an argument about game management that will run until Saturday.
Market7 Dec 2026
“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.
Loan watch7 Dec 2026
“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 Khazar, and 2 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad2 Nov 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Renat Nadirov commits to Khazar for another 3 years.
Match31 Oct 2026
Khazar come up short against Inter
Inter left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Khazar
Maksim Amirguliyev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Qara Nazarov to a room that had heard them before.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Khazar
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tamkin Khalilzade was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Looking ahead2 Nov 2026
The leaders are next for Khazar
Qarabag top the table and they are coming into view. Nothing to lose, which is what every manager says before losing.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Khazar
Conor Masterson and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match24 Oct 2026
Khazar 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 ratings26 Oct 2026
Marked 8.03 — 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.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Defensive actions: 16, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Khazar
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Araz Huseynov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Ruslan Garayev is the weekend's best young player
At 17 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 11 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 Oct 2026
Albert Kyereh breaks a bone — 20 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 20 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match10 Oct 2026
The wait goes on for Khazar
7 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.
Market12 Oct 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.
Match10 Oct 2026
Khazar are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Match10 Oct 2026
A bad afternoon for Khazar against Zira
0‑2 to Zira, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Khazar
Namig Nadirov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Match12 Oct 2026
Khazar at the halfway mark
Half the programme played, position 9, 4 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
Market12 Oct 2026
“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.
Loan watch12 Oct 2026
“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 Khazar, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad28 Sep 2026
34 days out for Albert Kyereh after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Khazar will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match26 Sep 2026
5 matches without a win for Khazar
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Khazar are no longer polite ones.
Squad28 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khazar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match26 Sep 2026
Gabala left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Qara Nazarov after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Off the academy pitches and into a senior shirt, at 17. The parents in the stand will keep the programme, and so will he.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Sep 2026
A hiding for Khazar
Beaten 0‑4 by Sumgayit, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match21 Sep 2026
Every point is an argument now for Khazar
Position 8 and 4 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.
Match19 Sep 2026
4 matches without a win for Khazar
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Khazar are no longer polite ones.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Khazar
Namig Nadirov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Khazar
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tamkin Khalilzade was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout21 Sep 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.
Boardroom21 Sep 2026
Nobody left the Khazar dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑4, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market14 Sep 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.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
$1.2M was the most the club would pay and Zira were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Khazar
Samir 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Khazar training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tamkin Khalilzade 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.
Match12 Sep 2026
Khazar come up short against Ravan
Ravan left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Market14 Sep 2026
“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.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
Richard Dadashov 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Khazar has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
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.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Khazar close the window on a squad of their own making
7 in and 3 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
The offer went to Zira this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Khazar
Conor Masterson and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Match5 Sep 2026
Qarabag left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Khazar asked and Vicenza said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Conor Masterson, and the manager let it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Khazar know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Qara Nazarov to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match22 Aug 2026
The 86th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Mahir Ozobic decided nobody was going anywhere. Kapaz had no time left to answer.
Market24 Aug 2026
Inter 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.
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.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Agropecuario Argentino keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Khazar offered $810.0K; Sumgayit said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Khazar
Dimitrij Abdullayev and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Khazar have gone to AZAL with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Zira have kept their man, and Khazar go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match22 Aug 2026
Khazar get the job done against Kapaz
A 2‑1 win over Kapaz, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
In brief
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Player ratings
Namig Nadirov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
-
Squad
Khazar lose a squad player
-
The dugout
The manager makes an example of Orkhan Nazarov
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market17 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.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Khazar have done the hard part with Agropecuario Argentino, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Market17 Aug 2026
Gabala paid $1.2M and Khazar took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Khazar
Dimitrij Abdullayev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market17 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Khazar have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Central Espanol have kept their man, and Khazar go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match15 Aug 2026
AZAL take the points off Khazar
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout17 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Aug 2026
The name of Shahriyar Jafarov has come up in conversations Khazar were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Market10 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Dimitrij Abdullayev and Khazar 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 Khazar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Khazar training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dimitrij Abdullayev 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.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Agil Amirguliyev is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Renat Nadirov has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
A loan enquiry to Agropecuario Argentino: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.