Marked for Cavid Madatov
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces24 May 2027
The mood at Ravan has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Squad24 May 2027
Emin Jafarov breaks a bone — 27 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 27 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market24 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 The request is on a desk at Ravan, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad24 May 2027
Words exchanged at Ravan
Erdem Akgun 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.
Squad24 May 2027
Rahid Dadashov 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.
Market24 May 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Araz Jafarov’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Apr 2027
Emin Jafarov breaks a bone — 65 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 65 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words exchanged at Ravan
Erdem Akgun 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
15 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces29 Mar 2027
Supporters organise against the Ravan 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
46 days out for Rufat Huseynov after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ravan will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market29 Mar 2027
Tamkin 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 Ravan can pretend not to have heard.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Ravan
Maksim Sheydaev 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.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Rahid Ramazanov 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
Match8 Mar 2027
Every point is an argument now for Ravan
Position 10 and 2 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Squad8 Mar 2027
69 days out for Rufat Huseynov after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ravan will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market8 Mar 2027
Renat Nadirov 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces1 Mar 2027
Supporters organise against the Ravan 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 77 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market1 Mar 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 Ravan, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Ravan
Erdem Akgun was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Rahid Dadashov 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
“The easiest signature of my career.” Rufat Abdullayev and Ravan agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
Cavid Madatov 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 Cavid Madatov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market1 Mar 2027
The Araz Jafarov talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ravan know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Feb 2027
A fracture rules Rufat Huseynov out for 84 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.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
Tamkin Ozobic: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ravan have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Ravan
Erdem Akgun 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Ravan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rahid Dadashov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
Cavid Madatov knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Ravan, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market22 Feb 2027
The name of Mahir Nazarov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Ravan say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market25 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.
The dugout25 Jan 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
15 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Ravan
Erdem Akgun 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 targets25 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Empoli have kept their man, and Ravan go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
Atlético Tucumán 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Ravan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rahid Ramazanov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market25 Jan 2027
The name of Mahir Nazarov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Ravan say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
Javid Abdullayev 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
Match11 Jan 2027
Every point is an argument now for Ravan
Position 10 and 2 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market11 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.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Porto keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Erdem Akgun in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ravan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Ravan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rahid Dadashov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Ravan, and 6 appearances in 22 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market11 Jan 2027
Still no signature from Erdem Akgun
7 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Ravan could get for him.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
Tamkin Sadygov 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 Tamkin Sadygov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout4 Jan 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.
Market4 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 Ravan can pretend not to have heard.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Ravan
Erdem Akgun 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.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
A loan enquiry to Porto: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
Khazar 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
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Cavid Amirguliyev is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout4 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Ravan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rahid Ramazanov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market4 Jan 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Maksim Mammadov signs something — a contract at Ravan or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Dec 2026
46 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Ravan
Erdem Akgun 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Rahid Dadashov 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
Squad21 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Ravan
Maksim Sheydaev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Ravan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rahid Dadashov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
Erdem Akgun knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Ravan, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match12 Dec 2026
19 matches without a win for Ravan
The run now stands at 19, and the questions being asked around Ravan are no longer polite ones.
Match14 Dec 2026
Every point is an argument now for Ravan
Position 10 and 2 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Match14 Dec 2026
Full time on the season at Ravan
Position 10 on 2 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ravan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces14 Dec 2026
At 20 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Mahir Nazarov commits to Ravan for another 4 years.
Loan watch14 Dec 2026
“I watch every Ravan game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Gabala runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
In brief
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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Squad
A row about effort at Ravan
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Match
Point won or two lost for Ravan?
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match5 Dec 2026
18 matches without a win for Ravan
The run now stands at 18, and the questions being asked around Ravan are no longer polite ones.
Market7 Dec 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Ravan
Erdem Akgun was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match5 Dec 2026
Rahid Dadashov scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑3 to Kapaz, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Ravan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rahid Dadashov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Erdem Akgun
“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 dugout7 Dec 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Mahir Medvedev after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Cavid Madatov makes the team of the month
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 12. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match28 Nov 2026
17 matches without a win for Ravan
The run now stands at 17, and the questions being asked around Ravan are no longer polite ones.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Ravan
Erdem Akgun 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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Ravan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rahid Dadashov 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.
Match28 Nov 2026
Ravan come up short against AZAL
AZAL left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Looking ahead30 Nov 2026
Everything rides on Kapaz
Both clubs in the mire, one fixture between them, and a ground that will be louder and more frightened than at any point in the season. Ravan know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Tamkin Sadygov 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.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Chances created: 7. Nothing on the scoresheet and everything in the match: the pass before the pass, over and over, until the defence stopped guessing right.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match14 Nov 2026
The wait goes on for Ravan
15 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.
Match14 Nov 2026
Ravan leaking at the back
15 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Match16 Nov 2026
Ravan sink to position 10
1 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Erdem Akgun in a row with a teammate
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.
Match14 Nov 2026
6 goals as Ravan and Khazar go for it
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Ravan and Khazar, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Match14 Nov 2026
Rahid Dadashov scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑4 to Khazar, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Ravan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rahid Dadashov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout16 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 dugout16 Nov 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 2‑4, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match7 Nov 2026
No end in sight to Ravan's wait for a win
14 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Ravan has to find a result from somewhere.
