Marked for Kamran Nadirov
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Apr 2027
Ruslan Khalilzade damages knee ligaments — 37 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 37 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Ravan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kamran Nadirov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout19 Apr 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.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
Jesse Debrah 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
A new face in his position and a shirt he thought he owned suddenly up for discussion. Ravan have promised nothing, which is what clubs promise at this stage.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Mar 2027
Ruslan Khalilzade damages knee ligaments — 60 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 60 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.
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.
Market29 Mar 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Ravan
Samuel Lobato 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Ravan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kamran Nadirov 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
At 34, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Mar 2027
Ruslan Khalilzade 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Salim Hashimov is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad22 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 Ravan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Mar 2027
Ruslan Khalilzade damages knee ligaments — 83 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 83 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.
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
Words exchanged at Ravan
Salim Hashimov 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Ravan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kamran Nadirov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
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.
The dugout8 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 Ravan, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Feb 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Ruslan Khalilzade
98 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.
Market22 Feb 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Ravan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dragoljub Savić 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Valentino Ulmer and Ravan agree another 1 years.
Market22 Feb 2027
Ravan have let the market know Kamran Nadirov can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Feb 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Ruslan Khalilzade
105 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.
Match15 Feb 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.
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 Ravan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Kamran Nadirov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad15 Feb 2027
14 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
The dugout15 Feb 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.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
Jesse Debrah 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.
Market15 Feb 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Tamkin Guseynov signs something — a contract at Ravan or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market15 Feb 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Ravan, another week without a signature from Duarte Furtado.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Feb 2027
Ruslan Khalilzade damages knee ligaments — 114 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 114 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.
Market8 Feb 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.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
No thanks: Román Gómez rejects the move
Ravan had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Bahia, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Tamkin Guseynov and Ravan agree another 4 years.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Ravan
Salim Hashimov 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A move Duarte Furtado 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. Duarte Furtado is living that version at Ravan, and it tends to show in the first month.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
Ravan asked and Boa 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 dugout8 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Afran Sheydaev, and the manager let it.
Market8 Feb 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Ravan, another week without a signature from Jesse Debrah.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Feb 2027
122 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ravan lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Ravan may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Pietro Miranda gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Pietro Miranda has just signed for Ravan, and for once the answer mattered.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Ravan close the window on a squad of their own making
6 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 targets1 Feb 2027
The deal with Bahia is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Ravan
Samuel Lobato 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 Feb 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Pietro Miranda and Ravan agree another 3 years.
The dugout1 Feb 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.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
A loan enquiry to Boa: 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
Uneasy
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“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.
Market16 Nov 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ravan is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Ravan
Samuel Lobato and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Nov 2026
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 dugout16 Nov 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.
Market16 Nov 2026
The name of Tamkin Guseynov keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Ravan say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Kamran Nadirov 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.
Market16 Nov 2026
The clock does Kamran Nadirov’s negotiating for him
4 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Ravan could ask drops and the wages Kamran Nadirov can ask rise.
Squad16 Nov 2026
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match31 Oct 2026
Chastening afternoon for Ravan
A 0‑3 beating by Qarabag was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Market2 Nov 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.
Squad2 Nov 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.
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
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑3 Renat Dadashov left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Ravan are still strangers to each other
6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Salim Hashimov
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Salim Hashimov has come out of that comparison in the side, and Ravan have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The dugout2 Nov 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Salim Hashimov is the weekend's best young player
At 20 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Oct 2026
26 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Ravan lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market19 Oct 2026
Kamran Nadirov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ravan they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad19 Oct 2026
At 20 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Ravan
Salim Hashimov 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 Oct 2026
Words at Ravan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dragoljub Savić 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 dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Dragoljub Savić
“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.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Match17 Oct 2026
Ravan share the spoils with Kapaz
A 1‑1 draw with Kapaz leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Oct 2026
Rashad Nadirov damages knee ligaments — 33 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 33 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Salim Hashimov is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad12 Oct 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 35 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Ravan is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Market12 Oct 2026
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.
Market12 Oct 2026
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Mahir Mammadov leaves Ravan the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Oct 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Rashad Nadirov
40 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.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Age has not caught Kamran Nadirov yet — 7.87
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.87 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Match3 Oct 2026
At last: Ravan win one
7 matches without a win, and then this, against AZAL. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Squad5 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ravan this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Ravan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dragoljub Savić 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.
Match3 Oct 2026
Ravan get the job done against AZAL
A 1‑0 win over AZAL, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Afran Sheydaev and Ravan agree another 1 years.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Renat Dadashov kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Richard Medvedev, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Sep 2026
Ravan taken apart
0‑4 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match28 Sep 2026
Ravan are in real trouble now
Position 10, 0 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market28 Sep 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Ravan's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Ravan has to find a result from somewhere.
Match26 Sep 2026
No clean sheets in sight for Ravan
7 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
5 matches without a goal for Ravan
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 5 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Boardroom28 Sep 2026
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Kamran Nadirov has agreed terms with Zira for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Ravan
Rashad Guseynov 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Sep 2026
6 matches without a win for Ravan
The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Ravan are no longer polite ones.
Market21 Sep 2026
Kamran Nadirov has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ravan they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match19 Sep 2026
Ravan are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 6 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Samuel Lobato did the work nobody counts — 6.51
16 combined actions and 6.51. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Match19 Sep 2026
4 matches without a goal for Ravan
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Ravan
Rashad Guseynov 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.
Match19 Sep 2026
Ravan come up short against Khazar
Khazar left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Ruslan Khalilzade 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 dugout21 Sep 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market7 Sep 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.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Ravan close the window on a squad of their own making
7 in and 0 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
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Ravan have done the hard part with Qarabag, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad7 Sep 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.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Ravan offered $25.0K; Gabala 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Ravan
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Timur Mamonov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Santa Cruz have kept their man, and Ravan go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Too much change too quickly at Ravan
5 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.
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.