The AZAL Courier
Match18 Aug 2029
No end in sight to AZAL's wait for a win
13 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at AZAL has to find a result from somewhere.
Match18 Aug 2029
AZAL 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.
Squad20 Aug 2029
Tempers go at AZAL
Abel Galbán 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.
Squad20 Aug 2029
Dimitrij Nadirov has improved at 24, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 4 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Match18 Aug 2029
AZAL 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.
Match18 Aug 2029
Zira take the points off AZAL
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad20 Aug 2029
The manager makes an example of Rahid Ramazanov
“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.
Squad20 Aug 2029
Serhii Shvets 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.
Market20 Aug 2029
Ravan expected to open talks for Dimitrij Ismayilov
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. AZAL will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
In brief
- Boardroom $400.0K lands at AZAL thanks to Samir Guseynov
- Player ratings Nobody could get near Dimitrij Nadirov
- Market Talks stall between AZAL and Rahid Mammadov