Match7 Nov 2026
No clean sheets in sight for Ravan
14 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Match7 Nov 2026
A hiding for Ravan
Beaten 0‑3 by Gabala, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market9 Nov 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Ravan
Erdem Akgun 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 Nov 2026
Ravan cannot find the net
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Ravan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rahid Dadashov 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.
Loan watch9 Nov 2026
“I watch every Ravan game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Gabala runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Boardroom9 Nov 2026
Nobody left the Ravan 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match31 Oct 2026
13 matches without a win for Ravan
The run now stands at 13, and the questions being asked around Ravan are no longer polite ones.
Match31 Oct 2026
Ravan are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 13 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Match31 Oct 2026
Ravan taken apart
0‑5 to Sumgayit, 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Ravan
Maksim Sheydaev 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 dugout2 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Erdem Akgun, and the manager let it.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Nobody left the Ravan 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 dugout2 Nov 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Mahir Medvedev after 0‑5, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Whether it was the goalkeeper or the ten in front of him is the argument that will fill every conversation in town this week. 4 saves does not settle it either way.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Mahir Nazarov named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Mahir Nazarov is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match10 Oct 2026
10 matches without a win for Ravan
The run now stands at 10, and the questions being asked around Ravan are no longer polite ones.
Match10 Oct 2026
Ravan taken apart
0‑3 to Inter, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Match10 Oct 2026
Ravan are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 10 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
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 Ravan can pretend not to have heard.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Cavid Madatov and Ravan agree another 4 years.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Ravan
Erdem Akgun was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match12 Oct 2026
Halfway: Ravan sit in position 10
1 points at the turn. The first half of a season is a promise; the second is a bill, and the town is about to find out which of the two this one was.
Boardroom12 Oct 2026
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.
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 Ravan, and 3 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match3 Oct 2026
9 matches without a win for Ravan
The run now stands at 9, and the questions being asked around Ravan are no longer polite ones.
Match3 Oct 2026
Ravan are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 9 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Squad5 Oct 2026
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Ravan
Erdem Akgun 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Rahid Dadashov 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.
Match3 Oct 2026
Kapaz take the points off Ravan
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout5 Oct 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.
Market5 Oct 2026
Ravan and Erdem Akgun 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 dugout5 Oct 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Sep 2026
8 matches without a win for Ravan
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Ravan are no longer polite ones.
Squad28 Sep 2026
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match26 Sep 2026
Ravan are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 8 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Match26 Sep 2026
A bad afternoon for Ravan against AZAL
3‑4 to AZAL, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad28 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Ravan
Erdem Akgun and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match26 Sep 2026
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Ravan and AZAL in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.59, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad28 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Ravan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rahid Dadashov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Sep 2026
10 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match19 Sep 2026
Ravan taken apart
0‑7 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.
Match21 Sep 2026
Ravan are in real trouble now
Position 10, 1 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.
Match19 Sep 2026
The wait goes on for Ravan
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.
Match19 Sep 2026
Ravan leaking at the back
7 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Market21 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 Ravan, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Erdem Akgun in a row with a teammate
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.
Match19 Sep 2026
7 goals as Ravan and Zira go for it
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Ravan and Zira, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Erdem Akgun, and the manager let it.
In brief
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Boardroom
Nobody left the Ravan dressing room in a hurry
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The dugout
Mahir Medvedev faces the questions
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Squad
Mahir Nazarov falls out with a teammate over standards
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad31 Aug 2026
A fracture rules Rahid Dadashov out for 18 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
Ravan taken apart
0‑8 to Sumgayit, 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Emin Ramazanov
34 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
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.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Agropecuario Argentino is saying, and nobody at Ravan is enjoying the guessing.
Squad31 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Ravan
Erdem Akgun and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match29 Aug 2026
Nobody could stop scoring
8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Ravan and Sumgayit in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Ravan asked and Deportivo Maldonado said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
An own goal to forget for Araz Jafarov
The one goal a footballer does not get to celebrate and does not get to forget either. His name is in the wrong column and nothing about it was meant.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad24 Aug 2026
26 days out for Rahid Dadashov after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ravan will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match22 Aug 2026
Chastening afternoon for Ravan
A 1‑5 beating by Neftchi was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Emin Ramazanov damages knee ligaments — 41 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 41 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
8 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
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 Ravan can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Agil Amirguliyev, 18, plays like he has been here for years — 7.77
A mark of 7.77 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 18-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Market24 Aug 2026
Khazar come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Ravan did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Everything agreed with Trabzonspor, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
No thanks: Brian Oddei rejects the move
Ravan had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Noah, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 Aug 2026
There were 13 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad17 Aug 2026
33 days out for Rahid Dadashov after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ravan will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match15 Aug 2026
A hiding for Ravan
Beaten 0‑6 by Qarabag, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market17 Aug 2026
Ravan say no — this time
The offer from Sumgayit for Erdem Akgun was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Ravan
Erdem Akgun 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
6 goals as Ravan and Qarabag go for it
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Ravan and Qarabag, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Ravan
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Transfer targets17 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.