Marked for Cavid Abdullayev
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 15 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match15 Aug 2026
Chastening afternoon for Umraniyespor
A 0‑4 beating by Fenerbahce was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Khazar is saying, and nobody at Umraniyespor is enjoying the guessing.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Cebio Soukou and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
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.
Market17 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: Ankaragucu have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Yusuf Kocatürk. The answer from Umraniyespor has not changed — yet.
The dugout17 Aug 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.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
Nobody left the Umraniyespor 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 dugout17 Aug 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑4 defeat, delivered by Halil Ucar to a room that had heard them before.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Aug 2026
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Market10 Aug 2026
Andriy Shtogrin arrives at Khazar in a $340.0K statement of intent
There comes a point where a club either backs its own ambition or admits it does not have any. Khazar have paid $340.0K for Andriy Shtogrin, which is the loudest way there is of saying which one it chose.
Market10 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Emin Jafarov again, and this time the name on the line is AGMK. Khazar are listening politely and promising nothing.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Khazar have gone to Neftchi with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Qara Jafarov and Khazar agree another 5 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Khazar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Neftchi wanted more than $170.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
The terraces10 Aug 2026
The town asked, and Khazar paid $340.0K
Andriy Shtogrin was the name on every phone-in, and the club has gone and signed him for $340.0K. For one week the board can do no wrong, which is a week most boards never get.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Khazar training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vugar Amirguliyev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Aug 2026
The bid was some way short and Khazar did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market3 Aug 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Khazar, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Khazar have gone to Neftchi with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
$140.0K on the table at Neftchi. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Khazar
Cəlal Hüseynov 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Khazar
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vugar Nadirov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Eddy Amirguliyev commits to Khazar for another 2 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
This league is too small for Cəlal Hüseynov
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Khazar will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Market3 Aug 2026
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Khazar has been clear about where Eddy Amirguliyev stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Álex Blanco commits to Umraniyespor for another 4 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Cebio Soukou 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 Umraniyespor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Umraniyespor, another week without a signature from Cihan Topaloğlu.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
A loan move for Taylan Bulut is in the works
Umraniyespor have made the call to Besiktas. 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
A loan enquiry to Khazar: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.