Samir Guseynov

Striker - Chaika
1 Oct 2028
Sunday
Process

Marked for Samir Guseynov

98 Edition

The Chaika Courier

12 Jun 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Tempers go at Chaika

Anderson Gutiérrez 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.

Squad

Words at Chaika training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ruslan Chobanov 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.

Squad

Home is on Jaba Gvelesiani's mind

“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Chaika are dealing with a man who wants a different country.

In brief

Back issues
60 Edition

The Kapaz Gazette

20 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Məmməd Hüseynov

128 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kapaz lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Match

Kapaz through in the cup

A 2‑0 win over AZAL, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.

Player ratings

No sign of nerves from Sadiq Şəfiyev at 21 — 7.84

The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Sadiq Şəfiyev did not need any: 7.84, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.

Squad

Olawale Onanuga says Kapaz went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

Jurgen Bardhi 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 Kapaz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Sadiq Şəfiyev

At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

Squad

Adama Fofana 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.

Player ratings

One of those days for Fərid Nəbiyev

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.06, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Match

Fərid Nəbiyev rescues a point for Kapaz

It needed Fərid Nəbiyev to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Inter, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

In brief

40 Edition

The Kapaz Gazette

3 May 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Kapaz are in real trouble now

Position 9, 11 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.

Squad

Bartu Göçmen signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Bartu Göçmen and Kapaz agree another 4 years.

Squad

Jurgen Bardhi 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 Kapaz this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Renato Hyshmeri 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.

Squad

Kapaz lose Ehtiram Şahverdiyev

38 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Loan watch

Samir Guseynov has seen enough of AZAL

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Kapaz, and 0 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.

In brief

36 Edition

The Kapaz Gazette

5 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Bahlul Medvedev damages knee ligaments — 41 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 41 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.

Match

Kapaz sink to position 9

11 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.

Squad

Tempers go at Kapaz

Chriso 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.

In brief

32 Edition

The Kapaz Gazette

8 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Bahlul Medvedev

70 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Kapaz lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Match

Kapaz sink to position 9

11 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.

Squad

Renato Hyshmeri signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Renato Hyshmeri commits to Kapaz for another 2 years.

In brief

  • Squad Tempers go at Kapaz
  • Squad Words at Kapaz training over how hard people work
  • Loan watch Samir Guseynov wants to come home
  • Boardroom Kapaz pull $72.5K back off the table
28 Edition

The AZAL Courier

8 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Renat Garayev damages knee ligaments — 117 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 117 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.

Market

Bahlul Khalilzade asks to leave AZAL

“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.

Squad

Juan Cámara 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 AZAL this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at AZAL training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Samir Mammadov 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.

Squad

Oscar Ruiz stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Oscar Ruiz and AZAL agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Loan watch

Renat Abdullayev wants to come home

“I did not go to Kapaz to sit and watch. I want to come back to AZAL and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 26 matches say the rest.

In brief

28 Edition

The Kapaz Gazette

8 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Kapaz are in real trouble now

Position 9, 11 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.

Squad

Diogo Verdasca keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Kapaz may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Tempers go at Kapaz

Jurgen Bardhi 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.

In brief