Marked for Maksim Amirguliyev
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 Jan 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Dinamo Vladivostok, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Daur Kvekveskiri and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 Jan 2028
18 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad24 Jan 2028
“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; Dinamo Vladivostok are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The dugout24 Jan 2028
Dmitry Burkin 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 Dmitry Burkin is on it.
Market24 Jan 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Dmitry Burkin signs something — a contract at Dinamo Vladivostok or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad27 Dec 2027
A fracture rules Maxim Mashnev out for 33 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Dinamo Vladivostok will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad27 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 Dinamo Vladivostok this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Dec 2027
The medical room confirms 48 days on the sidelines for Maksim Amirguliyev, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
Dmitry Burkin 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 Dmitry Burkin is on it.
Market27 Dec 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Dmitry Burkin’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
Body 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 Dinamo Vladivostok, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad20 Dec 2027
A fracture rules Maxim Mashnev out for 40 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Dinamo Vladivostok will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market20 Dec 2027
Sergey Alexeev has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Dinamo Vladivostok they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Dmitry Burkin and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad20 Dec 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; Dinamo Vladivostok are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
Ilja Yurchenko has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Dinamo Vladivostok will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout20 Dec 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad6 Dec 2027
Maxim Mashnev breaks a bone — 54 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 54 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market6 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 Dinamo Vladivostok, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Daur Kvekveskiri 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.
Boardroom6 Dec 2027
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
Maxim Mashnev 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 Maxim Mashnev is on it.
Market6 Dec 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ilja Yurchenko signs something — a contract at Dinamo Vladivostok or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Match6 Dec 2027
Position 4 on 17 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Nov 2027
Maxim Mashnev breaks a bone — 76 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 76 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market15 Nov 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.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Dinamo Vladivostok may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market15 Nov 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Dinamo Vladivostok is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad15 Nov 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 Dinamo Vladivostok this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom15 Nov 2027
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
Body gets it from the manager
“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 dugout15 Nov 2027
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Dinamo Vladivostok told Konstantin Kuzmichev something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout15 Nov 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Nov 2027
83 days out for Maxim Mashnev after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Dinamo Vladivostok will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market8 Nov 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 Dinamo Vladivostok, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Ilja Yurchenko and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
“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.
Boardroom8 Nov 2027
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Market8 Nov 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ilja Yurchenko signs something — a contract at Dinamo Vladivostok or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market8 Nov 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Dinamo Vladivostok, another week without a signature from Body.
Match8 Nov 2027
Position 4, 17 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Nov 2027
90 days out for Maxim Mashnev after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Dinamo Vladivostok will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match30 Oct 2027
4 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.
Player ratings1 Nov 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad1 Nov 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 Dinamo Vladivostok this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
Dmitry Burkin 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 Dmitry Burkin is on it.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Gleb Timofeyev was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Dinamo Vladivostok dressing room was either.
Market1 Nov 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Andrey Kulagin has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Dinamo Vladivostok.
The dugout1 Nov 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 Nov 2027
Maksim Amirguliyev is 36 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match2 Aug 2027
Every point is an argument now for Ravan
Position 9 and 7 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.
Boardroom2 Aug 2027
Pressure builds in the Ravan boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad2 Aug 2027
A falling-out at Ravan
Jesse Debrah and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets2 Aug 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Khazar have kept their man, and Ravan go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad2 Aug 2027
A row about effort at Ravan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Agil Madatov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Jesse Debrah
“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.
Squad2 Aug 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 Ravan know it.
Market2 Aug 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.
Transfer targets2 Aug 2027
A loan enquiry to Neftchi: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Dec 2026
No end in sight to Ravan's wait for a win
10 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Ravan has to find a result from somewhere.
Market28 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.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Ravan may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Ravan
Samuel Lobato 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.
Match26 Dec 2026
Ravan come up short against Kapaz
Kapaz left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Ravan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dragoljub Savić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout28 Dec 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 Renat Dadashov to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Afran Sheydaev
“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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
One booking too many, and Dragoljub Savić sits out. Ravan lose him for the sort of avoidable reason that makes a manager's week longer.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match9 Sep 2026
Ravan out of the cup
Kapaz ended it 0‑4. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Squad14 Sep 2026
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
The terraces14 Sep 2026
A cup embarrassment at Kapaz follows Ravan home
0-4. Going out of a cup is one afternoon; going out like that is a week of phone-ins, and the manager will hear every one of them.
Match12 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Ravan's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Ravan has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad14 Sep 2026
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Match12 Sep 2026
No clean sheets in sight for Ravan
5 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Ravan
Salim Hashimov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match12 Sep 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Ravan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Timur Mamonov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match29 Aug 2026
A hiding for Ravan
Beaten 0‑3 by Sumgayit, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market31 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.
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.
Boardroom31 Aug 2026
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $25.0K — a club that wants Nuğay Rəşidov enough to be asked twice.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
$25.0K on the table at Gabala. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Qarabag have kept their man, and Ravan go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Boardroom31 Aug 2026
Inquest at Ravan
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Ravan
Salim Hashimov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad24 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 13 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Ravan
Maksim Amirguliyev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match22 Aug 2026
Agil Huseynov scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑3 to Neftchi, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Ravan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Timur Mamonov 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 targets24 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Neftchi have kept their man, and Ravan go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Agil Madatov
“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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
The medical room confirms 22 days on the sidelines for Samuel Owusu, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Maksim Amirguliyev and Ravan agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Ravan
Rashad Guseynov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Ravan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Timur Mamonov 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
Still no offer on the table, and Maksim Amirguliyev’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
A loan move for Elvin Camalov is in the works
Ravan 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 targets3 Aug 2026
Sumgayit 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.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Tamkin Guseynov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market3 Aug 2026
Javid Guseynov is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Ravan has been clear about where Javid Guseynov stands, which is more than many ever get.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.