Marked for Ihar Sivakov
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 May 2035
A knee injury of the worst kind for Kyvon Leidsman
46 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.
Match14 May 2035
Every point is an argument now for Ravan
Position 8 and 19 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.
Squad14 May 2035
Tempers go at Ravan
Mahir Jafarov 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 May 2035
A move Cheick Kone would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Cheick Kone is living that version at Ravan, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad14 May 2035
Words at Ravan training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Zakaria Sawo 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.
Market14 May 2035
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Shahriyar Mammadov signs something — a contract at Ravan or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Apr 2035
A knee injury of the worst kind for Radomir Zhdanov
14 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.
Boardroom30 Apr 2035
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.
Market30 Apr 2035
Ihar Sivakov hands in a written request
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Mar 2035
A knee injury of the worst kind for Kyvon Leidsman
95 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.
Market26 Mar 2035
“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.
Squad26 Mar 2035
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Feb 2035
A knee injury of the worst kind for Kyvon Leidsman
125 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.
Market26 Feb 2035
“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.
Squad26 Feb 2035
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Jan 2035
A knee injury of the worst kind for Kyvon Leidsman
155 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.
Squad29 Jan 2035
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Ravan may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market29 Jan 2035
Ihar Sivakov hands in a written request
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings18 Sep 2034
Successful dribbles: 35. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match13 Sep 2034
Ravan out of the cup
Kapaz ended it 1‑3. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Squad18 Sep 2034
Cavid Mammadov gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Cavid Mammadov has just signed for Ravan, and for once the answer mattered.
Market18 Sep 2034
“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.
Squad18 Sep 2034
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.
Squad18 Sep 2034
Zakaria Sawo 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.
Match16 Sep 2034
Richard Sadygov scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Zira, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Squad18 Sep 2034
“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.
Player ratings18 Sep 2034
A performance of 8.15 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 May 2034
A knee injury of the worst kind for Maxim Shichanin
69 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.
Market15 May 2034
“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.
Squad15 May 2034
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.