Marked for Shahriyar Huseynov
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad27 Dec 2027
151 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.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Tempers go at Ravan
Antonio González 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.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Luka Badžim 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match2 Oct 2027
11 matches without a win for Ravan
The run now stands at 11, and the questions being asked around Ravan are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings4 Oct 2027
Successful dribbles: 32. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market4 Oct 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 The request is on a desk at Ravan, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Nikita Sednev: 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.
Squad4 Oct 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Richard Sadygov commits to Ravan for another 2 years.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Luka Badžim 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.
Squad4 Oct 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.
Match2 Oct 2027
Point won or two lost for Ravan?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Kapaz? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Market4 Oct 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad13 Sep 2027
There were 15 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.
Match11 Sep 2027
7 matches without a win for Ravan
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Ravan are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match11 Sep 2027
Ravan are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 7 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.89 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Match11 Sep 2027
A bad afternoon for Ravan against Khazar
3‑4 to Khazar, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad13 Sep 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.
Match11 Sep 2027
7 goals in one match, Maksim Amirguliyev on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Ravan and Khazar.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words at Ravan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luka Badžim 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
Market14 Jun 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
A fracture rules Araz Bayramov out for 20 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.
Market14 Jun 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Tempers go at Ravan
Vugar Ismayilov 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Luka Badžim 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.
Market14 Jun 2027
Kapaz are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Ravan will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match8 Mar 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.
Market8 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Richard Sadygov and Ravan agree another 2 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Ravan
Luka Badžim 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Badhuga 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Badhuga 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 Badhuga trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match21 Nov 2026
No end in sight to Ravan's wait for a win
16 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Ravan has to find a result from somewhere.
Market23 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Ravan
Badhuga 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Luka Badžim 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.
Match21 Nov 2026
Zira take the points off Ravan
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad23 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Badhuga 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 Badhuga trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market23 Nov 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.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 8. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.