Marked for Orkhan Nazarov
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout18 Dec 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Khazar may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad18 Dec 2028
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.
Squad18 Dec 2028
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.
The dugout18 Dec 2028
The manager makes an example of Orkhan Nazarov
“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.
The dugout18 Dec 2028
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.
The dugout18 Dec 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Dimitrij Abdullayev'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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad6 Nov 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 11 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad6 Nov 2028
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Khazar can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad6 Nov 2028
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.
Squad6 Nov 2028
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.
Match4 Nov 2028
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout6 Nov 2028
“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 dugout6 Nov 2028
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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Qara Nazarov to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout6 Nov 2028
Paolo Kampula gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Paolo Kampula is on it.
Looking ahead6 Nov 2028
Ravan next, and one man in the Khazar dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Oct 2028
Maksim Amirguliyev damages knee ligaments — 29 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 29 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.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Tempers go at Khazar
Hélder Ribeiro 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.
Match7 Oct 2028
A bad afternoon for Khazar against Zira
2‑3 to Zira, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad9 Oct 2028
A row about effort at Khazar
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Conor Masterson was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings9 Oct 2028
Ifeanyi Mathew was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.21. 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.
The dugout9 Oct 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Orkhan Nazarov, and the manager let it.
Match9 Oct 2028
Khazar at the halfway mark
Half the programme played, position 5, 12 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
The dugout9 Oct 2028
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 2‑3 defeat, delivered by Qara Nazarov to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad4 Sep 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 14 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Maksim Amirguliyev damages knee ligaments — 67 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 67 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Match2 Sep 2028
A hiding for Khazar
Beaten 0‑3 by Qarabag, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Window shuts: 11 in, 20 out at Khazar
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 11 arrived, 20 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Market4 Sep 2028
AZAL are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Khazar will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
Squad4 Sep 2028
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 targets4 Sep 2028
Khazar asked and Inter said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad4 Sep 2028
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.
The dugout4 Sep 2028
“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
Match11 Dec 2027
1‑5 to Zira, 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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Felipe Bezerra 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.
Match13 Dec 2027
The season ends: position 6 for Khazar
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 21 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Market13 Dec 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.
Squad13 Dec 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.
Match11 Dec 2027
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Khazar and Zira in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Dragoljub Savić 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 dugout13 Dec 2027
The manager makes an example of Orkhan Nazarov
“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.
Boardroom13 Dec 2027
Doors closed at Khazar
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.