The Ravan Chronicle
Squad29 May 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Richard Medvedev
89 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.
Boardroom29 May 2028
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.
Market29 May 2028
Pierluigi La Porta puts it in writing
“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 The request is on a desk at Ravan, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad29 May 2028
A falling-out at Ravan
Toby Onanaye and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout29 May 2028
Jesse Debrah 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.
The dugout29 May 2028
The manager makes an example of Daniele Ciappellano
“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 dugout29 May 2028
A promise honoured at Ravan
Something was said to Pierluigi La Porta and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Market29 May 2028
The Tamkin Guseynov question follows Ravan around
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Tamkin Guseynov’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market29 May 2028
The clock does Zamiq Əliyev’s negotiating for him
6 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Ravan could ask drops and the wages Zamiq Əliyev can ask rise.
In brief
- The dugout The manager comes out for Richard Medvedev
- Squad Samuel Owusu back in training